Budapest was probably the place I had been most excited to visit. I had heard so many lovely thing and I was looking forward to exploring it for myself. I am happy to say I was not even close to disappointed. I was bowled over by this sad but confident city whose history seemed too complex to comprehend, by a beautiful but impenetrable language and by a treasure trove of architecture (I even loved the rickety trams).

** Also do not be alarmed if you do not see Roisin in many of these photos (as most of our friends were), we did not have a huge fight and kick her out of the group. She was however sick the whole time (actually really quite sick – fever, rash, pain, crazy cough – even got a doctor to come to the hostel. The doctor was quite funny though, with colourful nails, bulk amount of rings, seemingly minimal concept of hand hygiene and not super detailed with her diagnosis of “virus and rash”) we were in Budapest, so saw Budapest mostly from the window of our room. However not a total loss – more reason to go back and see more of not only Budapest, but Hungry as a whole! **

We arrived in Budapest late in the afternoon. We caught the train from Zagreb and the views along the way were stunning! There were adorable little villages and homes along bodies of water. We had rigorous security checks – our passports were scrutinized about three times and the train was stopped at the border as they checked various parts of the train including the over head compartments and bathrooms. We decided to take a taxi to our accommodation (after sitting on a train all day it was far too difficult to figure out the public transport and currency exchange with all our bags in tow) and our driver pointed out some of the sites as we made our short trip. Other than not being sure if we paid the right amount or perhaps 10,000 too much we made it unscathed and it was a pretty lovely place. The rooms were large and the owners seemed nice! My only grumble would be that my bed squeaked something chronic and I knew it would keep me up (more so because I would be worried about keeping everyone else up with all my tossing and turning). We were starving so we went to dinner at the closest restaurant which was perhaps a poor decision, half of the food was okay and half was pretty rubbish.

After dinner Sinead and I decided to go for a bit of a stroll. We walked to Margaret bridge at the end of our street and through one of the little gardens. Without meaning to, we ended up walking down to the next bridge and back along the other bank of the river passed Parliament House. Everything was lit up and it looked stunning! Almost fake. Our stroll only served to make me more excited to explore properly tomorrow.

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We woke bright and early for a big day full of adventure. Our first stop was the Eclectic-style Parliament building. We had read online that it could be tricky to get tickets, so we said goodbye to Roisin, popped into the supermarket to grab some breakfast and we were on our way! The lovely lady behind the counter at Parliament gave us all student prices and we secured a spot for the second tour of the day. As we now had a small chunk of time to kill, we went outside to have our own little “photo shoot” with this impressive structure. Designed in 1902, the building is sort of a blend of architectural styles – neo-Gothic, neo-Romanesque, neo-Baroque – and it works! We even managed to sneak in a viewing of the changing of the guards (and they managed to sneak into our photos).

The tour itself was quite interesting. Our guide was James Bond-esque with a suit, tie and scar under his eye. Given the size and active parliamentary use of the building, we only ventured into the North wing seeing just a handful of the 691 sumptuously decorated rooms. The ones we did see included the main staircase and landing; the Domed Hall, where the Crown of St Stephen , the nation’s most important national icon, is on display; the Loge Hall; and the Congress Hall, where the House of Lords of the one-time bicameral assembly sat until 1944. My favourite part of the tour would have to be in the Domed Hall where, even after we had been told multiple times to stay away from the guards because they swing their swords, a woman was almost hit with the guard’s blade! The guard was visibly frustrated at the woman, and the look o her face was one of pure horror – despite that fact that she had ignored our guides instructions, comments from people around her and the guard trying to subtly imply he was about to swing the sword. Crazy.

Our next stop was the Basilica of St Stephen. On our walk to the Basilica we stumbled across Szabadság tér or ‘Liberty Square’. It was a lovely park surrounded by some beautiful and significant buildings, including the U.S. Embassy (which was fortress-like, cut off from the square by high metal fencing and concrete blocks), the former Stock Exchange recently and the Hungarian National Bank (founded in 1924). It also had two playgrounds, a monument that seemed to have protest statements surrounding it, and a the coolest fountain ever. It was sort of a rectangle in design, the sides created by pillars of water streaming into the air. BUT because of sensors, as you approach or back away from a section of the fountain, those pillars turn off and on!

