An American Monster Geek in London: Budapest

Yes, we are on the move again. This time, it is Budapest, Hungary. We are taking another trip, because next month we will be renewing our UK Visa for another 2 years, and that means being grounded in the UK for 2.5 months, so this is the last trip out of the UK that we will be taking for a while.

I'd always wanted to visit this city after helping to build the iconic Chain Bridge for I,Spy, back when I was at Sony.

For this trip, we decided to try the Hungarian low cost airline, WIZZ air. I've always joked that their slogan should be, "Because everyone needs to take a WIZZ." They fly out of Luton Airport, which is a ways outside of London, so as usual, we were up at 3am to catch the bus, to catch the train, to catch the bus, to catch the plane. Having to show up at the airport 2.5 hours before ones flight makes you long for the ease of the Eurostar train service to the mainland, which in some cases can actually save you a lot of time.

Having got up at 3am, and being at the airport now 2 hours later, we worked up an appetite. Thankfully, they have a decent food bar, where we are able to grab a breakfast. We didn't have a beer, as it was only 6am, but it was amazing to see how many people were. And most of them skipped having the breakfast to go with it. . .

Upon landing, we were greeted by many posters advertising, Dental Tourism. Evidently, it is quite common for people to make trips to Budapest to have dental work done. Granted, the pound goes quite far in Budapest. . . It reminds me of Americans going to Mexico to have similar dental treatments done. Very interesting.

We took the bus to the Metro station, and caught the train into town. The trains are older and of soviet construction, but they are very retro looking and in excellent condition. And remarkably clean. It is clear that the people here have been taught to take good care of things. Something many Londoners could do well to learn.

We stayed at La Prima Fashion Hotel, which was only 2 blocks from a metro stop, and very centrally located to all of the sites that we wanted to visit. It is also right off the main tourist shopping and dining street, Vaci Utca. It is a small very elegant and affordable boutique hotel.

Our room was a good size and very comfortable. I would highly recommend it.

We walked from our hotel down along the Danube River. With the clear exception of the Marriot Complex, there are many beautiful buildings, and we enjoyed the warm afternoon air.

Before long, we arrived at the Chain Bridge. It was so beautiful in person, and confirmed itself as my favorite bridge in Europe.

Aside from its unique construction from plates arranged to form a chain as opposed to your traditional stone or cable, it was the first bridge built to connect the two towns of Buda and Pest, and forged them into the single city we know today as Budapest.

It was heavily damaged in WWII, but has been restored to its former beauty.

Directly across the bridge is a tunnel that goes under the castle hill, and a funicular that will take you up to the top. You can walk up, but this way is easier and a lot more fun.

And the views are great on the ride up!

Once at the top, we followed Rick Steve's "Castle Walk" tour.

We saw a statue of an eagle holding a sword that represents the eagle that brought the Magyar people (modern day Hungarians), to this location and showed them where to settle.

Because of the Danube River, this area is famous for fish, and there is a fun statue of some boys catching and playing with some fish. Very cool.

The long Danube terrace is a lovely walk with amazing views. There is a equestrian statue of Eugene of Savoy, but as this is not a working palace, and most of its current appearance to post WWII reinvention, there isn't much to see here. . . except of course great views of the bridge.

Tony and I snuck into see a large fountain in a back courtyard, where coincidentally a Goose Liver festival was going on. Evidently, Hungary is the second largest producer of Fois Gras in the world (second only to France). I do love Fois Gras, but as it was a private festival, and we were escorted in to see the statue, we didn't feel comfortable staying there for long.

We were invited to try a shot of Palinka, which is like Schnapps. We tried the cherry and apricot flavors. Tasty, but very strong.

With a bit of a buzz, we continued on with Rick's walking tour, which took us past an old military headquarters, which still shows tremendous damage from gunfire in WWII. It was surprising to see a building in what is obviously a high rent area that is not in use.

We wandered on admiring the beautiful buildings and the pleasant afternoon until we arrived at St. Stephen's Cathedral. It is a beautiful church built in the late 1800's over a much older church.

Unfortunately, it was closed to the public for a wedding, so we didn't get to see the inside.

A Hungarian post box.

Of course, we ate our way through Buda, stopping to try a Kürtőskalács, which is a spiral pastry rolled in cinnamon.

We also ducked into Ruszwurm, a small cafe, for an espresso. Like Vienna, Budapest is known for a strong coffee culture. And they do make a good cuppa. It is a real throwback having been started in 1828. It has certainly seen its share of history having survived the seiges of 1849 and 1944.

The cafe has survived the Nazis and the Soviets. Guess they all like a good pastry now and then. We had the Ruszwurm Cream Pastry (also known as a Napoleon Pastry). It was delicious.

We continued our easy walk and found another equestrian statue that students touch for good luck. I won't say where on the horse they touch for good luck, but it is very polished, and I couldn't get Tony to go touch it.

We also found what I believe was a Soviet era statue attempting to honor the spiritual aspects that make up the Hungarian culture.

We passed the Hilton Hotel, which is built on the remains of an old dominican church, and incorporates a lot of the remains of he church into its architecture

We wandered over to a Fisherman's Bastion that was built in 1890 to honor what used to be a Fish Market. Now it is a pretty promontory housing a restaurant and many great views.