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| Budapest - The capital of Hungary |
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2003-07-07 20:34:00
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The first thing we noticed when we arrived in Budapest, was that people spoke english and where more obliging.
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When the train stopped at the train station, we headed stright for the tourist information to get some info about places to stay as we felt we had been lucky with this approach so far. This time we saw pictures of a nice hotel called Fiesta, and we where even taken there by taxi for free. The hotel was very nice, and we decided to stay there.
After we had settled in at the hotel Fiesta, we went out to look at the city and most of all find a place to eat. We walked around for a little while, and then we found a resturant and bar called Wall Street. Very good food and drinks for an affordable price.
Budapest is made up from two earlier cities, Buda and Pest divided by the river Danube. We stayed at the Pest side, and the view from the Pest side to the Buda side was magnificient. The most well known site is the Buda Castle, and we soon departed for a castle trip. We crossed the river Danube at the Chain Bridge, and just had to take the funicular the few meters to the top.
The Buda Castle was, as a lot of the castles are, a more beautiful sight from a distance. Outside, the castle still was beatiful with some fantastic monuments and sculptures. Inside however things where not as nice. The castle has been renovated several times, and here renovation means modernizing, like lowering the ceilings, changing decor on walls to more modern style. Pretty sad to be honest. But, the castle houses a lot of exhibitions, and its well worth a visit.
As we left the Buda castle and headed for the Fishermen Bastion, we stopped by something called the Buda Maze, and that was amazing. The entrance was from a door just beside a house, and the stairs took us down to a network of corridors and caves carved out by hot springs through many, many years. The network had then been made more secure and practical for the purpose it was meant for by bricks and collums. The purpose was military, and the caves could at the most hold about ten thousand men. The cave network had also been used during the Cold War, and it's not to long ago since the caves where opened to public. Some of the rooms in the cave network has been rearranged to an exhibition, and this is an example of the beheaded king
We then stopped at the Fishermen Bastion, a nice complex just beside the Matthias Church. From here we had a wonderful view towards the Parliament. Not to much to see otherwise, but we had an ok lunch before we went down to take the underground to the Pest side and towards Mexikói út.
The underground in Budapest is very nice, efficient and cheap. It didn't take long before we could surface again into the green lung of Budapest, the City Park. A nice park with a lot of attractions, baths, zoo, pods, free theater stages and a castle. Very well worth the trip.
If you are in Budapest, there is one restaurant you just have to experience, and that is Sir Lancelot. The restaurant takes you back to the time of the knights, and the food is excellent and served on huge trays. During the eating orgie, a belly dancer danced trough the room and if you arranged enough place on your table, she climbed up and danced there aswell. A fakir who swallowed fireballs and people fencing was also part of the entertainment. The best part was that it was pretty cheap, and definitely worth the visit.
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