Budapest

The entry below details my time in Budapest - Sept 23 - 25, 2014.

Sept 23, 2014:

This morning is filled with train travel from Vienna to Budapest.  I specifically booked a morning train to force me to get up at a decent time, plus I arrived in Budapest by 1 PM, so I still have part of the day to explore.

Last night I had been reading recommendations from a wonderful neighbor who has visited Budapest numerous time (thanks Karen!).  I started to notice a trend, most everything she recommended is on the Pest side...plus she said specifically stay in Pest, not Buda.  I hadn't really noticed where my hotel was, I had merely booked the Hilton using points several months ago, thinking that it looked very central.  Unfortunately I discovered that my reserved hotel was on the Buda side.  Last night I rationalized - it is only for two nights, I can use the subway, etc.

This morning I did more research - there's only one subway line that goes to the Buda side and it only has 3 stops, none of which are near my hotel...so I made the first hotel adjustment of the trip.  First I checked the cancellation policy of my hotel - luckily just had to be done by 4 PM the day of check-in.  I did a quick scan of Hiltons and Marriotts to use points, but no options.  I found a SPG property - a Le Meridian that had a good Accenture rate and quickly booked it (no points reservations available).  Then I cancelled the Hilton and was glad to see the points immediately back in my account.  Let's hope it was a good decision!!

Off to the metro station and after one quick connection I got to the main train station.  Still about 45 minutes before my train, so I had time to grab a quick breakfast.  

The train was listed as platform 6, but when I went there, it was an old, dilapidated train and around me were many other folks looking confused.  I asked a train rep at one of the doors and learned that it was not the train for Budapest.  I started walking back to the terminal when another worker started saying 9 in German.  In all honesty I only figured out what he was saying once he also held up 9 fingers and pointed in the direction of another platform!  I did go by the terminal to check the board again to make sure that my translation of his hand motions were correct.  Quickly got settled in for a 3 hours ride to Budapest!

I arrived at the Budapest train station and immediately was searching for tickets to buy my train ticket to Krakow as well as the ATM.  There were no elevators or escalators in sight...just lots of stairs.  I saw a ticket kiosk and tried to use that, but it was only for the local metro (wherever that was!)  I did find an ATM - had to think several times about how much cash to get...the conversion rate is about 242 Forient (Ft) per $1 US.  

As I was waiting at the ATM, I saw an office for International train tickets.  Bingo!  As I walked there, I didn't see any lines, so thought it was looking good.  Then I walked in...it was a huge room that was straight out of my Communist-era nightmares.  All of the agents are behind glass, there are at least a hundred weary travelers sitting on luggage and backpacks and a grim look on everyone's faces.

I noticed that there were digital numbers appearing above each agent.  So I started looking for the number tabs.  Finally, in the far corner, there was a tiny machine with 5 buttons.  The best I could understand, one of them said "tickets" so I pressed that button and got number 413...they were on 358.  As I settled in for a lengthy wait, I started noticing numbers in the 100's, 190's, 770's and 230's also being called.  I continued to wait and was surprisingly patient.

I started to take note of folks - who arrived before me, who arrived after, etc.  My patience started to wane as I noticed folks who arrived after me were being called up.  They had numbers in the 700 series.  Finally an American looking guy next to me asked how long I had been waiting...about 25 minutes at that point.  He had been waiting 45 minutes.  We both commented on the numbering system and the inconsistency of the numbers being called.  We both went back to the machine and pushed different buttons...and got more numbers.  Now I was 787 and he was 786.  He was called immediately and I was called within about 45 seconds.  I think the button we both pushed was for tickets for trains leaving within 2 hours.  I apologized to the agent that I may have pressed the wrong button (as I was stuffing my old number in my pocket!), but she didn't care.

She was quite helpful and relatively efficient considering that she was manually writing out my ticket!  No wonder the woman in Vienna couldn't book it for me...nothing about it was computerized.  She even pulled out a pre-printed sheet that she referenced, there was lots of punching buttons on a small calculator and she announced 176 euros for a sleeper car - Sold!  When I looked to book this train before leaving the US it was over $350 US, so this was a deal!

