Did you find some Hungarian wine yesterday? No! Shucks! Okay, then go grab some Napa or Bourgogne Chardonnay instead (I will wait here)…however, I no longer guarantee the mental transport to Budapest! Now sit back, relax and enjoy the parade of pictures…I got a few in this post!
So in Part 2 I will pick-up immediately after our food tour which was basically just us walking home :)…riveting, I know.
Hey, but these beautiful sculptures outside of the old post office were some of the treats that made just a walk back to the hotel remarkable.
Our hotel was right off the “Champs Elysees” of Budapest, Andrássy Avenue. This iconic Hungarian avenue is tree lined and home to luxury boutiques, fine cafes and mansions boasting beautiful facades. It is also the street where I bought my little Herend dish(visual following)…Herend creates beautiful, handpainted ceramics, was once a purveyor to the Hapsburg family and has a Hungarian history dating back to 1826.
Clearly I have a thing for orange this year :)!
This is Steph (look closely for the tiny human object under the lamp post) in front of the Hungarian State Opera. It opened to the public in 1884 and has the 3rd best acoustics in Europe after La Scala in Milan and…yep…the Palais Garnier in Paris (poor Budapest keeps losing the comparison game against Paris 🙁 ).
Beautiful detail at the entrance of the Opera.
Posing on the Széchenyi Chain Bridge.
After picking up my Australian friend, James (who also lives in Paris but was visiting Budapest at the same time) and some quaffable Hungarian rosé, it was time to see Budapest at night…and finally see the Danube!
Budapest is made up of the Pest side and the Buda side. This beautiful view was captured from the funicular ride we took up to the top of Castle Hill on the Buda side. This view is actually a UNESCO World Heritage site and even more spectacular in person.
The Fisherman’s Bastion on Castle Hill.
Photo credit to James.
If the last shot wasn’t enough to make you start thinking about when you are going to visit Budapest…this one should. Magical, oui!?
The seven stone towers with pointed tops symbolize the seven Hungarian tribe leaders, the Magyars, who conquered the country in 896.
Peek-a boo!
James and I looking out of one of the pointed towers in Fisherman’s Bastion.
Matthias Church (Mátyás Templom).
This is located right next to Fisherman’s Bastion on Castle Hill. It was originally built in the Romanesque style in 1051…its Gothic face lift was done in the second half of the 14th century. During the Turkish occupation of Buda, between 1541 – 1686, it became the city’s main mosque.
An imagine of one of Budapest’s most notable landmarks, The Parliament Building, on the Danube.
Another Photo Credit to James. Bravo James.
Uh, can we please eat now?
Steph at Pesti Disznó.
Using his Australian charms, James worked with the concierge at the Hilton on Castle Hill to secure us reservations and a taxi ride down to a little restaurant called, Pesti Disznó. Pesti is known for its chef that cooked for the president and its Hungarian cuisine served on small plates. Goulash as a tapa, perfect!
Okay, still no goulash for me, but we had a delightful assortment of cheeses, salamis and fois gras to pair with our white Hungarian varietal wine. The atmosphere was warm and lively…
…here is James soaking up some of the convivial atmosphere. Or is he just happy to be dining with two women?
Day 3!
The perfect start to any day! Thermal baths!
These are Széchenyi Baths. They are the largest medicinal baths in Europe and were the first baths on the Pest side built in 1913. The warm waters are natural and come from 2 thermal springs from under the city.
The complex is extensive with both outside and inside baths and saunas, all with different medicinal qualities and temperatures. For me the highlight of the experience was 2 fold: 1) being whisked around in a circular pool by the current of the warm water (acting like I was 10 years old) and 2) sitting in a SUPER hot sauna for 5 minutes and then submerging myself in ice cold water….invigorating (if not a wee bit crazy)!
Wave back to James!
Just a note, the collection of men on the left side of the picture where playing chess together. From the looks of it they planned to spend most of the day there…some even packed illegal sandwiches to clandestinely consume poolside….oh, but we caught the sneaks snacking!!
Heroes’ Square at one end of Andrássy Avenue.
As much as we all probably would have liked a nap after our exhausting morning of basking in the warm water (that hot water takes it out of ya!), it wasn’t possible…nor was a shower. We headed from the baths back to the hotel only long enough to drop our wet swimsuits. A tour of the Parliament Building was next.
The above photo captures the “Millenium Monument” in Heroes’s Square. It was erected in 1896 to celebrate the Magyar’s who arrived 1000 years earlier.
