This past weekend we managed to visit a city that we’ve always wanted to see. Of course, Budapest has a great fame for its historical and interesting architecture but also for being so individual within Europe along with being the capital city of Hungary. With its long history, along with it’s relatively recent history of being at the centre of the vast Austrian-Hungarian empire who’s heyday was from 1867 to 1918, being the second largest country in Europe at the time. The two countries were treated equally, something that is probably seen pretty innovative or different for the time.

So there is no surprise that is no shortage of interesting things to see in Budapest. Our trip to Budapest started late on Friday night, in fact 5 minutes to midnight. Luckily there wasn’t any delays to the flight, which is of course exceptional, but the time that we saved from the flight was simply wasted on the transport that I had arranged. The previous day I had ordered a shuttle service which provides transport between the airport and where ever you need to be, however after waiting about an hour it was probably worth taking a taxi, which is apparently twice the price of the shuttle but still cheaper than a London ‘black cab’. Let this be a lesson to those you plan to arrive at Budapest around midnight.

 Eventually we managed to find the shuttle and start moving towards the hotel. Fortunately the hotel appeared to be well known and pretty central so there were no issues getting to the place. So after an interesting drive we arrived and managed to say hello to my parents, have a shot of some local vodka (called Palinka) and finally get some sleep.

The next morning was hard, as we woke up relatively early having gone to bed at about 2am. My parents had recommended a tour through the ‘hop-on hop-off’ buses which was a good idea considering we had about 1 and a half days in the city, the only issue was that there was a gay pride parade due that afternoon which mean parts of the city were to be closed. Therefore we had to be done with our sightseeing by 12pm/1pm.

We ate our breakfast, which was difficult due to the early morning hour, at around 9pm and then proceeded to walk to the bus stop to purchase our day tickets. It was now near 10:30am and worried that the bus wouldn’t arrive on time for us to give a comprehensive tour. The tour guide, who sold us the tickets, was kind enough to walk us to another stop that was having the bus arriving in a few minutes. So after a brief wait we were ready to finally see some of the city.

The tour took us around took us around the city and took about an hour and a half hours. It was good to get a sense of perspective of the city and determine where was what etc… After the tour we decided to step out and explore the city on foot for a short time. It was hot but it was still comfortable to walk, and we had about an hour to kill. We got off near the Opera House which was an interesting renaissance styled building with many statues.

For the next hour or so we browsed the city on foot looking at some high end shopping streets to come more run down areas and everything in between, providing an interesting mix. Surprisingly we didn’t get lost and discovered the hotel was actually on Vaci Utca (As Balasz described it to us, it is the Oxford Street of Budapest), which means even more shops and thing to see.

Having returned back to the hotel it was time to see the parents and for a short siesta, as we were pretty exhausted from the late bed time, early start and running around in the heat. So we were off to bed for a short time. After this we managed to walk around the town crossing two of the three major bridges that spans the Danube, partially walking up the Citadel and walking past the Castle which was being renovated or extended.

The city was pretty quiet for us, but of course we were not complaining. Perhaps an observation from us as we are used to the hustle and bustle of London.

After our walk, it wasn’t long when we had to start preparing for our evening outing, which my parents arranged. The outing was a cruise along the Danube with dinner and music, etc… So after dressing a bit of waiting and walking we were ready to cruise. The entry was a bit of a cattle herding (i.e. we were rounded together and stuff into the boat like cattle) but fortunately the boat was large and managed to accommodate all the guests comfortably.

We managed to get a dinner table near the window with great views of the city outside. After a enjoyable cruise, where managed to capture the city’s landmarks on our cameras, we disembarked having enjoyed a good meal, drink and views. Back in the hotel it was time to wrestle with the cork of a bottle of Tokaji and eventually having my dad and I drink most of the bottle. Needless to say, we slept well that night.

Our last day we decided to wake up early…ish, which is 9am for Iz and I. We proceeded to breakfast and discussed our plans for the day. We eventually decided to visit the Budapest Baths (Szechenyi Baths) situated at north of the city. Fortunately we were near the metro station that had a direct line to the metro station closest to the baths. We walked to the Metro station and after a bit of confusion and a bit of stress over buying tickets we managed to take the Metro. The trains appeared to be a bit out dated but they definitely had a character, it was like travelling in a 1920s film.

So arriving at the destination, it appeared to be pretty communist influenced with its simple and functional design. The confusing thing initially was the change rooms which serve as an entrance/exit to the bathing area. Upon entering the change rooms it is not too clear but the bench serves as a lock, that is needed to be slid to lock the two doors, as well as a typical bench for changing. Within the inside there are modern lockers which programmed to be locked by the bracelet that we received when we paid our entry. Pretty smart system, I must say! anyways… it was finally off to the baths. The complex is deceitfully large with at least 20 pools that we saw. These range in temperatures from about 20 degrees Celsius to about 38 degrees, which I may add was really hard to swim due our muscles simply wanting to relax. There are some other interesting pools that consist of a whirlpool effect, different element compositions and saunas (not that we actually went into one). The probably the most popular area were the three large pools that were situated outdoors with a warm pool (about 34 degrees), a ‘training pool that only allowed people with swimming caps and lastly a recreation pool that also consisted of a central whirlpool area, that was very popular with kids. What made these pools the most popular was definitely the ability to catch some sun rays while soaking some of the refreshing water. Eventually we had to rush back to see my parents for a what we had planned as final meal.

Returning back on the metro again turned out to be pretty straight forward, mainly due to us having bought the tickets before hand. We didn’t much time left in Budapest, as my parents had already checked out but Izaskun managed to sneak into some last minute window shopping. However, it did transpire that our lunch that we had planned was deemed as not required so we ended up looking at more shoes shops (yes – still not sure what it is about girls and shoes). After this it was off to the airport where we waited in a long time to simply get a print out of our boarding pass, as British Airways refuse to integrate with the self-help machines there.

Our short trip came to an end with a last meal of chicken schnitzel, quick goodbye and a last minute dash for the flight. Turned out that we were the last people to board which was pretty surprising as the gate was only open for about 10 minutes. I suppose it is the typical attitude of airlines to make us wait for hours and then make us rush in a few minutes, but anyway… overall the the trip was short but amazing. We would definitely be interesting in visiting Budapest again, next time more than just 2 days thou.