I thanked her many times and then asked her where the subway was located.  She said downstairs...ugh...no escalator or elevator with this 70 pound bag.

I kept looking down the large staircase and saw no sign of a subway line.  I walked around more and even walked outside, then I noticed what appeared to be signs pointing to a metro....and even better an elevator in the middle of the square.  All that was in the way was the 8 stairs out the front door of the station.

Once in the metro, I fought a few rounds with a kiosk before successfully getting a ticket.  There were guards standing at each entrance - no skipping without a ticket here!

Luckily I had an easy trip, just 3 stops on the train.  Once back on the street, I was in the middle of a square and it took about 30 seconds to understand where I was and that my hotel was just right beside me.

The lobby was quite nice and the front desk person was efficient.  Since I had just made the reservation this morning, I was fearful that I wasn't showing up in their system just yet.  He made a few calls and then finally told me that housekeeping needed about 10 more minutes on the room.  He offered for me to sit in the lobby and gave me the wifi code.  It ended up being only about 5 minutes.  When he brought my key, he also brought a coupon for a free drink in the lobby bar.

The room had obviously already been pre-assigned to someone else - Mr. and Mrs. Jones - as their welcome letter and Platinum gift were on my desk!  There was a knock at the door soon, with my welcome letter and gift...so I was double gifted.

I got unpacked (not so much since only staying 2 nights) and started looking through my guides to figure out what to do for the afternoon.  When I get checked into a hotel initially, I get inertia...it is so comfortable in the room and it is a little scary to go out into a new city and get oriented.

But I did force myself out of the hotel around 4 PM.  I didn't have a plan - just start wandering the streets near the hotel.  I always assume the worst case scenario is that I have to take a cab back, so always have the address of the hotel written on a piece of paper to show the cab driver.

My first reaction when walking around - wow...things are expensive!  This is the exact opposite of what I expected.  Perhaps it is just the area(s) where I am walking.  But a single post card, which is my typical souvenir is 250 Ft....so over $1 US.  Most other cities have been about 10 postcards per $1 US.

I take a few pictures on my first walk around town.

And I found a Christmas store...unfortunately it was ridiculously expensive...this picture was before I went inside:

After about 2 hours I started walking back to the hotel.  There was an outdoor market that I strolled through for a while.  I found some reasonably priced keychains for my Christmas ornaments.  

I asked the concierge about my dinner reservation - all set for 8:30 as requested earlier today.

I changed clothes and headed down to the bar for my free drink.  This is one of the first times on the trip that I have actually gotten "dressed up" for a proper dinner.  Typically I'm just wearing whatever I've worn all day.  It felt nice to going to the bar for a pre-dinner drink and then thinking of a great dinner ahead.  I got a Hungarian blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc.  It was surprisingly good.  I also enjoyed the complimentary popcorn.

I walked to dinner - just about a 5 minute walk across the park.  The restaurant was heavily recommended by the concierge for traditional Hungarian food.  I got a great table upstairs and faced a group of 4 people all night - they were speaking French to each other, but English to the waiter.  They got a few dishes that were prepared table side, so that was fun to watch.  We made eye contact and laughed at each other a few times - including a huge entree that one of them had ordered.

I started with a "pancake" that was stuffed with minced chicken, then covered in a paprika sauce and bit of sour cream.  Then I had pork tenderloin with potatoes covered in goat cheese and baked.  It all came with a paprika sauce.  

From dinner I walked another block away from the hotel to see St. Stephen's Basilica illuminated at night:

As I walked back to the hotel, my attention was captured by the huge Farris Wheel.  I walked over, it was still going, so I bought a ticket.  I got an entire car to myself.  I was thinking of Tina, Bridget and Amy the entire time after our fateful Chicago Farris Wheel ride in July.  I only got butterflies in my stomach once - I had been switching seats for pictures when the ride completely stopped.  I was near the top and the car continued to swing rather wildly.  I tried to stay very still and finally it stopped...just as the wheel started again.

