We came to Budapest on a short holiday…. many asked us, “why Budapest ?” I’d say why not !! We never been to Eastern . Central Europe and wanted to check it out.. It was a fascinating experience, the history, sights, the people, food and so much more.. We arrived from Zurich at the Budapest international airport around 6 Pm. It was a small airport, actually very small for a capital city. We had a pre-arranged ride to take us to our AirBnb. Thanks to WhatsApp we were able to quickly find our ride and were our on our way. Language is a bit of an issue, but thanks to Google Translate, we were able to converse with the driver. Our Airbnb is in Pest very close to the Parliament building. We were literally 2 min away from the Danube River and so close to a lot of sights and activities on the Pest side.

Before we get into our Budapest story, let’s cover the history, the back story… it is quite fascinating. 

The medieval Kingdom of Hungary was conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1526 and was liberated by the Austrian Empire in 1699. At the end of WW I, Hungary lost more than 70% of its land under the Treaty of Trianon. It is said that many Hungarians still suffer from the “Trianon Syndrome”. There is a feeling that Hungary suffered more than its fair share (and more than Austria) at the end of WW II – more destruction, more losses. (we actually heard these sentiments while chatting with a cab driver)

During the World War II, Hungary fought on the side of Germany, tried to switch sides and fell under German military occupation in 1944.  The Communist takeover happened in 1949 and remained such until 1989. After 1989, Hungary rebuilt its economy, adopted a capitalist system, rebuilt their banking / financial system, redeveloped their education system and built a strong economy. Hungary is part of the EU and has adopted the Euro, but seem to prefer their local currency Forint. 

Fun / interesting facts about Hungary / Budapest

• Hungary is a completely land locked country – surrounded by Austria, Slovakia, Romania, Croatia, Slovenia, Ukraine and Serbia 
• Hungary is known as the “Land of the Magyars”
• Until the Communist takeover in 1948, Hungary had a functioning parliament with a multi-party system. (Soviet era ended in 1989)
• Hungarians speak in Magyar, a language not related to any other European language. 
• Buda and Pest are twin cities on either side of the Danube river
• No official religion in Hungary, Roman Catholic is dominant. During the communist era, it was officially an atheist state. 
• Urban Hungary is dominated by Budapest which is several times larger of any other major city. 
• Budapest is known as the Paris of the East or the Pearl of the Danube
• Danube is the second longest river in Europe (after the Volga in Russia)

Back to our Budapest story… After checking into the AirBnB, we had dinner at the Elysee Cafe right next door.  The Elysee Cafe has a bit of history…the restaurant in Kossuth Ter was started by 3 brothers who worked in various restaurants in London, Paris, and other European cities. They returned to Hungary after WW 1 and started Elysee in Oct 1931. The menu was quite an eclectic mix of traditional Hungarian dishes and the broader European flavors. 

After a good night’s rest, I stepped out in the morning to local cafe to satisfy my morning caffeine craving, get my first cup of coffee or ‘Kave as Hungarians prefer to call it. I read that coffee is the national drink of Hungary… they drink a strong mocha, kind of an Italian espresso. I tried the presszo’kave, did not like it. Finally, I ordered an Americano (black coffee) actually a local version called Fekete. That woke me up. It is STRONG black coffee. 

We started the day deciding to take a walk along the Danube. It was a chilly morning, in the low 50s (10deg C). We walked across the Parliament bldg and across the road reach the Danube. Despite the clouds and chill in the air, it was really pretty. We walked up to the Shoes on the Danube memorial. It was a very poignant to be there and experience the moment. There were 60 pairs of shoes pointing towards the river telling the story of several hundreds may be thousands of Jews who lost lives here, brutally killed by militiamen in 1944-55 during WW2. The Jews who were rounded up in the city were brought to the river, shot dead and their bodies thrown into the river. Often times, they were forced to take off their shoes, which were valuable commodities during that time.

After the Shoes on the Danube, we headed out to find a place to get brunch on our way to the St. Stephen’s Basilica. We wandered around a little bit and ended up at the Pointer Pub. After a quick meal, we walked over to St. Stephen’s Basilica. It was built / consecrated in 1905 in honor of the first King of Hungary, King Stephen. The Pope is visiting Hungary this week and one of his public events will be here at St. Stephen’s Basilica. After some time at the Basilica We walked towards the city park and stopped at the Budapest Ferris Park Wheel. The views of the city from the top of the wheel were quite stunning. 

After the Ferris wheel, we decided to head back to the apartment and planned to take the metro back. The guy behind the ticket counter at the metro station told us we could only buy tickets in Forint which is the local currency. He seemed to have a very violent reaction when I offered him Euros. (I don’t know if it had anything to do with the ongoing currency heartburn between the Hungarian Govt and the European Union. I read reports that Hungary plans to exit the Euro by 2030). We ended up taking a cab and that was a fateful decision as I lost my phone in the cab. I somehow think the guy behind the ticket counter had something to do with this… it was part of a diabolical plan to kidnap my iPhone (forcing me to eventually remotely eliminate the phone from my world). It was quite torturous to see my “kidnapped” iPhone moving around the city ( on the “find my iPhone app) … so near yet so far.. Okay, enough about my iPhone which I still dearly miss … 😣

Dinner reservations were made at a really fancy Lebanese restaurant called Arz. We were treated to an amazing culinary experience. The food, the plating, the cocktails, desert and the service were awesome. Must visit if you like the Lebanese cuisine. The views of the Chain Bridge from the restaurant were quite amazing. One of the must do things in Budapest is taking a ride on the Number 2 Tram that rides along the Danube River. During your dinner, we saw the Tram go back and forth several times and made a mental note that we need to go on this ride, possibly at night when all the riverfront is all lit up and colorful. 

