Despite spending only one day in Budapest I am making a post about my day in the fabulous city. Like I mentioned before, Budapest rivals Istanbul for the most beautifully stunning city I have seen. The history, culture, romance and excitement of Budapest gave me my first taste of that part of the world and has left me longing to experience more of Central and Eastern Europe.
Budapest is the capital city of Hungary. As the largest city of the country, it serves as the political, cultural, industrial and transportation center and is considered an important hub
in Central Europe. The Danube river splits the city into two parts; Buda on the West and Pest (pronounced "Pesht") on the East. Following nearly 150 years of Ottoman Empire rule, Buda and Pest became a unified city in 1873 and embarked on a period of growth and prosperity. Budapest was the focal
point of the Hungarian Revolution in 1848, the Hungarian Soviet Republic of 1919, Operation Panzerfaust in 1944 (when Germany installed a pro-German government in Hungary to keep the country from surrendering to the Russians and to continue fighting with the Germans), t
he Battle of Budapest in 1945 and the Revolution of 1956 (a revolt against the Stalinist government and its Soviet-imposed policies). Budapest is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful cities in Europe and has several World Heritage sites.
I discovered a great bookstore in Athens where I spent an afternoon researching and planning my day in Budapest. I didn't want to pay the 30euros for the travel book so I just sat there and jotted down notes. I had to 1) familiarize myself with the geographical layout of Budapest
so I would be able to orient myself, 2) figure out how to get from the airport to downtown and back and 3)find a guided walking tour that I could take. I usually never do guided tours because I like the excitement and challenge of figuring things out on my own, but I decided that this would be the best option given I only had about 5 hours of sightseeing time and wanted to see as much as possible. I also discovered that while Hungary is in the EU, they still use their own currency, the Forint. Given all my cash was in euros I had to figure out approximate pri
ces of things, the euro/forint exchange rate and how much I would need to cover me for one day (plus a couple USD worth of forints to take home). EU countries that don't use the euro are a little cheaper than countries that do use the euro, but in general that price gap is quickly disappearing.
I arrived in Budapest at 6:30am - that's right 6:30AM. I had a 5:30am flight out of Athens and to make that flight I got up at 2am to
make it to the airport. Travel days always make me a little nervous because of the logistics involved, the timing of things and making sure I feel safe in the wee morning hours. I was so unprepared for the weather. Athens felt like the tropics when I stepped off the plane that blistery cold morning in Budapest. In a matter of one hour I had gone from 65-66 degrees to below freezing temperatures. It was a shock to my system. But nevertheless, I felt the energy and excitement of discovering a new city. The sun was just rising over the horizon when I stepped off the plane into the cold and a young guy in front of me, clearly sharing my excitement, yelled into the air and to himself "welcome to Hungary!!". And I thought to myself with a nod and a smile yes, welcome Kathleen to Hungary!!!
OK, euros changed into forints, luggage checked in for the day, I was ready to figure out how to get into downtown. Fortunately most of the signs were in English and directions were fairly straightforward. I hopped a bus and
then the subway. It was interesting riding the subway during the morning rush hour. I don't know if it was the cold weather or what, but the mood of the people was very down and depressing. I wasn't expecting any sort of super excitement on the subway, but everyone just seemed very solemn, no one was talking and people avoided eye contact (reminds me of riding the subway in NYC). I had made a reservation to do a walking tour but was unable to find and meet up with the tour guide at the designated spot and time. Disappointed, I ended up taking a guided bus tour which turned out to be a blessing in disguise because it was so cold I could barely stand outside for more than 5 minutes until my face started stinging and my body started going numb. I saw all the major sites and was able to get off and on the bus as I pleased to go around and take pictures and explore. My favorite sites were the Gellert Hill where I took stunning pictures of Buda and Pest straddling the Danube and the Buda Castle. The Buda Castle is a world heritage site and is the historical castle of the Hungarian kings in Budapest. (I've been seeing a lot of castles on my travels for some reason!) The castle is surrounded by medieval, baroque and 19th century houses and public buildings. My mom told me that I should eat Hungarian goulash if possible. Goulash is a Hungarian dish, a stew or soup made of beef, red onions, vegetables and spices. So mid-afternoon I set out to find an authentic Hungarian restaurant. I had some wonderful goulash with gnocchi dumplings followed by a Hungarian coffee to top off the eating experience. Hearty and delicious. Another eye-popping site was St. Stephen's Basilica. It took 54 years to b
uild and the neoclassical architectural style is beautiful. I literally gasped at the beauty and magnificence of the church. Many of the buildings I passed by had roofs that had been destroyed during WWII but had subsequently been rebuilt. At times I felt almost embarrassed that I did not know much of the history of the city or the significance of the monuments or buildings. Like Istanbul and Athens, history truly comes alive in Budapest.
history. Budapest is a must-see for anyone's Central European travel list.
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