Blogs from Budapest, Central Hungary, Hungary, Europe - page 12

So very tired already....yaaaaaawwwnnnn. The 8+ hour flight was uneventful (which, lets face it, is how we hope all flights go). Departed and arrived on time. Sweet. But with an overnight flight and the time difference (Budapest is 6 hours ahead of Ottawa) I am working hard to stay awake to get on Eastern European time. Travelling in and out of my home country of Canada a lot, and very often to (or through) our US neighbours, I'm super used to a thorough "what is the purpose of your travel" and "how long will you be here" and "do you have anything to declare" when we get to Customs. Even when coming home we have declaration forms to fill out that are handed out on the plane before we land. Not so for Hungary - no ... read more

Today is our only full day in Budapest and I also realize it is our final full day on board the the Viking ship Hermod. It has become so familiar to us. We walk down the passageways and stop and chat with other passengers as if we have been neighbors for years. We settled in easily and wonderfully and now so quickly tomorrow we leave Hungary, Eastern Europe to begin our journey home. We have one last tour today after breakfast and as we enter the dining room I see it with new eyes thinking this is my last breakfast here. We sit and are waited on by Alex and Polina, it has been exactly this way for the last 8 days but this morning it feels very different. We are called to make our way ... read more

We hit the ground running this morning, heading out for a kick starter coffee at the California Coffee Co located in the shadows of St Stephens Basilica. From there we walked across the square to visit the Basilica, and it didn't disappoint.The interior has around eleven different types of imported marble used in the construction, and the reliquary is said to contain the "incorruptible" right hand of Saint Stephen, the first king of Hungary. Equal in height with the Hungarian Parliament Building, it is one of the two tallest buildings in Budapest at 96 metres. This equation symbolises that worldly and spiritual thinking have the same importance in Hungary. Following our visit to the Basilica, we made our way to join the Free Walking Tour of Budapest. We have found the Free Walking Tours (donation at ... read more

Almost six months without travelling, I don't know how we did it! The minute my passport arrived, we were already booking our flights to Budapest for 5 days. Budapest is a great place for at least a long weekend. There are plenty of Spas to relax in, big and small, great views over looking the Danube river and over the city, great architecture and unique nightlife locations. We visited the famous Széchenyi Thermal Bath which looks amazing on the inside but also the most popular and busiest. They have countless different pools, inside and out with varying temperatures. The other Spa we visited was the smaller and more authentic looking called Kiraly Medicinal Baths which was much quieter and even cheaper. We found ourselves in a suitable AirBnb just up the road from the infamous ruin ... read more

Budapest is pretty cool! There, blog done! ? For those who don’t know, Budapest is two cities – Buda, and Pest – and they are separated by the Danube river. Buda is the hilly side, and Pest is much flatter so a lot more residential. I arrived on the train and went on the metro line to Astoria near my hostel. The escalator to the tube was so steep! I’m nearly always off balance with TP anyway, so I had to cling to the handrail for the practically 5 minute descent. And yes, the tube station in Budapest does smell like all the others! I managed to find my hostel (which was in the Pest side), conveniently located next to a ‘Karavan Street Food’ market, and after ditching TP, I went and bought a cucumber & ... read more