Back to the hotel and off to bed around 1 AM.

Sept, 24, 2014:

Another sleep late day...got up around 10 AM.  Out the door by 11:30 after evaluating which of the hop on/hop off bus companies to use.  I finally decided on the Red bus...not the brown, green or blue.  They all have a major stop directly the across the street from the hotel, so it has been too easy to get information about all of them, thus confusing myself on which to select.  However, as I learn over the next two days, having a stop so convenient, I can easily stop by the hotel from time to time.

My plan was to start the tour and then get off at each stop where I wanted to explore rather than do the full tour first.  The tour started and soon we were traveling down Andrassy St.  There were many high-end shops here, then it turned very residential...but all of it was lovely with trees lining both sides.  The first metro line in Europe is also under this street.  It was built in 1896.  Surprisingly it is only 15 feet underground.  I took a ride on this route a little later in the afternoon and much of the trains and stations look to be original.

My first planned stop was at Heroes' Square.  When I saw it, I decided to stay on the bus.  It really is just a big square and I got the effect of it from the bus!  I wasn't planning to visit either of the museums there, so not missing much.  Plus the bus only arrives every 30 minutes and there's no way that I needed 30 minutes for this square.

We traveled along the eastern bounds of the seventh district, then headed back towards the city center, going past the New York Cafe, Astoria and Ferenciek Tere before crossing the Elisabeth Bridge to the Buda side of Budapest (named after Empress Sisi who I learned so much about in Vienna! - at one point she and her husband also beame the King and Queen of Hungary).

This was as you entered the Buda side.  There is a big waterfall below it that didn't fit in the picture:

Once on the Buda side, we went through a rather large tunnel through the mountain:

Geography side note:  Budapest is made up of two formerly separate cities - Buda and Pest.  Buda is on the west side of the Danube River - it is very hilly and mostly residential.  Pest is on the east side of the Danube River - it is very flat and a hub for restaurants, nightlife, shopping, etc.  If you ever travel to Budapest - you HAVE to stay on the Pest side.  If you stay on the Buda side, you'll end up spending a ton of money and time getting back and forth from Pest.   In my short time there, the best thing I saw about Buda was the views of Pest.

When we arrived on the Buda side, I exited the bus at the Castle District stop.  This is the area where my originally booked hotel is located....I am SO happy that I changed hotels last minute.  In this area are Fisherman's Bastion and Mattias Church.  There was some reconstruction of the sidewalks and roads going on this area so a little difficult to maneuver.  The Church was lovely and decorated quite vibrantly with paint.  Just prior to a Turk's occupation in 1526, the followers of this church covered their beloved statue of Mary with Jesus behind plaster.  The Turks used this church as a Mosque for a few centuries.  When there was another battle over the country, the plaster covering Mary collapsed.  With Mary looking out over them, the Turks ran, thinking it was a sign and did not contest for this part of the city.    

The next three pictures are really all the same Mattias Church from the exterior...a few sections have very colorful roofs.

And now for the colorful inside (all done with paint and was very recently restored):

Close up of painted walls:

Close up of one portion of a window:

The famous Mary and Jesus statue:

The Fisherman's Bastion is also quite wonderful.  It was only built in the early 20th century, so looks much older than it actually is.  The seven various towers offer fantastic views to Pest.

I spent about an hour exploring the Buda Castle District area, and saw my bus driving past as I walked to the stop...was still about 5 minutes away from the bus stop.  So I had to wait another 30 minutes.  Luckily I had a semi-melted Twix bar in my bag to have for lunch since it was after 1:00 at this point.  I ended up walking past the bus stop since it appeared there was more on top of the hill.  Sure enough, there was a look out point with views in the opposite direction - further into Buda, away from the river.  What a nice surprise.

