Advertisement
We are in Europe again, no family to visit this time – it’s our 40
thwedding anniversary and we each chose a place we wanted to see. We’re on a train from Budapest to Ljubljana to start a tour of Slovenia and Croatia, then we’re off to southern Italy and Iceland. Guess who chose a beautiful, romantic destination with gourmet food, wine and glamorous places to stay and who chose a land of ice, snow and volcanoes where the sun will never set for the nine days we are there.
But first things first - business class – is it worth it?
As an anniversary treat for himself (I’d rather spend money at the destination than getting there) Rhys bought business class tickets for the outbound leg. An airport snob, he wanted to use the business class lounge and a different check-in queue than the hoi polloi.
But you’re still on a plane, in the air, for hours on end. Only separated from screaming children by a curtain, you still have your nasal passages and eyes desiccated, still eat far more than you should because it’s right there in front of you on
a tray and you’re not going to be moving any more than a couple of metres during the next twelve hours with it sitting in your stomach.
There are extras to try and lessen the pain – good quality bubbly as soon as you’re seated (although you have to scull it before take-off), obsequious attendants, potions and pyjamas of a better quality than any I’ve owned. The best thing is the space and the adjustable seats which recline and fold back horizontal to form a bed. Of sorts. I don’t normally sleep on planes but I only watched 3 and a half movies instead of my normal 7 on a trip to Europe, so I must have got some sleep. The ability to keep the legs elevated at 40,000 ft is also a great relief.
Needless to say Rhys took full advantage of the opportunity to be served excellent European wines whenever he wanted them.
So when we flew into Budapest after 6 hours from Doha following on from nearly 18 hours from Auckland (the longest non-stop fight currently operating) we should have felt fresh as daisies. Instead we felt as
Liberty
Memorial on Gellert hill overlooking the city dazed, confused and buggered as one usually feels after 24 hours cooped up in a flying tin can and Rhys promptly got a long-haul cold.
However, Budapest is lovely and a great city for tourists. With the Danube running between the two now-joined cities of Buda and Pest and half a dozen bridges to keep you oriented, it is perfect for walking. Most people have basic English and the younger ones are fluent, which is fortunate as Hungarian bears no resemblance to any language we may have attempted to learn at school. Pest is flat with a variety of architecture mixing baroque, neo-classical, art deco and communist brutalist, punctuated with pleasant parks. It also has the gorgeous Parliament building which is best seen from the river or Buda on the other bank. Our apartment for four nights was in Pest, just off the main shopping street of Vaci Utca which is pedestrianised and lined with touristy restaurants. There is a constant passeo of both locals and visitors, providing free entertainment in itself and prompting us, not for the first time, to wonder why NZ cities don’t adopt a bit of European culture and pedestrianise the odd street
or part of.
Buda is the hilly side, home to the Royal Palace or Buda castle, depending which tourist brochure you read. On our first day we decided to test our lack of jet lag by climbing Gellert hill for great views of the city and to admire the Liberty monument, then down to the delightful Royal Palace gardens, along the palace walls to the Castle Hill precinct and a pilgrimage to the beautiful Matyas Templom, (Matthias church) - not named after the apostle Matthias but King Matyas of Hungary. It is a beautiful building with its’ glistening ceramic tiled roof and white spire, but we didn’t view the inside. Rhys won’t pay to go into a church, particularly one of the same name.
This area is tourist central, with everyone vying for a spot on Fisherman’s Bastion to pose elegantly, do a selfie and take the prerequisite shot of Parliament on the other side. The Palace/castle has already been extensively restored, now housing the National Gallery (which we passed on - much too nice a day to wander round a foreign art gallery) but there is still years of work planned to restore
Fishermen's Bastion
Next to the Matthias church - best view of the city the castle complex and clearly not enough money to finish it anytime soon.
There are hotels and charming restaurants on the Buda hill precinct but we preferred being in the more ‘real’ city where people lived and worked. After about six hours climbing up and down hills, steps and cobbled streets we decided we’d walked off any potential deep vein thrombosis and needed a beer and an ice cream and more importantly we needed to sit down! There are many Parisian style cafes along the Pest side of the Danube (none on the Buda side – they are all on the top of the hill) offering Hungarian beer, wine and often ice cream as well – the perfect accompaniment to people watching, foot restoration and contemplating what a great city Budapest is to start a European adventure.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.221s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 10; qc: 51; dbt: 0.0901s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Lawry & Sue
non-member comment
Congrats on 40 years and what a fantastic way to celebrate.
Half your luck. Enjoy and stay safe.