After our first day where we slept too much, we came up with a bit more of a plan. Mom had heard from a friend that one has to go to New York Cafe while in Budapest. It was on our hop on/hop off tour and I noticed the huge line. It is known as the most beautiful Cafe in the world. When in Budapest, do as the other tourists in Budapest do. So, in hopes of not standing in line all day, and having woken up before 4 am the day before, we decided to be in line for the 8 am opening.
I woke up at 7:15!. Get up!! We made it out the door by 7:35. The Cafe is just up the road, about 10 or so blocks. We were in line by 7:50. First seating - very good idea. When we left the line was horrendous. But I am getting ahead of myself.
New York Cafe is indeed very beautiful.
We shared the 'French Buffet for two' which came with trays of baked goods, meats, butter & jam, coffees of our choice and fresh squeezed orange juice. It blew the food budget for the day, but totally worth it!
After that, we had one goal. Use our hop on/hop off to get to Margaret Island, which is in the middle of the river. And stop in some places of interest on the Buda side of Budapest.
To my very uninformed brain, Pest, the side we are staying on, seems to be the 'modern' part of the city. It's flat and has the business and government stuff over here. Buda is older, hilly and has the big ticket tourist stuff like castles and, well, more castles. And one kick-ass view of the iconic Parliament buildings.
First stop, Castle Gardens. Very civilized hilliness here, I think we managed to find both an escalator and an elevator!
Some random pictures of the river as we crossed.
 |
| Just a river transit stop. It'll be a couple of minutes... |
Once we were up in the 'castle' area, it is a while little city up there. Roads and shops and restaurants, and of course, castles. Or maybe just one, it seemed to go on forever. Very lovely art scattered here and there.
 |
They've got a real thing for lions here, especially lions triumphantly standing on snakes |
 |
| The views of Pest are incredible |
 |
| This is the most amazing sculpture of a hunting party. I wish I could give you a million pictures of the details of all of the characters |
 |
| Paprika and creepy dolls are everywhere |
We couldn't figure out how to get back down to river level. We finally found the funicular but it was $30!! and they did not have a one-way option (we only wanted to get down, not back up) so we just kept walking along the castle grounds.
 |
| a very confidence-building sign to the staircase down |
Finally, we were back at river level and there was the beautiful Parliament building, the one on every postcard, t-shirt and cloth bag, right there as big as life.
 |
| Margaret Island |
Now what? We had planned to spend the rest of the day on the island. We had even brought out bathing suits to visit the 'baths'. Wander, that is always the answer to what to do when travelling.
We wandered on over to the other side of the Parliament buildings.
 |
| Margaret Bridge detail |
 |
The building is only important if there is a lion in front of it |
A little walk back to the main drag to hop back on and go home. It was a full day of walking. I wanted to do some laundry (free laundry in our hotel/hostel!) and we had smuggled some sandwiches from breakfast, plus we had some bits and bobs of cheese and yogurt and snacks so we just stayed in for dinner. Early to bed as we still adjust to the jet lag.
The next day, our goal was to go to the Grand Market. It is close to us, and the hop on/hop off (which we don't technically have today but we never got scanned on the first day so I think we could have gotten away with it) has cancelled that bit of the route due to flooding (which seems bogus to me since the road isn't flooded, but maybe they take the low road, seems fishy to me but it's fine) so we walked. Was that sentence even readable. I'm sure you'll figure it out. We walked to the Grand Market.
It opened at 10 am since it is Sunday. We got there right after 10. I know because all of the church bells were ringing. Almost everything was closed. There were a few centre stalls open. I bought some fancy chestnut honey. But it was a bit of a bust. I don't know if I even took any photos. Ah, I took a picture of cheese because the descriptions (names?) amused me. Bear Attractor Cheese, Cheese Matured on a Bed of Hay, Cheese Matured on a Flower Bed.
So, we went to the 'glass whale'. This is a glass structure that was built to somehow attach several old brick buildings. It is right behind the Market and right on the river. The only sign of life was in the outdoor cafes on the water side. Otherwise, another bust.
Then we crossed the Liberty Bridge. I have to say, they have some pretty bridges here.
We didn't really know what was on the other side. Turned out a beautiful old bath house. We went in but we did not bathe. The buildings here are so gorgeous. No one skimped on the decor back in the day.
 |
| Ceiling |
 |
| Lobby |
 |
| A bit of floor detail |
Right across the street from the baths is a hill with a Church cut into the rock. I convinced Mom to walk up the the next level with a stature and the Church entrance. As it turned out, the church was closed for Sunday Service but the door was not quite closed and there was signing coming out of that slightly open door. What's a girl to do? Break in, of course.
I got as far as this hallway before I knew I was about to crash mass so I turned around. Mom has wisely stayed outside. Maybe the catholic in her or maybe the desire to not get arrested in a foreign country?
There were trails heading up. Mom planted herself on a bench with her book and I headed up for a better view with fewer people.
Back across the bridge where we found a Bridges of Budapest Museum tucked in one of the two toll houses, the only two still standing after the war. It was just one room with a bit of history of the building of and then destruction of and then the rebuilding of the bridges of Budapest. WW2 was not kind to the bridges of Budapest.
Since the church bells were now ringing noon and services were over, we gave the market another try. There were more stalls open but we only bought some honey, and we did that during the first visit.
We found a very touristy street with shops and restaurants. Mom finally got her goulash that she has been wanting since we got here. Followed with some ice cream as we made our way home.
Back to our room for a nap (mom) and some blog updates (me). I had made a reservation in a 'michelin recommended' restaurant called Tati (Farm to Table). Umm, YUM!. We had some very fine Hungarian red wine. I had the lamb, Mom had the chicken paprikash. I think only so she got to say paprikash, or maybe that was me in my best 'When Harry met Sally' reinterpretation.
And that was our last full day in Budapest, at least until we return for our flight home in a few weeks.
For your WHMS memory book.
No comments:
Post a Comment