DISCLAIMER: As I slowly catch up to this blog, some entries may be out of order. Today, for instance, I'm writing about our trip to Budapest two years ago! We were there Sept. 29 - Oct. 2, 2010. I'm reminded of it now because on of my best friends is about to embark on her own journey to Hungary and I wanted to share with her - and you - the highlights of my trip there.
I LOVE BUDAPEST!
We tasted dozens of tiny, open-faced sandwiches, partied on an old Russian submarine, listened to a string quartet in a palace courtyard overlooking the city, cruised the Danube, soaked in a traditional spa, explored the city's totalitarian past and romantic splendour, took in modern and traditional dance performances and ate a lot of pig knuckles. They were so good! We stayed longer than planned because I was loathe to leave. It was, by far, my favourite of the Eastern European cities we visited that trip.
A rocky start, a heavy-hearted day, a luxurious soak in one of the many spas, or a romantic river cruise … whatever one moment brings in Budapest, the next is sure to change it. Best known as the “city of spas,” it is also a fashion capital, a foodie’s paradise, an architectural wonder, a visceral history lesson and an inexpensive adventure through the heart of Eastern Europe. *
*Although I loved visiting Budapest, if I had to choose one of these cities to live in, it would be Vienna or Berlin
The moment we left the train station, I was enamoured.
Well, not quite.
Actually, Budapest's primary train station is quite a scary place after dark.
Men, shouting and smoking, crowd around small falafel stands and offer informal currency exchanges next to the train tracks. The smell of spices, sweat and marijuana surround them. Ten-thirty at night is not the best time to arrive. It is dark, alien and pulsing with black market business.
We did not have a hotel reservation but (luckily) there is a small internet café in the station.
A few moments and a harried currency exchange later, we have an address and availability but no booking. Taxis line the street outside, and we directed one to our chosen accommodation. There, the front desk assures me the rate online “must have been mistaken” and that the actual price per night is one hundred Euros more than the website had quoted.
Nearing midnight, we finally found ourselves a new cabbie / friend / translator named Laslo and with him a reasonable, mid-range hotel just off Andrassy, the city’s main boulevard.
It was called Hotel Pest. Clean and comfortable, it is located close to bookstores, cafes, wine bars, restaurants, museums, the opera house, the river ... everything you'd want. Breakfast is included in the room rate and includes a buffet of toast, hard boiled egg, salami and fruit.
The hotel is now undergoing renovations and will reopen this Summer as CASATI BudaPEST Hotel. The website is here. Prices range from 60 - 90 Euros per night for a very large, comfortable room with a king sized bed.
Before we arrived in Budapest, travellers we met along the way offered some advice.
“If gypsies are playing in one of the cafés or bars, don’t look them in the eye,” said a man from Ottawa when we met him in Zagreb, Croatia, “You’ll end up buying them all expensive drinks – trust me.”
“You must eat lots of delicate little cakes,” a woman from Montreal told us on the train from Venice.
“Be careful of ladies in the night,” our friend in Bratislava told us mysteriously, “And make sure you do a cruise on the Danube River, although it is not as pretty there as it is here in Slovakia.”
Wary of gypsies (we shouldn’t have been) and hungry for pastry, we took on our first day in Budapest.
I wanted to see what the Habsburgs had left behind, and perhaps re-live a bit of those glory days. Eastern Europe, to me, seemed both a communist battleground and an elegant ballroom. I was ready for horse-drawn carriage rides and waltzes and tea time. And of course there is all of that, and more.
Budapest is a modern, style-conscious city filled with university students (and their hipster nightlife) from around the world. It is also an ancient city, formed by the Turks and the Christians. It is a former Nazi and Communist strong-hold, and a place of celebrated revolution. The layers of history in Budapest are not overlapped, but rather blended together on the surface like an oil-slick. You will visit a dozen eras, each potent and intriguing, every day.
"This city and me, it is love at first sight"
- from my travel journal
(a perfectly sized, black moleskin notebook)
Here's how we spent our three days:
