Wow Budapest! written by Marvin

We arrive around midday on Friday and without any trouble find ourselves driving across the Danube, WOW what a sight.  It is Unesco listed for a reason and the architecture is breathtaking.  We are thankful again for the built in GPS as there are myriad of one way streets to negotiate.  We are staying at Elite Apartments on the Pest side of the Danube about 10 minutes walk away.

 

 

 

 

We settle in and quickly plan the rest of the day.  First stop the Central Market built in 1896 and reminds me of St Pancreas Station in London with it’s iron/steel construction.  Tasty sights and smells in all directions, with fresh produce on the ground floor and easy eats on the first floor.  Anne went for the Goulash and Katie and I had the original street food bread cone with baby sausages, onions and sauce. Delicious!   Connor had two large sausages and chips which came back to haunt him later in the day.  Again his eyes were bigger than his stomach.

We walk across Elizabeth bridge and head up to the Citadel for a view over the city.  By chance there is the Red Bull Air Race on the weekend so Friday afternoon is practice day so we are watching the planes whizz past down to the river under “Chain” bridge, through the inflatable pylons and back again.  A wonderful sight to witness.

 

 

Back down to the river we walk along until we reach the Funicular up to the Castle District.  We have heard it is a heat wave in Europe so are suddenly very aware of 34 degC.  We witness the changing of the guard on the Presidential Building, explore along the cobbled streets until the Fisherman’s Bastion with great views out to the river and Parliament Buildings.  We finish the day with a dinner cruise and watch as the sunset plays across the river creating a kaleidoscope of colour on the buildings.

 

The next morning I manage to find an establishment (Thanks to Jack Doyles Irish Pub) which allowed me and another couple of kiwis to watch the Super Rugby final.  Not the result I was hoping for (the Highlanders too good on the day), although great to see plenty of Taranaki players on display.  Roll-on the ITM cup.  IN the afternoon we split up and went to few shopping centres, before Connor and I headed for the river and watched the Air Race.  We were even closer this time, right on the river with the planes whizzing past at 200 kph.  Again very hot, along nothing a couple of local beers couldn’t sort out for refreshment, and the largest candy floss that Connor has ever had!

 

That even we went to MindQuest in an old ruined pub.  We had 60 minutes to “steal the diamonds” (one of about 8 challenges you could choose from) using clues hidden the room (well what actually turned out to be two rooms).  Good fun for the family and cost about 33 euro.

Sunday was a walk along Andrassy Utca (Avenue) which is again Unesco listed due to amazing Austro-Hungarian architecture including the Opera House and House of Terrors (see Connor’s separate post).  The House of Terrors is a museum now, detailing the regime of the Soviets following WWII.  Vivid video interviews dating back 20 years with survivors of the era in the early 1950’s.  Again something I wasn’t really aware of, so good to learn more history.

We walked the length of Andrassy to Heros Square and adjacent park and had promised the kids a swim at the thermal baths.  Sounds silly in mid 30’s heat, although great to splash around in the water all afternoon, and try out various temperature pools both in and outdoors.   We took the Metro (underground) back into town.  One the oldest in Europe, and built just below the surface, on Andrassy at least (ie. the road is built on the railway most of the way).

 

Dinner at a Bistro before one last walk along the river to catch the night lights.  Simply beautiful. 

Budapest appears a very liveable city, and some place we would like to visit again in the future.  A wonderful sense of ease with integrated transport (trams, trolley buses, buses and Metro) along with plenty of pedestrian zones, with the back drop of the river and Castle Hill.  If going there be sure to book accommodation in the city.  We loved Elite Apartments and would recommend them to other families travelling.