A few days in Budapest - Hungry

As the girls had things to do in Vienna during the week (aka work) and I was itching to visit Budapest we made a short trip during the week as it was only a three hour journey from Vienna. We managed to get some cheap return tickets which meant it was an early morning journey which was a shock to the system after lots of late nights and sleep-ins whilst staying with Anja and Claudia. We did manage to catch the train without any problems and had the luxury of a cabin to our selves which was fantastic as it meant we were able to spread out and sleep the whole way.
We arrived in Budapest, located a McDonalds and booked a hostel which wasn’t too far away. Having checked in and dropped off our bags we headed out and about to have a look at a few things recommended by either the hostel or trip advisor. First stop was the museum which was closed so we moved onto the Synagogue which cost over 10 Euro (tight-asses) so we decided to miss it. The building was very nice from the outside and is supposed to be quite unique as it is a bit of a cross between a traditional Synagogue and a Mosque. For lunch we headed to a traditional Hungary restaurant called Kik Rosa or Blue Rose where we had our first very tasty Goulash. After lunch our tour continued to Deak Square which is very central but has some nice small parks. We had been told about a lake and a bar which is under it where live music is played every night. This turned out to be a very shallow man made pond but it did have a glass floor which was the ceiling for part of the music venue Godor. From there we continued onto the Basilica which we didn’t go into once we discovered there was a compulsory donation to get in. It seems a bit wrong to call it a donation and also to charge too get into a church in the first place. We found out later that the money goes towards paying for their new lighting and they have to call it donations in order to avoid tax. Then it was across the river on the Chain bridge and up the hill through a park. At the top of the hill was the Castel district which is very beautiful with interesting architecture. We had a wander around the palace grounds and then realizing that it was getting late, we headed to the Hilton hotel, where we were going to treat ourselves. Deep below the Hilton is a 15th century cellar which houses Faust Wine Cellar. Here we spent a few lovely hours sampling some of Hungary’s best wines, eating traditional cheese scones and chatting to the local couple who run it. Finally we climbed back up the labyrinth of stairs and headed back to the hostel via an authentic Hungarian kebab shop (it was late and couldn’t find anything else). We hadn’t realized how late it had got the night before so a sleep in was in order. The only problem was that we missed the morning city tour which we had intended to do. Oh well, we did manage to have breakfast and get moving in time for the 2pm tour. This was a basic Buda and Pest tour. Budapest is actually two cities on opposite sides of the river that have become one. The Buda side is the old town which is situated on some hills whilst the Pest side, where we were staying was very flat and easy to walk.
The tour took us around some of the important buildings on the Pest side then over the Chain bridge to Buda. Originally the river crossing was made by walking over many small boats that were tied together however this was not always possible due to ice and bad weather. There was a nobleman, István Széchenyi who lived on the Pest side of the river whilst his parents were on the Buda side. The nobleman was bought news of his father being on his death bed but he was unable to visit due to the bad weather. He waited one, then two days and was finally able to cross but he was too late to say goodbye to his father. After this he decided a bridge was needed across the river and the Chain bridge was built. It was actually designed after a bridge just outside of London but is four times the size. The tour finished by the Fisherman’s battalion which was the part of the city wall that the fisherman’s guild was responsible for guarding during battles. This is possibly our favorite part of the city as although it is just a fancy wall, it looks a bit like a castle on a hill. After the tour and a coffee to recharge we had another wander around the hilltop. We had done a lot of walking we were both feeling pretty tired so we decided to catch a bus the Deak Square where we wanted to see some live music. The locals couldn’t tell us anywhere to buy tickets so we just jumped on the bus intending to get some at the end of the journey. Unfortunately a couple of ticket inspectors got on a couple of stops later so we were in trouble. We explained that we had only just arrived in Budapest and had asked where to buy tickets so they told us the fine was 12000HF (€23 each) with a receipt or 6000HF for the two of us without. After some negotiating and them threatening to call the Police they settled for 5000HF. A bit flustered about the whole situation we walked the rest of the way to the bar and were very happy to sit a have a beer. I think our discussions revolved around the fact that we always buy tickets and never get checked, except the one time we don’t have one! After a drink we headed back to the Blue Rose restaurant where we had an amazing meal. Stuffed mushrooms, Goulash, Beef stew, Pork medallions, and a salad to round it all off. We waddled home with very full bellies and then spent some time trying to organize the next few weeks of our lives.
Up early and out of the hostel with our first destination being the house of Parliament. This is a very impressive building set on the banks of the Danue River. We had to get there early to get tickets for a tour, this is free to all EU citizens but unfortunately a bit expensive for us Aussies. The building was the result of an architectural competition and the end product is incredible. It has similarities to the Westminster Parliament buildings in London. The tour took us through one of the side entrances then onto the main stairway, past the royal crown and into the main dome. Much of the interior is decorated by golden statues, frescos and hand woven carpets. One detail we had explained to us were cigar holders outside the assembly room which all had numbers. This meant that the politicians could smoke a cigar and leave it burning ready for their return, if there was a session suddenly announced. After the parliament tour we headed back to the hostel for a nap. Our plan was to cook dinner then head to what is known as ruin pubs. These are set in abandoned apartment flats and use much of the furniture and rooms from the original dwellings. They proved just as interesting as promised, the first one, ‘Instant Pub’ has converted the courtyard into a covered beer garden full of miss matching furniture. There are strange and wonderful sculptures and paintings on many of the walls. Our favourite room here was quite bare apart from the ceiling which had an ironing board, carpet, bean bag, record player and other furniture stuck to it upside down.
The second bar was Szimpla Pub which was absolutely buzzing with people. This looked a bit like it had been overrun by plant life as the courtyard was filled with assorted furniture and pot plants, there were creepers poking through gaps in walls and bicycles hung from the ceiling with more pot plants on their storage racks. There was a computer room where there was a mass of wires hanging from the ceiling and about twenty old monitors with either broken screens or basic synchronised animations. Damien liked the old car set in the courtyard that had been converted into a spot for people to sit and the bath tub that had the side cut out and a couple of girls sitting in it.
Our last day in Budapest was spent on the morning tour learning a bit about Hungary’s past with a focus on the 20th Century. Here is a VERY basic run down because I’m sure I’ve missed out huge chunks of what we were told. The first people of Hungary were actually nomads from Asia who arrived in the basin and decided it was a good place to settle. Their first king was ordained in 1000 by the Roman Catholics after he decided that was best for the people. Since that time they became a huge empire that was first invaded by the Ottomon empire who were thrown out by the Austrians. The Austrains then hung around for a long time and Hungry sided with them during World War I didn’t pan out so well. After World War I Hungary formed an alliance with Germany to reclaim some of it’s land, this was also not a great idea. Part way through the war the people realized that the Nazi regime was not the best for their people so they asked the Russians to give them a hand. The Russians were very good at liberating the Hungarian’s but they forgot to leave. This resulted in the country being run as a communist country and it wasn’t until 1991 when the last Soviet solder left the country. Hungry has been part of the European Union since 2004 and hope to be in an economic position to be able to adopt the Euro currency in 15-20 years. After the tour it was lunch at a cafeteria then a walk around Margarette Island. This island and a number of monuments around the city are named after the very famous Queen of Austria Sisi. She was very passionate about preserving the Hungarian culture and protected it to some degree from her husband. She even went to the effort of learning Hungarian which is very difficult as the alphabet contains about 40 letters as is most similar to the Finish language. The whole island is park land with lots of sports grounds, fountains and beautiful gardens. After a walk including a look at some ruins and a water tower we headed back to the hostel for one last free coffee and to grab our bags. Then back to the train station and back to Vienna.