Budapest

Budapest is a treasure! Until Budapest, Prague was the nicest city we had been to on the European Continent but we have to agree with the EW Guide that Budapest is in your face pretty on a much grander scale. From the House of Parliament stretching along the Pest side of the Danube (the construction cost of which they say in today’s figures could build a city to accommodate 40,000 people) with its ubiquitous scaffolding screening off one end to the Old Royal Palace (now housing the Hungarian National Gallery overlooking the Danube from the Buda Hills on the other side of the river; to the Christian churches (St Stephen’s Basilica where we attended a Saturday night Vigil Mass, Matthaias Church, the oldest building in Pest, the Inner City Parish Church which only just survivrd the later construction of Elizabeth Bridge and St Annes’ Church) and the Great Synagogue which has been described as the nicest Catholic Synagogue in Budapest (because of the way in which Catholicism and Judaism have attempted to assimilate in Budapest) and which commemorates the Jewish dead of WW2 as well as those gentiles who stepped up to try and save them. It was enjoyable wandering the Budapest streets (footpaths were safe and generally free of doggie doo) many of which were lined with the green of spring trees in fine weather and temperatures in the mid-20s. Our hotel (Golden Park) was only 30 mins walk from the old city in one direction and the City Park (Városliget)in the other; it also had a train station (which we didn’t use) and a metro station which we did use 10m from the front door of the hotel – SOO convenient and cheap.
We started our Budapest initiation by walking towards the town centre, the orientation process. Along the way, in our search for a Tourist Information Centre, we came across the Opera House (which we thought we’d like to go back to, to have a look through if not go to a concert) which offered guided tours. While trying to reach a decision (decision-making related to what to do next probably became the most frequent trigger point over the past four months) we spied an open top tour bus parked on the roadside and we made an instant (just to emphasise our flexibility!!) decision to take the tour hour city tour (which helped gel some ideas as to what we could do and where we could go over the next few days). While it was expensive (8000 HUFs or £26) by our standards it did highlight a number of places we were later able to easily walk back to. So in that sense it was well worth the cost. We were able to make the trip back to St Stephen’s (with the preserved arm of the very much revered Budapest Saint) for a view before returning later for Mass. Our guided tours (courtesy of Shelley and DK Eyewitness Travel) took us all round the central part of the city over the four days we were in Budapest: the Hungarian National Gallery in Buda’s old Royal Palace (before Budapest existed as a single entity, there were two separate cities, one on each side of the Danube: Buda, the hilly side, and Pest, the plains; under unification the two became Budapest but the history of this city has been turbulent and at times quite violent.), past the Sandor Palace (which still houses the Hungarian President), Lords Street with its Gothic architecture, Vienna Gate and Fisherman’s Bastion and the ruined remains of the Church of St Mary Magdalene (damaged beyond repair in WW2); on other days we visited the Museum of Fine Arts in Városliget, along with Vajdahunyad Castle (a mixture of Renaissance, Gothic, Baroque and Romanesque styles built for the Millennium Celebrations in 1896.), the Heroes Square (where statues represent, among others, the seven tribes who originally settled in Hungary, Michael the Archangel atop the column - minus the Hasburghs one of whom is now in the Fine Arts Museum). We also spent two hours soaking in the hot pools at the Széchenyi Baths which were opened in 1913. Getting into these baths was a bit of a mission. We didn’t understand the Hungarian and the lady at the ticket booth did not speak English. However, with a lot of gesticulation and smiling we finally paid for our tickets – but for what we weren’t entirely sure. And where to go?? We needed towels? Where do you get them? How much are they? Where are the cabins to get changed in? Once changed, where do we go? Can we leave stuff securely in the cabins? Finally after some backwards and forward wandering we met up with a lady who had a little more English than any of the other staff we had encountered to that point. ‘One step at a time’, she said. And took us to the changing cabin and showed us where to hire the towels. Then after changing she pointed us in the general direction of the pools – left through more cabins, through the door at the end, past the indoor pools through another door (and foot wash pool) and finally out through a set of automatic doors. And lo, there they were pools like Waiwera only much more resplendent in their architecture and with very vigorous spas and whirlpools. Great way to spend the two hours – an afternoon soak, back through the labyrinth and out (it was nice to pick up 400 HUFs each as we left because we had only spent 2 hours in the complex.) All so easy – now we look back on it! The two hours here was much better value than the expensive 30 minute tour of the Parliament Building which we both agreed was a ‘must see’! Another must see for us was a folk music/dance experience and for an evening concert we caught a metro into town. The music was uniquely Hungarian: lots of violin and performed by a very professional group. The dance was also well worth seeing but the squealing of the (girl) dancers was a bit ‘strained’ to say the least – but perhaps that’s how it is in the village dancers. The rivalry between two birds chirping away at each other ‘The Lark’ was very clever and so real!! - and all done on violins. An afternoon visit to Margaret Island (accessed from a road ramp off a 45˚ bend in the Margaret Bridge) in the rain was refreshing – an island oasis of playgrounds, park space and entertainment venues – in the Danube and so close to the heart of Budapest; and preparations underway for an open air concert; a wander over the other bridges: the Chain Bridge (which some say is rolled up and stored in the tunnel under the Buda Hills), Elizabeth Bridge (under the Gellért Hill and Gellért Monument) and Margaret Bridge (Liberty Bridge we looked at but decided it was too far to walk to); and to meals. We ate hearty breakfasts (paid for in our accommodation beforehand) and snack lunches but we discovered a restaurant about 15 mins from the hotel where for 3990 HUFs (about £12.00) each we could eat and drink as much as we could in three hours. What better way to sample various foods and lots of lovely Dreher! (Hungarian Lager) that almost matched the Czech beers. And what’s more we went there twice. And for us that was our Budapest (Hungarian, hardly) experience. Perhaps another day would have been worthwhile and maybe a trip or two out of the city but perhaps that can wait until next time.