After we had all the fun we could playing magicians in the fountain, we continued on to the Basilica. This neoclassical cathedral was built over half a century and completed in 1905. The interior is quite grand and spacious with beautiful detailing, but seemed rather dark and gloomy (with minimal natural light). The most unique aspect was most certainly the mummified right hand of St Stephen (an object of great devotion) kept in the treasury. We then took a trip up the 364 steps to the dome’s observation deck for beautiful, panoramic views of Budapest. Now – time for lunch!

We ventured over to the Jewish quarter which we were told was now a “foodie” part of town where we enjoyed delicious bagels with salad and met Roisin for a coffee at My Little Melbourne Coffee and Brew Bar (the girls have been hunting for good coffee). It was a very homely place, not much more than a hole in the wall with some seating outside, smelling of coffees, croissants and other yummy things. With our tummies full we headed off for a walking tour to get a bit more of an orientation and some history surrounding this city! Now we have done quite a few “free walking tours” on this adventure so far and have liked them all, however this one was terrible (granted it was a different company than we had used in the past). Our guide was 20 minutes late, had a terrible voice for tour giving (it was very soft) and was not very detailed in her stories. Aside from this we did get to see some interesting things. We went back past the Basilica and through Liberty Square where she explained to us what the protest statements were about. The monument is a Soviet army memorial , the last of its type still standing in the city, which portrays the Hungarian’s as innocent in the happenings of WWII. The people of Hungry have been actively protesting this monument since its erection, and continue to do so. Walking past the Parliament building and onto the banks of the Danube we stopped at ‘Shoes on the Danube’ – a monument to Hungarian Jews shot and thrown into the Danube by members of the fascist Arrow Cross Party in 1944. It’s a simple but poignant display of 60 pairs of old-style boots and shoes in cast iron, tossed higgledy-piggledy on the bank of the river.

We then crossed the Chain Bridge – the oldest and arguably the most beautiful bridge over the Danube. When it opened in 1849, it was unique for two reasons: it was the first permanent dry link between Buda and Pest, and the aristocracy, previously exempt from all taxation, had to pay the toll. Once we crossed over to Buda, our guide took us to see Castle Hill. She showed us the Royal Palace, Fisherman’s Bastion and Matthias Church. Deciding to come back and explore Castle Hill properly another time (let’s face it, we were buggered) we took a moment to watch the odd man with his falcon (weird) and then went back to the hostel to find Roisin and find some dinner.

After dinner Sinéad, Max and I went back along the Danube to have a drink at a bar we saw that looked like fun, and it was! There were fairy lights, hammocks and live music. It was a great place to sit and watch the world (as well as the Danube) float by.

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Our next day started off with a show – a fountain water show! We set off to Margaret Island – a public park in the middle of the Danube. It was a sunny morning and we sat down in front of the large fountain to enjoy our breakfast and the dazzling display of water as it danced along to the music (we even sang along when ‘Let It Go’ played. We spent a large proportion of time wandering around the park cooing at how beautiful it was, how gorgeous the flowers were, how green and lush the grass was and even how big it seemed! Along the way we found the “Petting Zoo” we were looking for. Our tour guide from yesterday had told us – “don’t be too excited, it is more like a farm than a zoo”, but as soon as we got there we knew she was wrong. It was adorable and had such a lovely variety from fallow deer, peacocks, white-cheeked pintails, mandarin ducks, Asian silkies to owls and even rabbits and ponies (okay so yes there were some farm animals, but we still had a great time). My favorite part was probably seeing the absolute glee on this one little girls face when she saw the horses. She could not contain her excitement and it was beautiful.

While Max and Sinéad went off to have a rest, I decided to cram as much of Budapest in as I could, starting at the Hungarian State Opera House. We thought we might see a show if one was on – however it was off-season, and so none were on/available while we were in town. However, one can take a tour of this gorgeous neo-Renaissance building. The tour was wonderful, our guide taking us through most of the rooms (including the theater itself) and giving us an explanation about some of the gorgeous architecture. The tour finished with a two song performance by one of the opera singers which was truly special and showcased the buildings perfect acoustics. I decided to treat myself with a delicious ice cream (in the shape of a flower mind you) as I wandered around the city – up and down some of the most expensive streets in town!

