Busy in Budapest

We had planned on taking a night train from Munich to Budapest but the option was much more expensive so we decided to leave Munich earlier on the daytime train.

Our accommodations in Budapest were slightly different.  We booked a room from City Square Apartments that included a kitchen and a washing machine.  Maren noticed that the reservation said something about calling about your time of arrival and it is really good that she did because there was no front desk, just a guy with a tupperware container full of apartment keys who met you and led you a couple blocks away and took your money.

The apartment was in a building with a small old church in its courtyard. We got keys to the apartment and to the huge heavy wooden double doors at the front of the building.  The windows from the apartment opened right onto the main pedestrian thoroughfare that led right to the Central Market.

Once we dumped our stuff we went out to wander.  We found an upscale cheeseburger bar, Good Bar Good Burger, where we got top notch mini-cheeseburgers (and veggie burger).  We next found a Tesco-Express to stock up on supplies.  Most important lesson learned is that when you are trying to pick out beer and you don’t speak the language, choose which ever one has Demon in the title.

The next day we hiked up to the old Buda Castle and sat in the café in the courtyard. (There was construction going on which was Maren’s favorite part.) There were archery and spear-throwing activities – an interesting tourist trap we hadn’t seen elsewhere. We climbed a huge hill to the Citadella, an old fort built during rule by the Habsburgs that was a site of serious fighting during World War II.  There was a series of paved trails that crisscrossed the whole mountain.

We took the subway (350 HUF [~1.5USD] per single ticket) to a little out of way the traditional Hungarian restaurant, Pozsonyi Kisvendeglo, which a couple people on Tripadvisor suggested.  The food was fantastic and immensely cheap. We enjoyed goulash, a starter, fried pork and mini dumplings covered with sour cream and cheese, plus (several) drinks for $27.

To finish the evening, we took a nighttime cruise up and down the Danube.  Budapest is especially beautiful at night! The river is lined with cruise vendors and it was easy to walk up and make a reservation.

Our last day in Budapest we started at the Szechenyi public baths.  It is a big complex of huge heated pools and saunas. There are several in Budapest but this had the best reviews. It was 8700 HUF ($39USD)  for the two of us, including a locked changing cabin. You get a waterproof wristband that unlocks the cabin or your locker. It's a pretty simple but efficient electronic system.

For lunch, we went to Budapest’s huge central market and got some grub.  The food places line one side of the second story, and each has delicious food out on the counter.  Almost everywhere you go in Budapest there are amazing food smells. (Except the lower level of the market, which is for the fish and pickled things.)

After that we stopped by the New York Café, a famous restaurant on the bottom floor of a huge historic building built for an American insurance company in the late 1800s.  The interior of the building was crazy ornate, and we got a crunchy peanut cake that was to die for.

We finished out the night at Szimpla Kert, the most famous of the Budapest ‘Ruin Pubs’.  District VII is apparently has a number of bars in old abandoned buildings.  Szimpla Kert was the first of these and is in an old factory with a big interior courtyard. We caught the live performance and enjoyed some beer and Strong Bow cider in one of their car booths.

On the way home, the ticket dispenser at the metro was broken, which seemed a chaotic thing to have happen at midnight but the metro guys just said “No tickets” cryptically and we rode until we found a station with tickets. Well, it was some random dude selling tickets; Maren was not pleased but we made it home without any trouble. 

Budapest was a great stop not just for the sights and the people, but also the cost. The exchange rate was approximately $1USD = 220 HUF (Hungarian Forint). So, a beer never ran more than about 600 HUF or less than $3. In some places we could get 2 drinks for $3. Or our favorite economic measurement is kebabs – everywhere so far had been 1 kebab for 5 Euros ($7USD). In Budapest we stopped for kebab takeaway and got a chicken and a falafel kebab for 1100HUF ($5USD).

Next up: Bus ride to Ljubljana, Slovenia.