Once two cities divided by the Danube River, Buda and Pest unified in 1873. Budapest is the capital and the largest city in Hungary. We had a nice weekend trip where we were only armed with our Kérem (please), Köszönöm (thank you) and Szia (hello, which is pronounced a bit like "see ya").
All in attendance: Kristen and Eric
Back to Milan for a cheap WizzAir flight. Due to poor planning on my part on not get cheap "earlybird" train tickets, we had to pay the full way to Milan on Friday since our flight was at 22:35 on Friday. No matter since the flights were a cheap 56€. There are 3 airports in Milan but I still have only ever flown out of Milan Bergamo/Orio al Serio.
Arriving in Budapest in the night, we followed the crowd towards the night bus connections that would lead us into the city center. We stayed at Adagiohostel on Friday night for 7.85€ each. We stopped along a 24 hours convenience store on the way and got some tasty granola bars and a few drinks and hung around in our hostel room for the first night. The front desk guy as well as the only 2 other guests staying in our room were all German too!
Caving "Reception" Building
The next morning we took the tram and bus to go caving under Budapest on the Buda side. Many caves run all under Budapest and our guide took us through a whole bunch of narrow squeezes and tight fits all for a cozy 5000HUF (17.32€). Our guide (Leslo?), kept calling us "really slick" which I really enjoyed. It was my first caving anything and it was extremely fun and tiring.
And anyone who knows how weak my joints are will ask: did you dislocate anything? The answer is yes, my shoulder popped out once but a quick relocate was all I needed. Laughable is that Leslo made us sign a waiver after the whole things was said and done.
Sweaty and smelly, we went to the Great market Hall by the Liberty bridge. Cue delightful fruits, delightful foods, tacky souvenirs. Eric got a Lángos here to eat with sour cream and fresh tomatoes. Lángos is basically really delicious funnel cake and it is heart attack delicious. I got some Goulash to eat which would've been alright if it was so lukewarm.
We were staying at another accommodation for Saturday night. This place, Studio Istvan, had me doubting and questioning it since the booking. The reason being was that price is ridiculously low (3300 HUF or 6.34€ each) for an studio apartment flat with bathroom and kitchen in a great location on Szent Istvan korut on the Buda side. It's close to the metro and walking distance to the Parliament.
All doubts confirmed. We arrive at the building and there was no sign of the hostel - just your average apartment complex (a very nice one, mind you). We knocked on a few doors and were received by hesitant "no English" faces. It wasn't until one guy suggested a particular door we should knock on - the one belonging to the landlord of the building that we made any progress. knock knock knock. No one was home. As luck would have it, we intercepted the landlord as he was coming home. He seemed to know who to call and the studio flat owner said he would be by shortly.
It took the better part of the afternoon to get our accommodation sorted out but in the end we had a nice cozy and dirt cheap flat which was only so-so dirty.
In the evening we walked along the Danube river, passing the Parliament building, the lion statue on the Chain bridge, St. Stephen's Basilica and a nice red church (Budai Református Egyházközség). A quick stop into a grocery store for some drinks - Somerby Pear Cider yum! Something I always seen to easily find in Eastern European countries.
We had dinner in an Indian vegetarian restaurant called Govinda. Cue: Delicious delicious gobble gobble. We actually ran into another Canadian while we were there, Parth! Eric and I then went to this bar called Szimpla Kert which has a fantastic amount of mismatched furniture and decor. We got a shisha pipe there and smoked it inside on some comfy couches. Instead of a skechty guy coming up to you offering to sell you a rose at an outrageous price, this place has a cute girl going around the tables selling giant peeled carrots. munch munch crunch crunch.
On Sunday we went to the city park. There we saw the Vajdahunyad Castle and got a quick glance at the famous Anonymous Statue. More Lángos and a look at Hero's Square. Then it was back to the Buda side for a look at the Castle Hill. We stopped at the market hall again for some fresh fruit before our long walk through the weaving streets and parks. Cue: Matthias Church, Halászbástya/Fisherman's Bastion, nice parks and views. We also ate the Hummus Bar and got ridiculously stuffed full.
We flew out of Budapest and stayed in Milan on Sunday night. No overpriced hotel this time - we stayed at this hostel which is fairly new called Black&White Hostel which was 12€ a night and 100x nicer than any place I've ever stayed in Milan. The next morning, since Eric has never been to Milan, we went to see the Duomo and had some decent pastries and pasta around the corner from H&M on Corso Buenos Aires. Decent food is a rarity in Milan - I desperately need for someone to recommend me a place to eat.
We went to see the Sforza Castle/Castello Sforzesco too which was not so exciting in the damp and pouring rain.We went by the La Scala Opera house which I have seen many times before but Eric told me this particular opera house is world famous - who knew!
Even though it wasn't such a nice day, we took a side stop to Como on our way home. A beautiful small Italian town with a great view of the water (much like Lugano) which would've been all the more stunning if it wasn't go gray out.
Things I learned and liked:
- Eric and I are really slick
- This statue
- Validating my Budapest public transit ticket and knowing what I can use it on
- Budapest is known for its baths and we didn't have time to go to one !!!
- There are other caves in Budapest to explore
- I heard that Morrison's Music Pub in Budapest is a great place to go but we didn't have time
- Go to Como on a sunny day