Next on the agenda was exploring the Great Market Hall or Nagycsarnok, the biggest market in Budapest. Even though it was quite touristy, it was a beautiful building and there was tones of fruit, vegetables, deli items, fish and meat. When I ventured up to the 1st floor I found seemingly endless rows of Hungarian folk costumes, dolls, painted eggs, embroidered tablecloths, carved hunting knives and other souvenirs. There was also great Hungarian treats available including foie gras, garlands of dried paprika and as many kinds of honey as you’d care to name. I treated myself to a Lángos – fried bread dough covered with chocolate and runs, and possibly one of the most rich (and at the same time delicious) things I have eaten.

I waked the few kilometers back along the bank of the Danube to meet up with Max and Sinéad for dinner. We went to Evidens Bistro which was right near the Basilica of St Stephen. They had a seasonal menu full of Hungarian dishes and huge portions so we decided to share a few dishes – crispy baked camembert, beef stew served with egg dumplings and a chicken dish with a tasty salad topped off with a local beer. It was delicious. After we couldn’t fit in any more food, Max and I headed off to the Basilica to enjoy an organ concert. The basilica was even more beautiful at night (if you could imagine that), we took our seats and were immediately disappointed as we saw an organ on stage. Surely not! Surely they would use the church organ, isn’t that half the point of having the concert in the church? That they have a huge and magnificent organ right there in the building? But alas, the organ on stage was the one they chose. Once we came to terms with our disappointment, we allowed ourselves to sit back and enjoy the excellent acoustics produced by one of Hungary’s most talented pipe organ players Kolos Kováts. We were also treated to a few flute solos by Eleonóra Krusic a famous Hungarian flute player and the stunning voice of an elderly chap, whose name I’ve no idea, but he was brilliant.

On our way back to our hostel we thought we might stop for a drink at one of the famous “ruin pubs” (a literal translations) of Budapest. They started sprouting up everywhere at the turn of the 21st century, mostly around the Jewish quarter by university students. Each of the pubs are unique in their own way, some with interconnecting courtyards, some decorated with random mannequins, an underground disco several stories up, some with a jungle of plants and some decorated like a secondhand shop with electronic devices, prehistoric toys, old bikes, and even vintage Russian cars. All this and their raved about atmospheres has made them an attraction. Unfortunately because we were so tired, we only went to the one that was closest to our hostel and the price of entry was far too expensive for one drink, so we turned around and went to bed.

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Our second last day was hectic and was our PB for walking distance of the trip so far – 21 kilometers! We started our day exploring Buda and Castle Hill, exploring Matthias Church. From the outside it is very impressive. The pointed spire and colourful tiled roof rise above the streets and there are stunning carvings above the southern entrance. Then we walked in and became speechless. As the church was turned into the cities biggest mosque during Turkish occupation and then back into a church after the Turks were expelled, the result is an odd and wonderful amalgamation of the two styles. Highlights were the remarkable stained glass windows, the detailed paintings on the walls and in the chapels and the medieval Royal tomb of King Béla III. An upper section of the church showed how some of the restorations were completed after the war.

Our next stop was Fishermen’s Bastion, a neo-gothic folly with seven white turrets that looks far too new and well-scrubbed to be medieval. It was built in 1905 as a viewing platform and named after the fishermen responsible for defending this stretch of wall. Unfortunately there is only a portion of the wall you are able to walk along, however the views of Pest and the Danube were superb.

We decided to check out the Hospital In The Rock Museum before lunch. This hospital was used extensively during the siege of Budapest in WWII and the 1956 Uprising and was built into the Castle Hill caves network. We arrived just as a tour was about to start (which was excellent as we had no idea you needed to go on a tour to see the Hospital). The first part of the tour was a video about how the hospital was built into the natural cave system and how it changed throughout the war and Uprising. We then met our tour guide and started our one-hour tour by throwing on some coats (it’s cold in the caves). We were pleasantly surprised by how much we loved the tour! Our guide was excellent and informative as she showed us the network of offices, hospital rooms, operating theatre, bathrooms and control room that were filled with original medical equipment and 100 wax figures. She explained to us how the caves were adapted to work as a hospital, and about the inhuman conditions staff had to work in while tending people wounded in the Uprising. It was pretty gritty stuff. Particularly the last stretch of tunnel which was dedicated to drawings of Hiroshima completed by children.

