Just back from Boston and New York and this time the ramble was to Hungary and Slovakia. for New Years. After checking out where we could get a bit of sun over the Christmas break and failing to get anything half interesting with a decent price we opted for bang for your buck return flight to Budapest for 330 each including 1 extra 20kg bag.
After a delay of 45 minutes due to the aeroplane having to update its “software” we were off. A short 3 hours and we were there. On this occasion I hadn’t much time to check out what the Budapest held with the exception of a cursory glance at Lonely Planet and Wikipedia. I had my trusty Irish Independent little green travel book on the city so I knew nearly every thing I needed would be in it. We went for a 5 star hotel the Boscolo, which is an iconic hotel rebuilt after the war boasting one of the most famous café houses in the world “café New York” which lived up to its decadent ornate reputation when we arrived.
We arrived 9ish at night on the first night and with the Christmas atmosphere still in the air and with the city preparing for New Years we strolled down town past the famous Budapest opera house and then to the Christmas stalls outside the impressive St Stephen’s basilica . Quickly, we bought a really delicious pint glass of sweet mulled wine. It was the best I’ve ever tasted. Hit the spot just as the doctor ordered. Then Camila and I strolled slowly down the streets to the water front to see the resplendent Four Seasons hotel all done up like a giant light show gushing out its energy onto the silently flowing Danube and iconic chain bridge which seemed to compete with the hotel for attention. As we walked across it we watched the beautiful castle in Buda on the right hand side and also caught our first site of the impressive Hungarian parliament.
The city is impressive and it quite rightly deserves the reputation of being called the “little Paris of the East of Europe”. It’s like you’re actually in Paris. The architecture is brotherly and the café culture is rife.
As we got introduced to the city I felt myself drawn to complex history the city had experienced of late. Aiding Hitler on his crusade, being pulverized by the Russian forces and subsequently having to endure decades of Communism before breaking free and winning its own democracy. The city has been true a lot and that’s not mentioning the evasion of the Romans and Turks, the remnants of which are still very evident in the bath and pool culture the city is so well known for.
The next few days were a mix of checking out the good, the bad and the ugly of the restaurant scene. Checking out the opera and relaxing in baths and hotel pools. Exactly what I was looking for from the trip.
Highlights, Lowlights and Learnings
- They are big style into their Paprika over here, I didn’t know that before I came here. They even have their own TV channel called TV paprika.
- The Italian influence is easy to see. Plenty of pasta and pizza on offer as well as the omnipresent local Goulash delicacies.
- Being very fortunate to get a fantastic rendition of the famous “Nutcracker” opera in the Budapest Opera house. I’d known the name but had no idea what it was about. I also knew one or two of the melodies but had no idea what scenes they were in the opera and why they are so beautiful and world renowned. If you get a chance I’d say check out the show, especially around Christmas. Beautiful.
- We then frequented one of the famous bath houses, the highlight in that one of the outside pools at 40 degrees inside the water and 5 degrees out with a chill breeze was great. Overall, very disappointing though. I had to wait 25 minutes in a very disorganized queue to get a ticket with zero customer services taking place and workers behind the tills which left you with a better chance getting a smile off a statute rather then any of them. Also, inside it was chaotic, and the disorganization was every where again. Poor signed posts, a packed locker room you couldn’t swing a cat in and very slippery floors everywhere. The pools were packed with people and you could tell a lot of people in there felt very uncomfortable. I wouldn’t go back
- Rip off taxi drivers. I really detest this about traveling. Not for the first time and it won't be the last we were done. I had watched a YouTube video on Hungary and the guy presenting had advised to watch out for the taxis. He was right. The classic can you bring us to x location and then he brought us twice the distance we should have went when we actually realized where we were and where we had left from. Annoying. Best solution ring ahead to the hotel and get them to recommend a good taxi company.
- St Stephen’s was well worth a visit, also interested to check out the mummified St Stephen’s hand. The inside of the church is beautiful and wouldn’t be out of place in the middle of the Vatican.
