Budapest day 1 – A look around Castle Hill (Buda Castle and Royal Palace)

August 23rd 2008 – 11:56 am – Budapest (Hungary)

I’m in Budapest!

I’ve studied briefly my tourist guide while on the airplane, so there are many things I  don’t know yet… anyway, one thing I know is that the town on the west side of the river is called Buda, while the east side is Pest. The Ferihegy International Airport is in the east part of the town. I’ve booked a cheap apartment in Pest, along one of the most famous street among tourists: Vaci utca. I think “utca” means street or something like that. We’ve walked in the area around Castle Hill in Buda: it’s a small hill where the Royal Palace was built, there’s a nice view of Pest (picture) and almost nothing else I suppose.

a view of Pest from Budapest Castle Hill

Tomorrow we’ll go back there to see some museums. We went to a Restaurant called “Fatal” for dinner (it’s near Vaci utca): it was full of tourists and they served huge non-typical dishes full of fried food (mainly meat and potatoes). Don’t go there, it’s not even cheap (€20 per person). There’s a 24 hour shop near our apartment in Vaci utca: we took there some water, italian coffee and two beers. Now I’m so tired! Goodnight!

Our apartment in Budapest is in Vaci utca

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Budapest day 2 – Mosquitos in Budapest!

August 24th 2008 – 11:03 pm – Budapest (Hungary)

I woke up very late, but I had such a bad night thanks to… Mosquitos!
I didn’t know there are so many mosquitos in Budapest!!!

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Budapest day 2 – Budapest, a sleepy city (lucky times are over)

August 24th 2008 – 13:33 pm – Budapest (Hungary)

I think Budapest is a kind of sleepy city. The Golden Age of Budapest was two centuries ago, now it’s a eastern European city (almost) forgotten by the western countries. It seems to me that Budapest is not even a capital city. The buildings are very nice and probably the overall quality of life is ok, but something tells me that lucky times are over.

Budapest - The Crow of Matthias Corvinus in Buda Castle Hill

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Budapest day 3 – Budapest, a city split in two by the river, and 9 bridges

August 25th 2008 – 12:22 pm – Budapest (Hungary)

Yesterday I went to the highest place in town: the Grellert Hill. Our Apartment is in Vaci utca, and it’s a long walk up to the hill. Grellert Hill is 235 meters high and offers a nice view of both Buda and Pest. I crossed a white bridge to get to Buda, and then walked up hundreds of steps to get on the top. By the way, on the top there’s a fortress built in 1849 and never used, and there’s also a fake Nazi bunker which, in fact, was not used because the Allies regained Budapest well before the bunker and the aircraft defenses were completed.

Statue on top of Gellert Hill in Buda

The bunker museum with a dozen of wax statues is not worth the ticket price (1200 Ft – almost 5 euro!). In the evening we went to a pub called Godor Club, a nice atmosphere with many young people and not too many tourists, 5 minutes walk to the most famous church in Budapest.

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Budapest day 3 – Budapest Castle Hill and Nyugati train station

August 25th 2008 – 10:54 pm – Budapest (Hungary)

Today I’ve been to Castle Hill again, but I’ve walked a lot around the castle, thus seeing many interesting things. Now I’ve got it: many buildings in Budapest are not old at all, they’re all renewed because almost everything was destroyed during the two world wars.

Budapest Royal Palace in Buda Castle Hill

I went to Nyugati train station: a wonderful building made of iron by the Eiffel company in the XX century then I walked back home.

Budapest Nyugati train station

Oh, I took the subway to move from Castle Hill to the train station: the trains are old but the stations are modern and clean. Tomorrow I’m planning to visit the Parliament and the Istvan Church. I’ll move to Bratislava on wednesday: I’ll stay there for a couple of hours then I’ll go back to Budapest by train.

Budapest Subway

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Budapest day 4 – Istvan Cathedral and Parliament building

August 26th 2008 – 5:46 pm – Budapest (Hungary)

After a night of relaxing sleep thanks to a brand new anti-mosquito device, finally I went out before midday. I climbed on the top of Istvan Cathedral: nice view of Buda from Pest, two days ago I had a nice view of Pest from Buda.

Istvan Church in Budapest

Then we went to the Parliament Building: there were no tickets left for today, maybe we’re coming back on thursday or friday. The Parliament Building is nice, but I think the London one is a lot better.

Budapest Parliament Building in Pest

Anyway, we had a long walk to the Square of Heroes: a big square with a tall column in the middle.

Arpad Statue in Square of Heroes (Pest)

We took the subway to go back home from there: the trains are very very small and comfortable, so cooool! Budapest is definitely a city you can visit walking, there’s no real need of taking subway or buses, the city center is very small!

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Budapest day 5 – Going to Bratislava by train, from Keleti Train Staion

August 27th 2008 – 8:11 am – Budapest (Hungary)

So I’m going to Bratislava today. Only one day.