Day 3 ( yeah… Day 2 really) we were off to a brisk start. We were going to the other side… other side of the Danube to Buda. We cabbed it to the Funicular station, this took us across the historic Chain Bridge. The Szechenyi Chain Bridge was built in 1849 and was the first bridge to connect Buda and Pest. It is currently undergoing renovation and does not allow for a pedestrian crossing of the bridge. It is regarded as an ancient symbol of Budapest. We planned to take the Funicular to Fisherman’s Bastion and the Buda Palace. Well… the Funicular was out of service… we bought tickets to the hop-on / hop- off electric cart service that would take us to all the key spots – Fisherman’s Bastion, Mathias Church, Buda Palace, etc. Fisherman’s Bastion (locally known as the Halasbastya) is one of the top attractions in Budapest. It is largely a viewing terrace with lookout towers. It was built around 1900 to commemorate the 1000th birthday of Hungary. The Bastion offers dramatic views of the Pest side of the city. The Mathias Church right next to the Bastion and is a very ornate medieval structure. It was built in the 13th century and the site of many royal weddings and coronations. We took a few pictures from the outside and proceeded the Buda Castle. The Castle is a historic building, a castle and a palace. It is the royal palace built on the top of the Varhegy Hill and offers a majestic views of the Danube River and Pest side of the city. 

Budapest is famous for its hot springs and thermal baths and is known as the City of Spas. There are several many natural warm spring waters along the Danube and feed these thermal baths and spas. The highlight of Day 4 was the visit to the Szechenyi Thermal Bath which was built in 1880s. It is the oldest and most popular Bath. The structure looks like a neo-baroque palace with 2-3 large baths in the center. As we were in the bath amidst several hundred strangers, I could not help but think about COVID and how far we have come along since the dark days of the pandemic. It was a relaxing and fun experience. I read that bathing in these hot springs has medicinal effects as well ( I am still waiting…) 

Before we came here, we read about The New York Cafe in Budapest, proclaimed as the most beautiful cafe in the world and on the must visit list for Budapest. I don’t know if that means beautiful cafe with delicious food or just a cafe with beautifully interiors. Well, there was only one way to find out… we decided to visit the “most beautiful cafe in the world”. The cafe originally opened in 1894 and was a hot spot for writers, poets, artists… like many other structures in Budapest it got damaged in WW 2. It was rebuilt in the 1950s by an Italian group and restored to it’s original glory. The interiors of the Cafe look like one of the palaces we saw in Versailles, very ornate and rich. The chandeliers are very grand and there’s live orchestra in the cafe. The food was quite ordinary, prices extra-ordinary and service underwhelming. That was that… 

After the rather underwhelming experience at New York Cafe, we cabbed to the pickup point for evening Danube River Cruise. This was a highly anticipated experience for all of us for many reasons (unlimited Prosecco was I think on top of the list for a few folks). It was a fantastic evening, no hint of the rain that was in the forecast, the sun shining bright as set sail. I wondered if we would get to see get the splendor of Budapest at night when the parliament and other buildings on both sides of Danube fully light up. We got to see all the landmarks, buildings and bridges on both sides of the river from the open air terrace of the boat. As we sailed past the parliament,  the rays of the setting sun lit up the magnificent building creating a spectacular sight. After about 45 min sailing up the Danube river, the boat turned around and heading back towards the parliament. The sun had gone down by now the the buildings on both sides of the river were now lit up. It was an amazing sight as we sailed by the parliament… just sensational.. see below..

The next morning we headed out to Vienna for a couple of days and returned on Saturday afternoon. Vienna is a 2 hour train ride from Budapest. More about that in my next blog… 

We had one last item on our list in Budapest was to visit the Heroes’ Square.. it is one of the major squares in Budapest. It is also known as the tomb of the unknown soldier and considered a tribute to Hungary’s national identity. This is a large, open plaza with the large column that dominates the square. The column has Gabriel Archangel holding St. Stephen’s crown. The equestrian statues of the seven Magyar tribes chieftains encircle the column. We walked around the square took a bunch of pictures and headed back to our apartment. 

Souvenir shopping was our last activity.. we walked back to the St. Stephen’s Basilica area and got a bunch of souvenirs. As we walked back to our apartment, we walked into this street lined with restaurants on both sides. We found several interesting choices for our last meal in Budapest and finally decided to eat at the hummus bar. Dinner was again amazing… we were treated to several delightful items on the menu..we “found our inner chickpea” at the Hummus Bar. 

Our flight back home was the next day (Sunday afternoon). We had prearranged a taxi to take us to the airport. Since the Pope was in town and was going to address a large gathering near the parliament (right across from our airbnb) we decided to head out to the airport early . We did not want to get caught up in road closures or traffic delays. As we stepped out of the building to head to the airport, we were immediately surrounded by a few secret service agents. They asked us a bunch of questions and then escorted us out of the protected zone. We were able to find out taxi and were on our way back to the airport. 

Bye bye Buda Pest… thanks for an amazing week and many many memories….