After we enjoyed some lunch Cafe Miró we headed off to the former Royal Palace to see the National Szchenyi Library. For some inexplicable reason the annual wine festival that was on over the weekend was blocking the entrance to the palace, it’s museums and the library. We went around with a few other stragglers, who were also confused, asking any event attendant we could find if we could just go through to the library/if there was another way around. Everyone looked at us like we were weird and seemed so confused that we would want to access the museum or library. We were told repeatedly (with confused expressions) that we could only access them if we bought a ticket to the wine festival – which I mean we probably would have done if we didn’t have 7 other things on our list of things to do today – but we didn’t want to spend the €40 on a ticket to enter a free library. We begrudgingly started to head down Castle Hill onto our next activity. We decided to venture down using the funicular (which was adorable).

While we were heading toward our next destination (the Cave Chapel) we went up a flight of stairs near the walls of the citadel to a small viewpoint. I happened to see the stairs continued and looked like they might lead up to the Royal Palace and I thought there may be a separate entrance. To Max and Sinéad’s dismay (it was hot and there were a lot of stairs and we didn’t even know if the entrance was up there) I decided to head up to see if we could get in – and we could! Yay! The Castle Museum was huge. It took us through 2000 years of the city over three floors. On the ground floor there were exhibits showcasing Budapest during the Middle Ages, with important Gothic statues of courtiers, squires and saints discovered during excavations in 1974. The first and second floors showed the history through Turkish occupation (as well as artifacts) and beyond, as well as how the Hungarian people have moved forward since the fall of communism in their country. The best part was that the museum was interactive! So as we explored we played with puzzles, pushed buttons and generally ran amuck.

The Cave Chapel was up next, located on a small hill and built into a cave in 1926. Although the video we watched at the start of the audio guided tour seemed a bit … cult-like … it was a very interesting and unique chapel, with a monastery behind it. There was also some beautiful wooden carvings inside.

Finally it was time for the Thermal Baths!! What we had been excited about for days! We were told that the reason Budapest has so many Baths because of a geological fault causing more than 30,000 cubic metres of warm to scalding (21°C to 76°C) mineral water to gushes forth each day from some 123 thermal springs. We decided to go to the Gellért Baths, which was in an Art Nouveau style and the inside almost felt like we were taking a bath in a cathedral. There was eight thermal pools ranging in temperature from 26°C to 38°C, a sauna and even a wave pool. We were actually like kids at a water park – especially when the waves came on! We were floating and jumping, riding the waves and giggling. We were clearly having too much fun because we had the whistle blown at us when we tried to jump up and touch the top of the walls of the pool (oops). We were not allowed in the hottest pool because we did not have a bathing cap (we were whistled at once more as we didn’t realize) but we did enjoy taking turns sitting underneath a stream of water massaging out some of the knots we had acquired in our necks from carrying our packs around. Before we knew it we were getting kicked out of this blissful place.

Tonight for dinner we decided to find some traditional Hungarian food. We wanted to try a variety of things and decided to share Lecsó (a mixed vegetable stew, the Hungarian ‘Ratatouille’), Pörkölt (meat stew in a thick paprika-spiced sauce), Hortobágyi Palacsinta (savory stuffed crepes) and Tokaji (dessert wine).

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We started our last day in Budapest like royalty – with breakfast at the New York Café, the Most Beautiful Café in the World. Just walking into the room caused our jaws to drop. It was like taking a step back in time, where magnificence, charm and sophistication envelopes you. The room was absolutely resplendent. There was frescoes on the ceiling, dating back to the mid 1800s and chandeliers adorning the room. Along the walls were precious Venetian lamp shades, giving off  a soft light that reflected off the gold-plated columns, creating a myriad of colours. The building itself is part of the history of Budapest and Hungarian literary life, once the official offices of the “Nyugat” magazine, the Café was often frequented by painters, actors and intellectuals. To top it all off, the kitchen is run by a 3-Michelin starred chef and our cakes (Passion fruit ganage with vanilla cream and “Dulsy” Chocolate tart with wild forest berry mousse) were to die for. We couldn’t have felt more posh. We became a bit distracted by the splendor of it all and in the end had to run in order to meet up with Roisin at the Terror museum.