You would ask why. Well, make it simple: Budapest is a small city, and I wanted to see something else. Tomorrow I will probably visit the city park and the Synagogue, but today I’m walking around Bratislava, which 200km from here. The train leaves from Keleti Station (Pest East) and it takes approximately 3 hours from Budapest to Bratislava. The timetable reads 9:30-12:12 (Budapest to Bratislava) then 19:42-22:32. The 2nd class round trip ticket costs less than 4.000Ft (16 euro).

Keleti Train Station in Budapest

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Budapest day 5 – Back from Bratislava

August 27th 2008 – 11:44 pm – Budapest (Hungary)

I’m back in Budapest after a 1-day trip in Bratislava. Oooooh, Bratislava is so beautiful!

I think that Bratislava is probably more beautiful than Budapest. It’s smaller but there are many ancient buildings, paved roads and nice squares. The Bratislava Train Station is 20 mins walk from the downtown, which is a car-free zone (well, at least during the day). There’s a castle hill in Bratislava too, even if I’m not sure it’s called castle hill (anyway there’s a castle on a hill). Three century ago Bratislava was one of the two capital cities of the austrian-hungarian empire (the other one was Vienna), that’s probably the reason why it’s so nicer than Budapest, which is a more modern town.

Bratislava - A statue in the main square looks at the Old Town Hall

Anyway if you plan to stay in Budapest for more than four days, think about spending a day in Bratislava: it takes 3 hours to get there, but it is definitely worth the trip!

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Budapest day 6 – Wake late, then going to Budapest City Park (Varosliget)

August 28th 2008 – 1:59 pm – Budapest (Hungary)

Oooooh, I love to wake up late on holidays! I’ve just had breakfast and now we’re going (me and my friend Cesare) to buy some food. Then I’m going to the City Park Varosliget, north-east part of Budapest. That’s the park behind the Square of Heroes. Anyway, I’m blogging this… hahahah.

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Budapest day 6 – Too tired (or too lazy) to go anywhere, we went to the Westend Market (North of Budapest)

August 28th 2008 – 6:39 pm – Budapest (Hungary)

We were too tired to go anywhere, in the last 4 days we’ve walked a lot! So we went to the Westend City Centre Market, which is in the North-East part of the town, I don’t understand why it’s called the “Westend” Market. Anyway, it is worth the trip on the subway: the Westend Market is a big (not huge) indoor market with any sort of Hungarian food, mostly meat and hungarian salami. We bought salty croissant made with cheese (veeeery good!), some fruit (peaches are very sweet), salami, bacon and würstels. The prices are very low, this market is a lot cheaper than the small shops in the center of the town.

Budapest Market (Westend City Center)

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Budapest day 7 – And now what? Budapest City Park or Margaret Island?

August 29th 2008 – 12:38 pm – Budapest (Hungary)

This is my last full day in Budapest. I’ve already been to the most important attractions in town, now there are only two areas left: the city park north-east of Budapest, and Margaret Island. I don’t know where I’m going today, probably city park, anyway my holiday is almost over, and I’m getting a bit bored of this city. It’s something about how I feel: Budapest is big but there are not too many things to see, to do and to enjoy. I’m watching the Obama speech at the Democratic National Convention on CNN right now, and I can tell that Budapest is a city without dreams: it is going on and on but there are not dreams left for this city. As I told you before about the golden age of Budapest I feel that lucky times are over. Let’s see this d*** island!

Budapest Margaret Island on the Danube

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Budapest day 7 – House of Terror in Andrassy street

August 29th 2008 – 7:59 pm – Budapest (Hungary)

I’ve been to the House of Terror in Budapest: weird museum. It’s all about Nazi and Communist tortures. Well, probably we need places like this in order not to forget the terror of the dark years of nazi and communist regimes, I don’t know, but all I took home from the House of Terror was a bad feeling. I didn’t feel as I went to a museum, but I felt as I went to a place full of hate against the foreign invaders. If you go to Budapest I recommend you to think twice before going to the House of Terror, maybe you could go the Hungarian National Gallery in Castle Hill instead.

Andrassy ut: a street with many fancy places in Budapest

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Budapest day 8 – Budapest Castle Hill then Ferihegy International Airport

August 30th 2008 – 5:28 pm – Budapest (Hungary)

I’m at the Ferihegy International Airport, and this is the last post about my holiday in Budapest.

What can I say more? Not much.

Probably I would expect something more from Budapest, but I saw a wonderful city which was a great surprise: Bratislava. If you’re planning to go to Budapest, try to get a train ticket to Bratislava, it is 3 hrs by train and it is worth the trip. By the way, the Airport is 25 mins by TAXI from Budapest city centre, and I think the average fare is 20-25 euros (we paid 20 euro by a private car).

Budapest to Ferihegy Airport – 25mins ride