Finally back on the bus...the next stop was for the Citadella and incredible panoramic views of Pest at the highest point on the Buda side.  I was debating if I was going to get off the bus...luckily there was a 5 minute stop, specifically for picture taking.  It was a solid 1.5 min walk each way...I put it into overdrive to beat all the other folks that were still trying to determine which direction to go!  I was the first one there, so got some prime photos and was heading back to the bus quickly.

The rest of bus tour was nothing spectacular and I was merely riding it to get back to the start and a quick stop at my hotel.

It was about 2:30 by the time I got back...and was needing more than the Twix bar.  There was a take-away, by-the-slice pizza place near the hotel.  I grabbed a slice of cheese and took it back to the room.  

My plan for the afternoon was to visit the Old Synagogue, the largest in Europe.  I had watched a video from Rick Steves about it and had heard that it was a must see from 4 other people.  I walked from the hotel and found it within about 10 minutes.  Unfortunately what I found were locked gates with the following sign.  Ugh...I guess the next time I'm in Budapest!

I was rather taken aback.  I was expecting the Synagogue to take about 1.5 hours, then I was going to head off for a mini-spa day afternoon treat.  I had read that massages were quite reasonable in Budapest and after weeks of pulling, pushing and lifting my suitcase as well as toting a messenger bag around all day, I deserved a little splurge.  

After a few minutes of regrouping on a bench outside of the Synagogue, I decided to hit a few shops that a neighbor had told me about - focused on china and glassware.  This put me into a few areas that I had only riden through on the bus.  First a walk up Ambassy to the China store.  The had exquisite things, but all outside of my price range for this trip!  

The Opera House was about a block away, so what a nice idea - a tour of the Opera.  Strike two of the day - tours were over for the day and the Opera for Wed night was sold out.

Inside the Opera House lobby:

From here I rode the first metro of Europe...admittedly only about 3 stops.  

I was near St. Stephens so decided to check it out during the daylight:

Next up was the glassware store.  I ended up finding two that were very close to each other.  Again, very lovely things, but the prices with shipping were far beyond my range for the trip.  

Some very unique flowers outside one of the glassware shops:

At this point, I was nearing the time I had planned to go for the spa appointment, so I headed that way.  

The massage was a relaxing treat and luckily not terribly expensive since the quality of it was mediocre at best.  Perhaps there is something to the old saying - you get what you pay for.

After the massage, I was starving and ready for dinner.  I had found a small cafe last night - Reuben - that looked fantastic.  The menu was very reasonable.  After some struggles, I found Reuben again.  I walked in and there was a large party on the right side of the dining room.  Other random tables were occupied on the left, but several were empty.  I got a waiter's attention and indicated that I was one person for dinner.  He said that the restaurant was closed for a private event.  Really?  I'll admit that there was one large party, but I heavily doubt that they were connected with anyone else in the restaurant.  Plus there were no signs about it being closed.  The specials board was still hanging outside with today's date.  I was so stunned all I could say was, - "really, the entire restaurant?"  He confirmed again.  Strike three for the day!

I was completely unprepared for this wrinkle.  I was so mad too that it took me a few minutes to even think about what I was going to do.  I just kept thinking about how I should have responded differently to the person at the restaurant.

The two places that came to mind were the other places that the concierge had recommended last night - the restaurant at the hotel or the higher-end sister restaurant to where I ate last night.  As I walked back to the hotel, still fuming a bit, I ended up closer to the restaurant from last night, so that was the default decision.  I wasn't dressed very nice (REI pants and a UA shirt) and this was supposedly nicer than last night, but thought I would give it a try.  The worst they could say is no.

As I approached, I was greeted very nicely and got a wonderful table outside on the sidewalk area, directly under a heat lamp.  The outside space was almost full and there was a nice buzz among the tables.  I noticed the same group of four that was next to me last night were only two tables over - we waved and laughed at each other.