The House of Terror (Terror Háza) is a museum and a monument at the former headquarters of the communist secret police (ÁVH). Personally I think it was a great museum, engrossing and evocative, focusing on the crimes and atrocities of Hungary’s fascist and Stalinist regimes. It also explained some of this building’s ghastly history including stories about those detained, interrogated, tortured or killed in the building (the walls were apparently of double thickness to muffle the screams). Even before you enter the museum, the outside walls are lined with photos of many victims, then once inside, the tank in the central courtyard made for a jarring introduction. The reconstructed prison cells in the basement and the Perpetrators’ Gallery, featuring photographs of the turncoats, spies and torturers, were chilling. Even though a lot of the content in the museum was quite shocking, it was displayed very effectively and certainly helped me to understand these periods of Hungarian history a bit better.

Sinéad and I thought we might try out luck on another walking tour of the city with a lighter subject – the Alternative side of Budapest. It was run by the same company as the tour we took on the first day, however we were still optimistic that it would be okay. We were wrong. Our guide was 20 minutes late. In fact ALL of the guides were late. There was not a single employee there from the company to tell everyone what the situation was and that someone would be coming soon. Strangers started asking each other if they were also there for a tour, what did we think was happening, should we continue to wait around.. it was all a bit of a mess to be honest. When our guide did turn up, she had a very irritating voice and as she started to explain what the tour would be like, it seemed very different to what we had read on their website. We were hoping for a tour where we would discover the real Budapest – the amazing street art, alternative living, cultural hot spots, secrets from the 7th district, street food and in general maybe some of the lesser known areas of the city. Instead she describe it as a tour where she would show us what to do, see and where to eat and go out at night. Given we only had one night left (not to mention that was not the type of tour we wanted) we said apologised for our exit and ran for the hills. We could not have been happier as we grabbed and ice-cream and pottered home to rest up before our evening activities. Dinner this evening was pretty hearty, we all enjoyed a huge pasta dish to line our stomachs before Roisin waved us goodbye.

The main event was finally here, the reason we had decided to stay in Budapest an extra night – it was Sparty time!! If you don’t know (which I didn’t 5 months ago) Sparties combine Thermal Baths, well-known DJs playing electro, trip-hop, hip-hop, funk and trance with light, video and laser visual effects and unlimited alcohol. Initially the idea of a rave in a thermal bath both excited and worried me, especially after some of the sordid stories we had heard (and being warned not to go anywhere by ourselves/split up as we were a group of girls) but it’s been running for 20 years, so surely it wouldn’t be that bad right? We had organized to meet up with two of the girls we met on our BusAbout Sail Croatia trip and head in with them (their hostel was taking a bunch of people in as a group after having some drinks in a bar and we thought it would be a good idea to go in a bigger group/we had no idea how to get there ourselves). We arranged to meet at a ruin bar connected with one of the “party hostels” in town and decided to play some beer pong while we waited for Marley and Sarah to arrive. Halfway through the game I saw this blonde girl hurtling towards me, arms stretched out, squealing! Marley! With Sarah close behind her, they were both laughing, explaining they had been concerned they were not going to be able to find us but as they were walking towards the bar, out of the corner of their eyes, they saw a mess of curling brown hair bouncing around and knew it was me! We finished the game and started catching up rapid-fire, like only girls can do. We then start to play flip-pong, which is a weird combination of flip-cup and beer-pong with 3 players per team. It was very competitive and we were literally 1 second off beating the boy’s team. After this game we went to get another drink and ran into one of the girls we had met at both Katie’s wedding and on the walls in Montenegro! What a small world. We managed to lose Sarah and Marley as we still had to finish our drink and run to the bathroom at the same time as their big group started the walk to Széchenyi Baths. As we left the bar, we managed to join what we thought was a separate group of people also walking to the Baths, however it ended up being the same one as the girls, hooray! We only discovered this when we made our was to the front of the group and started speaking to a young guy who claimed to be the “guide”. We didn’t believe his claim (you can’t just trust any guy with lots of tattoos and piercings wearing a basketball jersey at the front of a group of young, drunk persons) and started to question him. In defiance to our line of questioning he started giving us a weird and impromptu tour of where we were walking (which to be honest was potentially more detailed than the one we had paid to go on in this city), including museums, public transport stops, restaurants and bars in the area. As we were listening intently (but also laughing at this poor guy, who was trying to prove himself, and who was probably younger than us) we spotted Marley and Sarah in the crowd ahead and ran to catch up with them. The rest of the stroll was relatively uneventful, except for when we were guided in the wrong direction, which was flooded so we couldn’t get through, and where multiple people slipped over in the grass.

