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| Parliament building lit up at night |
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| Chain Bridge |
I landed in Budapest on Thursday evening and tried to get to my hostel as soon as possible. Carolyn and I had already booked a night cruise on the Danub through our hostel to see all of the monuments light up at night while enjoying a bottle of champagne! We made it just in time. The Parliament building was especially beautiful all lit up. After the cruise we were dropped off at a near by club for some dancing.
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| Former Royal Palace |
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| Fishermen's Bastion |
The next day we slept in a bit and then decided to start some sight seeing. We were staying on the Pest side of Budapest so we headed over to Buda to see the former Royal palace and the surrounding district. To get to Buda you need to cross a bridge. The Chain Bridge is the oldest bridge that connect the two parts of the city. Today Buda castle houses museums, a library, and a theater. Also on Buda side is the Fishermen's Bastion. According to town legend, this section of the medieval town wall was defended by the fishermen's guild, although the reality was probably different. After exploring Buda we headed back to Pest, where a Hungarian Wine Festival was taking place. We decided to get some food from one of the carts and try some of the wines. My favorite was definitely the Rose and Merlot. I had no idea that Hungary produced such good wines! After hanging out at the wine festival we headed to the Opera House. We had bought tickets earlier in the day for Macbeth by Verdi. Our tickets were only about $10 and the show was fantastic. It was a wonderful production with more special effects than I expected. After the Opera we headed back to go to bed early. Our hostel had organized a pub crawl but we wanted to wake up early! If you like to go out at night our hostel was perfect, it was self proclaimed a party hostel, Carpe Noctem Vitae was the real name so definitely check it out if you plan on going to Budapest!
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| Wine Festival |
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| State Opera House |
The next morning we got up early and went to the Szechenyi Bath house near the city park. We wanted to book massages so we went early before having breakfast. We grabbed some crepes for breakfast and headed back to the baths. This was truly a unique and different experience. The bath house was made in the early 20th century and has 15 different baths with all different temperatures. My favorite was the large beautiful bath outside. The day we went it was overcast and chilly but the bath was heated almost like a hot tub so it was perfect for lounging and enjoying the neobaroque architecture of the surrounding building. I highly recommend getting a massage while there. At only $15 for 30 minutes it was a wonderful value.
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| Inside the Szechenyi Bath house |
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| Hero's Square |
After a day of pampering we walked around the city park and visited the castle there. There happened to be a Belgian Beer festival going on. We grabbed some street food as a snack and wandered some more. The park is beautiful and a short walk from Hero's Square. But they had the whole bridge blocked off because they were shooting a movie right next to the Square! Apparently since it's a very inexpensive place to shoot a movie they are always shooting something in Budapest especially since this particular area of the city is reminiscent of Paris. After a full day we went to a nice restaurant for a traditional Hungarian dinner. Hungarian goulash is usually a soup or stew consistency with meat, potatoes, and sometimes a few veggies. It is delicious! After dinner we went out with our hostel to a few live music venues which was a lot of fun. On Sunday we had a few hours before our flight so we tried to go to the Market but since it was Sunday it wasn't open unfortunately....everything is closed in Europe on Sundays! We just wandered and grabbed a leisurely breakfast before heading out to the airport. Overall Budapest was amazing, it had everything to offer a tourist, beautiful architecture, inexpensive, great night life, and friendly people. Can't wait for the opportunity to go back!
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