I started with a cold goat cheese spread with pistachio oil.  It came out more like a creme brulee with a crusted top.  For the entree I had pork tenderloin with a side of bread dumplings and a pureed vegetable (one I had never heard of, but it tasted like cauliflower).  

After dinner, I headed back to the hotel and sat at the bar.  I ordered a glass of the blend that was free last night and journaled about the day.

Off to bed around 12:30.

Sept 25, 2014

I woke up not long after my alarm, but was slow to get ready.  I started looking at Facebook and e-mails...and then got a warning that I was low on storage on my iPad, so I started deleting like crazy.  I have downloaded a ton of travel apps for the trip, without using most of them.  I deleted any app for cities that I've already visited.  I had downloaded a bunch of new apps last night for all of the Asian countries, so that put it over the edge.

I got ready and mostly packed and out the door by 10 AM.  Another breakfast of the free Platinum eclairs.  Glad that I got Mr. and Mrs. Jones' eclairs since I've had them for breakfast the past two mornings!

I decided I would take the hop on/hop off bus again today since the ticket covered two days - just the yellow tour.  It overlaps some with the Red line that I took yesterday, but covers some additional areas of Buda and goes by the Central Market in Pest that I really want to visit.

The yellow bus was waiting when I walked out.  The first 20 minutes on the bus was deja vu of yesterday.  Same stops and same commentary.  After those ticking minutes, finally some new information.  The "Whale", the Siko and several other places were all interesting to hear about.  Several pictures from this mornings bus tour:

The "Whale":

A "tram" going up/down the side of the mountain in Buda:

Parliament:

I got off the bus at Central Market.  My neighbor Karen had told me that her husband Robert's parent's had a shop here years ago and that I should visit the area.  It was very fun - tons of incredible looking produce and vegetables I had never seen before as well as many meat, game and poultry stands.  I had heard on the bus this morning about Paprika being an international specialty of Hungary, so I decided I had to buy some.  I shopped the entire market before making my selection.  Tons of factory made paprika, but only a few shops had a homemade paprika.  I bought four different types - sweet, hot, smoked sweet and smoked hot.  

I spent an hour at the market and walked out just as a bus was sitting at the stop.  I only had to go about 3 stops to get back to the hotel.  I thought I would do lunch nearby after stopping in the room.  I looked at the menu for the hotel restaurant and the 2-course lunch looked fantastic and very reasonable price.   I asked the concierge to make a reservation for me at 1:45 - it was 1:30 at that point.

The restaurant was mostly empty and they had reserved me a window table, already set for one.  It was fantastic and provided wonderful people watching during all of lunch.  

There were 3-4 options each for both the starter and the main.  I ended up with cream of potato soup with bacon to start and then Dixie fried chicken with buttered mashed potatoes for the main course.  The chicken was incredible and has gone done as one of the best lunches of the trip.

Lunch was over around 2:45.  I had just over an hour before I needed to check out.  I stayed in the room and journaled during that time.  

At 3:55, I went to check out and leave my bags for the afternoon.  The clerk was very helpful and had me check the bill.  The way that things are split out are very confusing.  My lunch was split into three separate lines and the wine from last night two separate lines.  The room was 5 different lines.  It all looked right.  

After checking out, I headed towards the Chain Bridge.  This was the first bridge built to connect the cities of Buda and Pest.  During WWII, all bridges connecting the two cities were bombed - all of them (except for the Elizabth Bridge) were rebuilt to the original design.  Initially I was only going to walk about half way and then turn around, but the lighting and sun were terrible for pictures in the direction of Buda, so I walked the entire way to have the opposite light on the way back.  That took less than 45 minutes.

I saw the Parliament in the distance.  It is the only major sight that was on my list and that I hadn't seen.  So from the bridge, I made a hard left, walked along the river to Parliament.  Along the way I stumbled on a memorial to many Jews who were killed during WWII by being shot into the river.  Quite moving - small statues of their shoes lined the walkway.  Each is a pair of shoes in a walking stance.