We finally arrived at Széchenyi Baths – one of the biggest Thermal Baths in Europe, with dozens of thermal baths and five outdoor swimming pools (apparently if you go during the day you often see local men playing chess with floating chess boards while bathing). After queueing for a short time, we were allowed inside to buy our tickets, given a wristband with an electronic locker key and a lanyard with a plastic card on it that you can put money on and use as a bank card to allow you to leave your wallet in a locker. We put our belongings in the locker did some people watching as girls in the bathroom were ensuring their bathers (of all sort of weird and wonderful designs and colours) were flattering and making plans for the evening. Now let me prefix this by saying, yes, it was a weird and seedy experience, but it was also 10 times more hilarious than I imagined. As soon as we descend the stairs, it seemed like we were in a different world and from that point onwards, you couldn’t wipe the smile from our faces. It was just such a weird, hilarious and out of control environment that would NEVER fly in Australia. We were surrounded by semi-drunk, semi-naked people, laughing, swimming and drinking from giant plastic cups.

If it weren’t for the pumping music, the flashing lights and lasers, it would be a bit like having a beer in a hot bath, which is not unpleasant. The crowd was all young and people seemed to come from all over Europe, America and Britain (we met very few Australians). The party’s gender balance was in no way 50-50, but towards the end of the night, the phrase “sausage fest” definitely came to mind. There was so many great moments during the night, and I am impressed how many times we “misplaced” each other and managed to come back together (part of that may have been our pure determination to do so) but a few of my favourite moments were:

• Max’s excitement when we found the whirlpool
• Getting stuck in the whirlpool – there was this mini whirl pool thing which was going so fast you actually didn’t have to do a thing, however there was about 3 rows of people so that when you did want to escape it was very difficult. Max and I had to plan our escape and it took us about 3 goes around until we actually made it out, at which point someone clapped our miraculous escape!
• Sinéad was carried away (yes actually picked up and carried away) by a boy, but it was fine because Max swam after him and took her off him, carrying her back to us
• We accidentally ended up looking after a girl for a while who we had never met before, was absolutely off her face, and apparently it was her birthday. She couldn’t stand at all, and kept slipping over as we tried to help her to the bathroom
• Dancing in water is great fun

Gosh I am sure there were so many more moments, but I also think it is just one of those “you have to be there moments”. It was weird and wonderful and certainly a once in a lifetime experience, I am not sure it is something you would want to do every day! But if you’re under 30, enjoy dance music, alcohol, and water, you’ll have a good time.

 

 

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Sadly the next morning it was time for us to leave Budapest. The train ride was undoubtedly the worst train ride of my life that started with Sinéad and Max almost missing the train after a huge line and with me hanging out of our carriage so that I could show them where we were sitting. Initially I thought it was last nights antics, but turned out I was developing the lovely fever Roisin had been enjoying. So instead of reflecting on that great time, let’s take one last look at the incredible and jam-packed last 5 days and why I think it is a must for anyone going to Europe.

From our short time here, it seemed that almost everything of importance in Hungary starts or ends in Budapest. Besides the heady mix of museums and shopping streets, outdoor entertainment areas called kertek (literally ‘gardens’) and ‘ruin pubs’, numerous thermal baths in which to pamper yourself, architecture to suit all tastes and history that is just around the corner, I really think it’s the vibe of Budapest that wins you over. To put it simply, Budapest is a gem of a city.