Dates - July 9th to 12th
Budapest was the first stop on our Central Europe trip in July 2005. We took a SkyEurope flight from Paris to Budapest on Saturday morning and were in Budapest by the early afternoon. We were quite impressed by the hotel we stayed at, Artotel, which is a modern building of the Buda side of the Danube.
For our first day in Budapest, we spent the evening walking across the Chain bridge over to Pest and taking in a walk of the city. It is a very beautiful city, especially at night when the main sights are brightly lit up and reflect off the Danube river (picture). For dinner, we had a Hungarian donut (picture) and some wonderful stir fry and sausage on the Chain bridge (there was a market and festival (picture) on the bridge that weekend). In general, we were very surprised and impressed by Hungarian food, which is very flavorful and has a hint of Eastern influence.
On Sunday, our second day, we started the day with breakfast at the hotel. As far as European breakfasts go, this was probably the best we've ever had. After a nice, filling breakfast, we headed up to the Buda hills for a look at the Palace, and old city. The Palace (picture) is perched at the top of Buda Hill and is surrounded by a protective wall. Also on top of Buda Hill is the Fisherman's Bastion (picture) and the old town. For a late lunch, we stopped for (what else) Hungarian Goulash and beers (picture); this was my first Goulash experience and I absolutely loved the very paprika full taste. In the evening, we wandered around the central part of Pest and, to save some money, ate at Burger King.
On Monday, our last day in Budapest, we went to Hero's Square and the gardens. This area is a large park with an impressive monument to the Heros of the city making up the entrance to the park (picture). The park was beautiful, with a small lake, a zoo, baths and a castle (picture). Budapest has many natural hot springs and the Turks built bath complexes throughout out city (picture). In the evening, we had dinner at a Hungarian restaurant in Pest near the Danube. There we had some great fish soup, goulash, fish and beef (picture). The food was very good with lots of flavor and Eastern influences. In fact, this was some of the most flavorful food we've had in Europe.
On Tuesday, we caught a morning train from Budapest to Vienna.
Some of my thoughts from abroad. You can also have a look at my photos from abroad.
