{ Budapest }
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Aug 7-8, 2013 -- We continued our adventures into Budapest with a six hour drive through Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. When we shared our itinerary with Hertz they were not overly excited about us driving their car through "crime-ridden" Eastern Europe so we didn't know what to expect. Fortunately the drive was pretty uneventful aside from a lost-in-translation moment at the Slovakian / Hungarian border crossing. We probably should have researched ahead of time, but instead we arrived at the border without knowing which permits were required to travel through the country. The border control agents only spoke Hungarian and it was pretty comical trying to communicate. Nonetheless, it was another great learning opportunity for us:
- After 30 minutes of confusion we learned travelers need to purchase a Vignette pass to drive through certain countries, including Hungary. This is similar to a highway toll and only costs about €15. Our time was well spent because we felt like seasoned professionals when our travels later took us through Austria, which uses a similar Vignette system at their border.
- Apparently Hungarian is considered one of the world's most difficult languages to learn. We read somewhere that it vaguely stems from Mongolian, and has very little Germanic or Latin influence. Needless to say, the few words Sarah and I could piece together between English, Spanish and Polish were of little help.
We quickly learned the locals pronounce it “Budapesht” which we are still having trouble adopting. We also learned that Hungarians don't have the best fighting
record – with Budapest being at the losing end of every war fought in the last
600 years. I found it interesting learn the country essentially lost WWII twice after initially siding with the Axis (and being bombed by the Allied Forces) then joining the allies (and being bombed by the Germans). Despite all the fighting and destruction, Hungary has done a great
job of rebuilding its capital city and staying true to original architecture. The
hills along the Danube river valley provide a great backdrop for the impressive churches
and castles, not to mention great views when we climbed to the top!
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| A panoramic view of the 'Buda' side of the city at dusk, with the Citadella hill and Elisabeth Bridge on the left, and the Buda Castle district topping the hill to the right. |
One of the most fun parts of this trip was the fact that everything was new to us. Sarah and her parents let me research the city ahead of time and I planned a number of sites for us to visit. They seemed to enjoy discovering the city with no expectations, and I enjoyed playing amateur tour guide for the group. Near the top of my list were the Turkish Baths, for which the city earned its nickname "City of Baths". Budapest has over a hundred natural hot springs and some of today's thermal baths date back 500 years. Each bath feeds from a different hot spring and brings a different mineral composition, thus offering different health benefits for bathers. We never made it to the baths, but still had a chance to see several amazing landmarks.
We arrived mid-afternoon on August 7th and decided to take an impromptu river cruise at dusk. It gave us a unique perspective on the city and built our excitement to tour on foot the following day. Even with all the time I spent researching the city, I was awestruck passing by some of the buildings you'll see in our pictures below. All four of us were very impressed by the time we left the city, and Sarah and I look forward to returning soon. While our pictures don't seem to give justice to the city's beauty, they do a lot better than my writing! See below for our photo diary (you should be able to click on individual pictures to enlarge):
We arrived mid-afternoon on August 7th and decided to take an impromptu river cruise at dusk. It gave us a unique perspective on the city and built our excitement to tour on foot the following day. Even with all the time I spent researching the city, I was awestruck passing by some of the buildings you'll see in our pictures below. All four of us were very impressed by the time we left the city, and Sarah and I look forward to returning soon. While our pictures don't seem to give justice to the city's beauty, they do a lot better than my writing! See below for our photo diary (you should be able to click on individual pictures to enlarge):
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| The exchange rate for Hungarian Forint (HUF) is something like 225:1 so we felt rich holding 20,000 bills |
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| One of the many ornate church facades |
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| One of our highlights of Budapest was eating traditional Hungarian Goulash. The recipe is a bit different from what we were familiar with back in the States. |
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| The Chain Bridge crossing the Danube River. Legend has it the architect claimed his bridge was perfect, and later killed himself when someone pointed out the lions guarding the bridge entrance were missing their tongues. Sounds a little far fetched in my opinion! |
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| A closer view of the lions |
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| This tunnel leads traffic onto the Chain Bridge and is nearly 400 years old. It's amazing what they could accomplish without modern technology. |
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| One of the lamp posts lighting the Chain Bridge |
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| Gold manhole covers add a nice touch of class |
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| Rather than make the aggressive trek to the top of the hill, we took this interesting (and sketchy) tram ride. Yet another not-so-modern marvel. |
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| Buda Castle |
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| Courtyard of Buda Castle |
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| Standing at Buda Castle with the Chain Bridge and St. Stephen's Cathedral in the background. |
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| A fountain at Buda Castle |
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| Changing of the Royal Guard at Buda Castle |
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| Matthias Church (undergoing renovation) |
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| A close-up view of the roof tiles at Matthias Church. These ornate roofs were a common theme during our travels and it really impressed me since roofing seems to be more of an afterthought in America. |
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| Fisherman's Bastion |
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| A view of the Hungarian Parliament Building across the Danube River. Based on an unverified Wikipedia post, it is currently the largest building in Hungary and still the tallest building in Budapest. |
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| We stopped by the Ruszwurm Bakery which has been serving pastries for nearly 200 years. |
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| More pastries from the Ruszwurm Bakery |
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| The Four Seasons Budapest was impressive, to say the least. Here's a picture of a chandelier in the lobby. |
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| The Citadel in the background sits atop Gellert Hill, with the Elisabeth Bridge in the foreground. One of my favorite experiences of the trip was waking at 5:45am and running to the top of the hill. It was quite a workout, but the impressive views of the city made it worth the effort. |
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| Buda Castle at sunset before our river cruise along the Danube |
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| Apologies for the poor-resolution cell-phone camera, but this is a view of the Gellert Hotel from our river cruise. The hotel is one of Europe's most famous hotels which sits over an enclosed thermal bath (click here for pictures). Definitely on our list of stops next time we visit! |
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| This picture doesn't even come close to showing the awe and beauty of the parliament building. All four of us were blown away at the sheer size of the building, combined with the attention to detail in the 300+ spires. |
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| The Chain Bridge at night with Buda Castle in the background |
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| Buda Castle from the Danube River at night. Aside from the bugs, this was a great cruise that offered a unique view of the city. |
We hope everyone is enjoying our blog thus far! This process is new to us so we're trying to find the best way to share our stories and keep everyone involved in our lives. We'd love to hear from you so please leave comments!
Until next time,
Jon & Sarah
