Hungary

Budapest

August 23-26th 2007

This picture was taken form the top of the Citadella. On the left is Buda, river Danube, then on the right is Pest. Budapest is a hidden wonder, I highly recommend visiting.

Day 1
I arrived in Budapest, without much sleep, but with all my luggage at around 1pm! I took a cab to the apartment that I was staying at (I found it on Craigslist, got really lucky that it was nice!). I took a shower and awaited Ivana's arrival. After she arrived, we ate at a small resturant down Ulloi Utc, with authentic Hungarian food, and then walked around the city. We saw at a distance almost every main monument along the Danube river, including the Karoly Korut, Nemzeti Muzeum, Dohany Synagogue, and Gellert. We went back to the apartment and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Day 2
Ivana and I woke up later than we wanted to! We walked around the city, staying on the Pest side. We wondered down Vaci Utca, which is like Newburry St. in Boston, or 5th Ave in New York! There are so many tourist along that street, we fit right in! We had Ice cream and drinks outside a famous restaurant on "new" Vaci street. We walked down Ulloi uta and went to the Holacoust Meusum, it was really nice but depressing. We ate a restaurant on Baross utca, I cannot remember the name, but it was excellent. I had boiled catfish with potato puffs, and Ivana had Gnocchi, both amazing! We went back to the apartment to wait for Ivana's Cousin and his friend. They arrived at like 1pm and they wanted to go out so we got dressed and walked around Budapest some more! At like 2:50am we went to eat at this restaurant that was just like Texas Roadhouse!!! With peanuts that you can throw on the ground but with Hungarian food!!





Day 3
Today we mainly stayed on the Buda side. We drove over to Castle Hill, parked and headed to Buda palace. For some reason, there happen to be a huge celebration taking place in the palace. We went were the crowed wasn't and took in the view. We had drinks at a small restaurant in the palace, then headed for the Citadella. On the way down to our car we stopped at a labyrinth, and we dared to discover the maze! It was amazing, dark, cold, and confusing!!! At the Citadella we had the most amazing view of Budapest, and after taking many photos we headed back to the apartment. There we showered, changed and headed out for our cruise along the Danube! I highly suggest you do that it was fun, and ours included campaign, and another beverage of your choice! After the Cruise we went to the Buda Bar, which is right along the river, opposite the Gellert baths, we had a lot of fun! Got home around 4am!!






Day 4
The last day in Budapest was probably the best. The weather was perfect! We drove around most of the day. We went to KFC for lunch, then we drove to Margit-szigt (Margret's Island) and spent an hour there. We then drove past the Opera House to Heroes square, were we spent a few hours. Alex (Ivana's friend) bought us balloons, and we made wishes, tied the balloons together and let our wishes fly! It was cute! We drove back to the apartment, and had dinner on Vaci Utca, at a small restaurant. My meal there was excellent, pancakes (dough!) with meat and sauce (similar to an enchilada)! Then we left to go to the Keleti Palyavdvar, where I validated my Eu rail pass and we drive around to kill time before my train departed. We saw the stadium, and Arena were the soccer team plays, then headed back to the train station. I boarded the train with Ivana, Vlada, Alex and a Porter's help!! Ivana and friends waited until the train was pulling away before they ran next to the train and then left!

BUDAPEST was 4 stars, but my time there with Ivana and Friends was a 10!

All the places and things we saw: Bazilika, Buapesti Torteneti Muzeum, Dohany Synagogue, Gellert Hegy, Hosok Tere, Karoly Korut, Magyar Allami Operahaz, Margit-sziget, Nemzeti Galeria, Nemzeti Muzeum, Parliament, Szechenyi Baths, Szechenyi Lanchid, Szepmuveszeti Mezeum, Varosliget, Vidam Park, Stadium and arena, Four Seasons Hotel, Nyugati Palyaudvar, Keleti Palyaudvar, and the Holocaust Museum.