I visited Budapest (pronounced Budapesch) for a long weekend in October with 3 mates - Damon, Victor and Keith. I was in charge of finding accomodation and man, did I deliver! I found an amazing apartment in central Bupadest for under 10 pounds pp per night! It was so central that we didn't need to use public transport until the very last day and that was just for the sake of trying it.
Courtyard looking up towards our apartment - Izabella's Dream.
Gorgeous high ceiling living room with pullout couches...
We arrived around lunchtime and after dumping our stuff at the apartment, we headed out on foot to the town centre and basically wandered around for the rest of the day getting our bearings.
Elisabeth Bridge - one of the bridges that link the Buda side with the Pest side. We stayed on the Pest side which is more working class. The rich lives on the Buda side where it's more historical. Old money vs new money, North Shore vs Howick kinda argument.
Walking along the Pest riverside. The river that separates the two is the Danube.... always makes me think of the song I used to play on the piano - The Blue Danube.
We came across a very touristy market in city center and that got me very excited. I spotted one of my favourite snacks from the Auckland Night Market - a very common Hungarian street snack called Kürtőskalács aka Chimney cake. Victor took this photo of me looking dubious for some reason... probably because I had to wait aaaaages for it as there was a long queue.
This is what the bread looks like. I got mine sprinkled with cinnamon.
Just a random photo that Victor snapped of us walking around... the novelty of having photos of me, albeit just the back, meant that I'm posting it even if it's crap haha.
Dinner that night was at a cafe we had walked past randomly earlier in the day. Victor had declared that he would only have goulash for dinner and he approved of the look of this cafe. This meant that we had to retrace our steps and find this place again. I learnt that Victor is very high maintenance... and i thought I was high maintenance!!! It turned out that: A) they had sold out of goulash and B) their food is crap! I had some pasta that was cold in the middle. Bluek. I was counting my remaining Hungarian Forint.. it's $340 HUF to a UK pounds. Things were dirt cheap.
The next day, we got up bright and early and had Mackers for breakkie. The hot chocolate there is THE best I've ever had. So much so that I got one in London the other day and had to chuck it out after one mouthful as it was bland and watery as per usual.
After breakfast, we headed to the town center again to do a free walking tour that Victor insisted on doing (see the trend here????)....
I saw people doing a segway tour while waiting for our freebie walking tour to start. So cool!
Our guide who was very cute (according to Victor) and mildly funny. We tipped her 5 pounds each at the end of the tour.
We walked down the same area we were in yesterday to start off...
Some square with some famous person... i was too busy snapping photos to listen.
The usual lock monument - i.e. lovers would put a lock and write their name on it to signify their love being locked forever... or some trite like that.
This was when she started telling us about the local cuisine of Hungary so maybe this dude was famous for food or something... i zoned out as usual.
Poser Victor had to follow suit.
So did Keith.
The famous Chain bridge...
The Royal Palace which we didn't go into because the guide said that it has been extensively destroyed and pillaged so there isn't anything worth seeing inside. Such a pity.
We walked up the hill instead of taking the funicular up.
Bronze replica of Matthias Church and the real thing in the background... way too overexposed here. My bad.
The church has distinctive roof tiles... kinda Islamic-looking if you ask me.
Fisherman Bastion - weird name - is a terrace with panoramic views of the Danube and Pest.
We decided to stop for lunch before taking photos of the views. It also gave the sky a bit of time to clear up as it was a very overcast day. We went to a cafe pointed out by the guide. It was a cafe with foodcourt style operation. You line up and get a tray and walk along the food area where all the food is already pre-cooked and point to what you wanted.
Giant pickles, anyone?
I tried mulled wine for the very first time and it was delicious!!! Like warm ribena. The bread was oh-so-soft.
My main - beef stew which was hearty and yum! The boys had the same as well as goulash soup. Oink oink.
After lunch, we continued exploring the area. This was part of the ruins of the old palace.
Random street performer playing a weird looking instrument.
The Parliament building...
Going back down the hill....
The funicular.
The guide mentioned that one of their local snacks is this cheesecake like dessert. It was about 30 pence.
It was ok.... kinda soury.
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