Parliament was huge - Hungary claims the largest in Europe, but I've read conflicting info that it is the 3rd largest.  Regardless, it is very big.  It was built relatively recently and the costs were so high, it could have built a small city for over 60,000 people (per the Hop on/Hop off bus commentary).  It was closing for the day, but seeing the outside was enough.  

Not far from the Parliament, as I was trying to find my way back to the hotel (I keep getting so confused in the "circles" and "squares" in Budapest), I ran across a familiar face.  I don't remember his influence in Budapest...need to research more.

By this time I was done!  I headed back to the hotel.  It was only 5:30, but I found a comfortable chair in the lobby of my hotel and settled in for over an hour to journal.

Around 6:45, I got my bags, grabbed dinner to go at McDonald's and got on the train.  I was at the main train station by 7, but my track wasn't yet listed.  After getting some more cash this afternoon, I had about 2,500 Ft to spend.  Seemingly harder to do than it sounds.  After getting a Coke, three waters, M&Ms, a magazine and Paprika chips, I still had over 1,000 Ft.  I guess that will be a souvenir.

The train track was posted - #6 - and I headed that way.  I passed many, many cars - each looked worse than the last.  Small cabins with 6 bunkbeds - 3 stacked on each side.  Then 6 seats in a cabin. 

The car numbers increased, then decreased.  I was getting a bit worried.  At the next to last car there was an attendant.  I asked about car 360...he said one more.  Two girls had the doorway blocked with their bags which I set aside for them.  After I boarded some elderly women asked for help with their bags, so I carried them up the stairs for them too.

Luckily the agent was quick to take my ticket and show me to my room.  It is....small, but surprisingly comfortable.  I like to think that I'm adaptable.  I'm sure many would object to this characterization!  I got settled, determining the best place for my suitcase, etc.  There's not much space, so only so many places it can go.  Luckily I have this room by myself, but other people are sharing this same space with a second person that they know.  The top bunk for me is lifted almost to the ceiling, so it feels more roomy.  For the other folks, the top bunk is lowered to the middle of the wall...so the room feels so much smaller.  The "closet" on the right, is two hangers deep with a curtain covering it.  Most of the closet is dominated by a ladder to climb to the top bunk as needed.  Across from the foot of my bed is a table...and I later discovered has a sink underneath it.  The far wall - at the foot of the bed and opposite the door is the window with multiple shades.  There's about 6 different lighting options, I never figured out all of them.

When I think about train sleeper cars my only memory is from MaryJo's story on "Designing Women" about an overnight train ride during her honeymoon.  If you know that episode, please laugh with me...if not, never mind or message me privately.  I think I've wanted to take an overnight train since seeing that episode in like 1991.

As soon as the train started moving, then I closed and locked my door.  

I cracked into the now cold McDonald's burger and fries.  The burger I ordered doesn't exist in the US and was the closest I saw on the menu to a cheeseburger, but was more like a Quarter pounder.

We were about 20 minutes late leaving.  More time for sleeping in the morning!  We headed out and then reversed course.  I assumed we were getting more cars or something.  Then we headed out again, but again reversed course.  This time we came all the way back into the original starting point.  After I finished my dinner, then I opened my door just in time to see police going through my car and most everyone else in my car out of their cabins.  Evidently they were looking for someone who had jumped on the train.  We finally left on the third attempt...almost 45 minutes late.

After journaling and enjoying some music I was ready to turn in for the evening.  This is the first night of the trip that I used the silk sleeping bag that Mom had given me for Christmas - in anticipation of the trip.  The "sheet" provided looked rather suspect.

The trip seemed fast.  I felt asleep easily and stayed asleep until my alarm sounded at 5:50.  We were to arrive at 6:20, so I wanted some time to get ready for departure.  I can sleep through pretty much anything...so I can now add overnight train ride to that list!

When we arrived in Krakow, we were almost an hour late, so I got to watch much of the countryside go by.  It was also raining quite heavily.  The rain might dictate my plans for the day...