- New Years night was really great. We walked again down the romantic streets of Budapest at night to close to the water to eat in a lovely restaurant called Italiano. For 87 euros a head we got a lovely seat beside the grill which we were able to watch one of their top chefs grill skillfully massive t-bone steaks all night. It was great to watch and very entertaining. Smoke everywhere. He fighting with the heat and flames while scorning and people who wanted to take a photo of the show. We got then to starter, a lovely salad dish for Camila and I had a delicious anti-pasta washed down with Proseco. We then munched down a lovely light dish of pasta and tomato and then a huge chunk of t-bone steak. Some of it was actually burnt and our very attentive waiter without missing a beat went off to get us some more. The services was top notch all night and it was great to see a good restaurant in full flow. By the time we finished the meal it was 11.50pm, Camila then asked the waiter could we pay for the meal, but go out to watch the fireworks and then come back to finish our meal. They obliged smiling and before we knew it we were marching down the street to the Danube and chain bridge to see the spectical. What a let down! If I had 3 of my own tiny little fizzlers and waved them in the air and threw them up in the sky the last moment it would have been better. It was brutal the worst ever. Definitely don’t come to Budapest for the first show. Camila and I discussed it after wards and we won’t even give it 1 out of 10, we agreed on .5 out of 10. I’d say there was 20 fireworks shot into the air at most. Most of which were at different times. There was no synchronisation, no planning, no nothing. Everyone left after 3 minutes flat. A disaster for the organisers, whatever happened we may never know. Back to the restaurant, we had a nice plate of assorted deserts, then I tasted the traditional pork knuckles and lentils which the locals eat after mid night to usher in a new year and prosperity.
- We also checked out the famous Gereaud café down town. This was great. While a little expensive at 13 euros for a steak sandwich and 9 euros for a slice of cake. I could see what all the fuss was about. Think Paris macroon’s in Harrods on 5th avenue New York. Chic. Very cool atmosphere, only think was it was full of tourists like ourselves which took a little bit away from the experience when you see all the camera on show.
- One other restaurant come café that warrants special merit was the impeccable Callas, 1061 Andrassy Ut, just in case you need the address. Wow! Amazing service and again as in so many places in the city, a beautiful café, with live piano playing and tasty beverages and cakes. I’d be very happy to have somewhere like this in Dublin, I’d definitely make it my business to be a regular.
- The inventor of the biro and the Rubic’s cube come from Budapest
I won’t be rushing back to Budapest any time soon but I’m very glad I came. It is without doubt a beautiful city and the food can be excellent. I’d say you’d need no more than 3 days to take it in. Get yourself a nice hotel down near the water front and make sure to try go to the baths at off peak time to get the most out of it. Make sure to check out some of the really nice cafes and the Opera is an absolute must. Also on offer is the paprika and local Bulls blood wine if you can get your hands on it. The main shopping thoroughfares are nothing to write home about. Very similar to all the others ones you’ll find in most places around the world. So I wouldn’t recommend it for shopping. The city itself is very charming thought and prices off the main tourist locations are very good. Go to laze around the city in the cafes, soak up some of the very interesting history, slurp on some Goulash and paprika soup and check out the music which is everywhere.
Memories:
Horrible meal outside of Basillica, New Years night waiter feeling sad he had to work, cool little lemon slice juicer, huge party boat on the Danuble, busker up at the castle, communist statues in the park, McDonalds meal for 1.5 euro with model inside, rave party the 30th of December in one of the pools, dodgy breakfast in hotel, getting a Panatoni present off hotel, Camila buying Paprika, strange local currency FORINT, Hooters, terrible Bruschetta but lovely pizza in a dodgy Italian restaurant, ice hockey in the pubs, very poor tapa bar, with Hungarian owner brutalizing the Spanish language :0), joint bed and room in hotel, fat kid jumping in the pool and annoying everyone, delicious coconut slide and mulled wine and beer, excellent glass of New Years wine, dodgy light flashing bunny ear costumes,
Bratislava was 3 hours away from Budapest. There was very little on offer when we got there. Some quaint cafes, pubs and restaurents but very little in general. The city seemed vacant almost absent with the exceptions of the tourists around. 1 day is enough to see it. We went to the recommended tourist havens. The castle, which wasn't much to talk about and then the main square which had some nice churches and some cool cafes but very little. For a capital of a country it was very underwhelming. It felt like a small parochial city in Ireland, like a Dundalk or a Drogheda.
Only really thing that was of note was the cool saucer type restaurent on the bridge in the middle of the city.