Adorable cobblestone walking street in front of hotel.
Waiting to enter the Parliament tour.
The nice man in the beret and red scarf is Robert. He is Hungarian who lives in Budapest and a friend of James. He is also the wonderful soul who scheduled our tour and drove us there in his 4 door Volkswagen vehicle.
I think in this picture Robert is telling us how informative and extensive the 50 minute tour will be….or bragging that he gets in for free while we will have to pay 3500 Hungarian forits.
The Parliament building, finished being built in 1904, was inspired by the Palace of Westminister and is quite impressive on the inside. It is the seat of the National Assembly in Hungary and hmmm….uh well, if our tour guide hadn’t talked so fast I might have been able to include some other cool facts here, but alas….
In the glass box are the crown jewels of Hungary which permanently stay on display and guarded in the Parliament building. The crown in the case is called the Crown of Saint Stephen. No king of Hungary was regarded as having been truly legitimate without being crowned with it.
The beautiful ceiling over the crown jewels.
According to our fast talking, efficient guide we were quite lucky to see the 250 light bulb chandelier lit up the afternoon we were there…only seconds later did the powers-that-be turn off all but about 10 of the bulbs plunging us into a grey darkness. Argh! I wish I would have known before….whelp, no good pictures of the the oldest crown jewels in Europe for me then (thank goodness James got a few 🙂 ).
25 minutes into our 50 minute tour our guide was bidding us a good afternoon and hoping we enjoyed the tour. Huh!? Didn’t we just get started? Okay, lets just get one more picture of the Assembly Hall of the House of Magnates before being herded out.
Poor Robert felt bad. He kept telling us how last time he did the tour it was much better and included being escorted up to one of the outside balconies looking over the Danube. No worries, Robert! We did get to see all 250 light bulbs lit!
Outside, heading back to the car, we saw our guide racing to the bus. HMMMMM! Hot date on this Saturday night? The fast talking was all making sense now :).
After the tour, Robert had to “escape” us to return to his family and we had to return to the hotel to pick-up another addition to our growing party…Angela.
We celebrated Angela’s arrival from Paris with cakes and hot chocolate at Budapest’s famous coffeehouse, Gerbeaud. Above Steph and I are sharing Gerbeaud’s signature “Valrhona” chocolate cake and a dark hot chocolate. Dessert before dinner is always a good idea!
A picture of the Esterházy cake I wrote about in my last post (it is the cream colored cake in the middle).
Steph on Budapest biggest pedestrian steet, Váci utca.
Touristy but worth the visit…and a lovely walk in the evening.
Dinner that evening was at one of Budapest’s more trendy and popular restaurants right now, Borkonyha (which means Wine Kitchen).
Their signature appetizer.
Fois Gras seared with a thin strip of strudel dough on the top.
This was Steph’s favorite representation of fois gras on the trip.
The Irish addition, Angela! With James!
Note James is again with a big smile at a dining establishment…it is probably because he is now dining with 3 women!! How does one man get so lucky :).
After dinner, Robert called. He wanted to take us all up to Castle hill to see the Liberty statue at night.
Taking in the above view was how Steph and I spent our final hours in Budapest.
Thank you, Robert!
The Budapest gang!
The Liberty or Freedom statue (Szabadság Szobor) was erected in 1947 to commemorate Hungary’s liberation from Nazi forces by the Soviets after WWII…which then brought them under a communist regime, so the statue name may be a bit ironical.
She is holding a palm branch over her head. Because of her location on the hill, the monument is visible from almost anywhere in the city.
James would refer to her as “the woman” throughout the trip (ex: We are going to see “the woman” tonight. or Look over there, “the woman!”).
James and Angela under “the woman.”
Viszlát (Bye), Budapest!
Hot baths, great food (although I NEVER did get to eat goulash!), beautiful city with a rich history and wonderful friends from around the world to share it all with…I think that is the recipe for a near perfect experience (perfect would have been if I liked the wine better 🙂 ). Thank goodness Steph wanted to go someplace warm!
For now, bye Budapest! Until we meet again when I take my trip on the Orient Express! 🙂
Plan YOUR adventure: Széchenyi Baths located in the City Park H-1146 Budapest, Állatkerti krt. 11 www.szechenyibath.com Borkonyha (Wine Kitchen restaurant)V. Sas utca 3 Budapest
+36-1-266-0835
www.borkonyha.hu
