Boo-da-Pesch-ta

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Budapest Blog

5 Days in Budapest (heavy on the 'shh' & only pronounced correctly if you end up accidentally spitting) - December 4th-8th
Note - Budapest is made up of two cities, Buda (the hill side) and Pest (the ‘cosmopolitan side’) divided by the river Danube and unified back in 1872.

Here’s the quick n’Skinny
• Set up shot at the lesser-know Hungarian SOHO Hotel… definitely up-n’coming..
• Took the royal city bus tour to get our bearings of the city AND more importantly, get out of the freezing rain.
o BUDA side (hills and provides an unimaginable view of the Pest side, across the Danube)
• Royal Castle
• Fishermen's Bastion
• The Citadel (highest point in Buda)
• Baths (we loved the Bath from Friday night) - large steamy baths outside that provide necessary warmth from the drafty outdoors
• Ate at a delicious restaurant called SPOON - A boat on the Danube where Ali had a unique rendition of traditional ravioli
o PEST side (our side)
• Parliament - Hungary’s largest building which is grand/adorned in gold/insane amount of rooms/365 spires and anything else ridiculous
• Basilica
• Terror Museum - a memorial for the Jews of Budapest and was a headquarters for the Nazi’s during the war. Awesome museum—truly well done, makes you eerily aware of how powerful the Nazi regime was and how many innocent people lost their life. Seeing the basement where prisoners were kept was horrific the confinements were hard to bare on the tour, I can’t imagine living it.
• Walked around Hero’s Square as well as the beautiful park which had he world’s largest ‘time wheel’ which is turned each new year
• Walked around yet another Christmas Market which allowed us to try a doughy volcano’s of sugar and steam called Kiralyi kurtoskalacs, more Gluhwein (“glut-vine”), roasted chestnuts and some traditional music to boot
o Finished off with a side trip up to Estergom, Hungary and an afternoon in Sturovo, Slovakia.

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