We almost always enjoy anywhere we go while traveling but sometimes you arrive somewhere and something is just different. I can't put my finger on it but you just know the place is special and Budapest, Hungary is one of those places. In fact, we loved it so much that in our first hour of being their we extended our stay two days with the apartment we were renting. I cannot say one negative thing about summertime in Budapest (though we looked at the weather report for the winter and it looks pretty daunting). We stayed on the main up and coming street in the heart of the city in a brand new apartment for 45 Euros a night! Our money went the furthest here than any other city but it is a high quality place. We had heard that the city was dirty from many people but the government must have heard the same thing because we didn't see anything of the sort and it looks like anything that may have been shabby in the past is being remodeled and Hungary is following in the foot steps of their fellow Europeans in creating a great social atmosphere for everyone to enjoy. We had three course lunches for 6 dollars a person at top restaurants and left 50 percent tips on hair cuts which brought the total price of my hair cut to 12 dollars with tip but the affordability is only half of what it has to offer. The city is split by the Danube river into two parts, Buda and Pest. Buda is the older part of town but the Pest side is becoming the trendy hang out spot with restaurants and bars and shops popping up everywhere. Hungarians are very well dressed and very proud of their looks and I believe they have more hair salons than we have 7-11s in the USA. I swear sometimes you would see 4 or 5 on a street. We did our site seeing on the first and last day of our stay and the rest of the time just enjoyed sitting at coffee shops and walking around different neighborhoods. Here is our trip in pictures.
This is Drew in front of the Opera house on our way to lunch.
This is a panoramic view from the top of the Basical Saint Stephen which we hiked up for 300 stairs to get to the top for a whopping 400 forint or less than two dollars.
A picture of me up top. The 360 degree views give the best view of the Buda side of the city.
Drew in the plaza in front of the church.
This is on the Szechenyi Chain Bridge with a small view of Buda Castle in the background.
Here is the view from Buda Castle of the Pest side.
Drew swinging like a monkey on the castle gates.
Drew again on the Chain Bridge over the Danube okay these are looking repetitive but we couldn't get enough of this city.
We sometimes play a game called what does this sign mean. These were on opposite sides of the street so apparently it is okay to hold hands in some places and not others.
There is a street in Budapest lined with food carts and restaurants and made up of interlocking courtyards called the Gozsdu Udvar which go on for blocks and is a great hang out spot.
This is a terrible view but Hungary is known for their famous bars called Ruin Pubs or Kerts. This bar we were at called Szimpla Kert was ranked the third best bar in the world (number one is also in Hungary). We found other more low key Kerts such as...
Adkert. Basically a ruin pub or kert is a bar that opens permanently or maybe even for only a summer in an old ruined building. This one we found was the coolest and was more of a local hang out.
Budapest, like a lot of cities, is even prettier at night. Here is the Castle lit up with the Chain Bridge in the foreground.
And the Cathedral at night.
We love our markets and this is the Great Market Hall. We enjoyed ourselves until we got to the second floor and it was way too crowded and catered 100% to tourist on that floor.
We decided to rent bikes for a day and it was the best decision we had. Cities by bike are the way to go in Europe. You can get so much done in a short period of time. Here is the Danube River that we took from the Liberty Bridge.
Me on my bike on the Liberty Bridge.
This is actually the Hungarian Parliament.
Just after the infamous over the handle bars bike crash. If you haven't seen it then you will have to check it out on instagram. Drew caught the entire accident on video and then two older Hungarians tried to "help" him but really were reaching in his pockets and trying to steal from him while he was disoriented.
We rode around the park for a few hours before returning the bikes. Luckily no one did a thorough check on Drew's bike so we didn't lose our deposit.
Drew loves old doors.
All week I told Drew I wanted to see the shoes on the Danube Memorial. It is a bunch of metal shoes in memory of those that lost their lives in the Holocaust. I am glad we saw it but okay, it was not that exciting, I mean it is metal shoes.
Without a doubt Hungary has been the most surprising stop on our European adventure. This is one of those places I wish we booked to stay for several weeks or even months and has been one of my top five places on our trip around the world in the last year (including Asia and South America too). I cannot wait to come back for the good food, nice people and relaxed lifestyle and next time we will make sure to stay a lot longer.
