Blogs from Budapest, Central Hungary, Hungary, Europe - page 124

It never ceases to amaze me… the scope of the Roman Empire. From Portugal on the Atlantic to Romania on the Black Sea, someone who speaks one of the romance languages can essentially get by. All the languages are that similar. Truly a legacy of the power and influence of the Roman Empire. Quite a heavy police presence, though. They’re mostly parked on the side of the road. I was lucky and avoided detection… hehehehe Budapest is amazingly beautiful. The architechture is flabergasting. So much is lost on modern architecture, though. In reality, nowadays, I don’t think they could afford the craftsmanship that went into these old buildings… sigh. Hungary is truly in a state of transition. You’ll see the latest Porsche pulled up alongside a thirty year old Trabant at a stop light. They seem ... read more

Szentendre is a little town 19 km north of Budapest. Since it was easy accessible by suburban train, we decided to visit it. It was a quite picturesque city known for its well-preserved houses and churches. We bought some souvenirs and made a walk on the promenade dike near the river.... read more

Nagycsarnok is the largest indoor market in Budapest. The market itself has a lot of stalls on three floors. Plenty of locals buy here their fruit vegetables, meat,... They even sell living fish! Hungarian specialities such as Hungarian goose liver (pate versions too), Hungarian wine, dried mushrooms, paprika powder... can be found here. You can even buy souvenirs here and other things at a much cheaper price compared to the shops in Váci Utca. The place was renovated for the millenium in 1996. The roof was restored to have colorful Zsolnay tiling.... read more

Ahhh, Budapest. I've been here for nearly 6 days so far. I've absolutely fallen in love with this city. When I made plans to come here, I had no idea how lovely it would be. Gus arrived mid-week and we've been taking in the city by bus and boat (and eating a helluva lot of doner kebabs). I had an incredible time on the river cruise which took off on the Danube at about 9:30pm. The Buda Castle, Freedom Statue, Parliament and other major sights and bridges were illuminated by lights. Breathtaking! Yesterday, we spent the afternoon at the Gellert Spa, which channels the hot thermal springs from the ground. The Gellert Spa is supposedly the most famous of all the spas in Budapest. We didn't want to leave. In addition to a wave pool and ... read more

You could describe my time in Budapest as a bit of a rollercoaster. So far, things are going great. We have been climbing and climbing and climbing, and we still can't see the top. But that is the beautiful of a rollcoaster. You don't know when you will reach the top, you don't know what is on the other side, and you don't know which way it will pull you. I was about to find out. The crew woke up Sunday and tried to get around early, to limited, and I mean limited, success. We finally made it out to the Citadel in the early afternoon. From the view on top, we could see all of Budapest, and it was magnificent. Josh and I got some really amazing photos. Afterwards, we headed down to Grappa to ... read more