All I know is it wasn't what I expected.
3 days, 4000km by air, 600km by train and more than 35km on foot later and 2 extra countries can be marked off as "visited".
And, unfortunately, even though it was fun and I saw some really great stuff, neither of the two cities managed to claim a spot on my Places to Revisit list.
Without further delay, I present to you my visit to Budapest.
Only the comfort of having cheap flights from my town keep me using Ryanair or Wizzair. Though both do their job quite capably, they have seriously strange flight days and times. Or probably only to the places that I want to go.
Either way, I only arrived at Budapest airport at almost midnight Saturday night. Grabbed the shuttle to Madach Square in the centre of the old town which left 30 minutes later, and arrived at our destination after 1am.
Although you couldn't really tell that it was that late. It was dark, the city lights were on, traffic was a breeze, but there were still a lot of people on the sidewalks. Most of them moving between clubs, I assumed from the body language and shouting, since I don't understand a word Hungarian. Also, most of them had booze in hand.
One of the first warnings you read about touristing is that you shouldn't look like a tourist if you can help it. Keep maps out of sight unless you're inside a shop or restaurant, etc. Basically, don't be a target. And after the Hostel movies and some scary stories of guys being lured into clubs by girls and left with bills of thousands of Euros for drinks, I was a bit nervous.
So, like usual, I adjusted my backpack and started my casual stroll in the general direction of the hotel some 2km from the drop off point. Luckily I reached it without incident. (Managing to jump over the stream of pee from a homeless man on the sidewalk doesn't count as an incident. If I had stepped/slipped/swam in it, it would.)
My hotel (in daylight). Right next to the Elizabeth Bridge which crosses over to Gellert Hill upon which lies the citadel and the Liberation Statue. The statue (locally known as the bottle opener) celebrates the Soviet Liberation of Hungary from Nazi's during WW2.
Unfortunately, due to time constraints, I did not climb up the hill, or visit the Gellert Baths. The hot springs of Budapest is also well known and there are several baths in the city where people go to relax. Personally, I don't have the need to sit in warm water for hours. I prefer myself raw. Unlike some people in those Hostel movies...
Sunday morning I took to the streets. Or rather, I took to the promenade lining the Danube.
It was really nice and peaceful, with only a couple of people walking their dogs, jogging, or shuffling (the older folks) along.
It seems as if the Hungarians (and the Slovakians) really, really enjoy statues. And a lot of them rather random. Among others I saw a bowing Shakespeare, a girl and her dog, a dying or dead buck, a very tired guy sitting on some steps, a freak on a bicycle and a green painted cow.
Of course, there is also the popular little (unhappy?) princess with the marvelous view of Castle Hill in the background.
Some of the statues that I like the most, however, are the lions. They have a lot of lion statues.
Guarding the Chain Bridge on both sides.
Guarding the courtyard of the Castle.
Also, guarding the Parliament Building.
Another one of my favourites, is this funny fountain that probably depicts a royal hunt. It includes the popular folklore hero and King Matthias Corvinus. For some reason, the surname corvinus sounds very familiar to me. He ruled Hungary and Croatia from the age of 15 and was known as Matthias the Just. He was also (even though he had royal blood) ELECTED as King and ruled with individuals chosen for their skills rather than their status, which was a new thing in the 1400's. Enough trivia? ok.
The following are a couple of other statues at the Castle.
The first is a mythic Turul Bird, messenger of the gods.
The second is probably some King or ruler, but the only hungary I know is the one my stomach speaks.
And then there were also these two, each on one side of the Castle Doors (now a museum).
One seem to warn you away, while the other tempts you with forbidden fruit.
From the castle, I headed to the Fisherman's Bastion and St Matthias church. Renamed after the popular King of course. And I still have this nagging feeling that his name has been used in movies with conspiracy theories etc. Apparently he had the greatest library of that time, but most of it was distributed throughout europe after his death.
Unfortunately, I had no cash on me, otherwise I would have loved to hold an eagle. Perhaps someday, somewhere.
There were lots more on Castle hill that I inspected and photographed and enjoyed, but if I write about them all and post every single photo, the internet might break.
Suffice to say, that there are a lot to see on the hill, but eventually I had to make my way back to the Pest side. My first stop was a Burger King, because my stomach was speaking fluent Hungry.
After that, I headed to the Parliament building.
Of course, I had to cross the Danube once again.
And it really is Blue.
I finally reached the Parliament building, along with some of the plaza's and statues surrounding it.
Another stopping point was the Shoes on the Danube. A memorial depicting the shoes that was all that remained of Jews that were shot and fell into the Danube during Nazi reign in Hungary.
My next stop was St Stephen's Basilica. A massive church in the heart of the Old Town.
This was followed by a walk down Vaci Utca, the popular tourist shopping street.
The street ends at the Great Market, which was unfortunately closed on Sundays.
After a long day's walking, I headed back to the Danube to put my feet up on one of the boat restaurants, specifically "the Spoon".
The rest of the day was spent meandering around the old town, snapping pictures of whatever caught my eye until it was time to get back to the hotel to get a good nights sleep.
The train leaves early for my next destination: Bratislava.
No comments:
Post a Comment