Budapest
A short weekend trip to celebrate my 26th birthday!
Days at a Glance
| Date | Day at a Glance |
|---|---|
| Fri, 26Jan24 | Arrival, night cruise along the Danube |
| Sat, 27Jan24 | Central Market Hall, walking tour, Széchenyi bath, birthday dinner |
| Sun, 28Jan24 | Exploring Buda, flying home |
High-Low-Hero-Chow/Ciao*
| Ben | Maggie | |
|---|---|---|
| High | Going in circles in the baths | Széchenyi Thermal Bath |
| Low | Lack of time in Buda | Shortness of the trip! |
| Hero | Dinner waitress | Dinner waitress |
| Chow/Ciao | Pork knuckles for 3 meals | Chicken crepe in paprika sauce |
*A game I learned from Ben, who uses it with friends as a fun way to reflect on an experience
Journal
Friday 26Jan24
We planned a short weekend trip to celebrate my 26th birthday and picked Budapest because we'd both never been and flights were cheap. I biked to the Eindhoven airport for our 5:30 PM flight (only a 12 minute bike ride from my work with fully paved bike trails, the Netherlands really is amazing!)
We landed in Budapest around 7:30PM and bussed into the city. We grabbed a few slices of pizza and checked into our hotel. Ben wanted to spoil me for my birthday so he got us reservations at a 4 star place with great reviews. When we got into our room it immediately smelled strongly of swamp gas, which wasn't the most romantic welcome. Ben used a trick he learned from our landlord, Johan, and turned on the shower, the sink, and flushed the toilet to get things moving. He's so handy!
After the smell cleared up, we headed to the docks to catch a 9PM river cruise. It was really lovely. All of the beautiful buildings and bridges were lit up along the Danube, with the Parliament being the most impressive. We sipped our complimentary (and low quality) glass of wine and got Budapest recommendations from a couple from Brighton. We cruised along the Danube for an hour, before the building lights turn off at 10:30PM. Knowing that we were going to have a short trip in Budapest, it was a nice way to see the city.
After the cruise we wanted a bit more to eat, so we headed to a restaurant for some Hungarian food (and dessert, obviously). The chicken paprikash and sweet cottage cheese pancake were both tasty!
After our 3rd dinner we were finally ready for bed.
Saturday 27Jan24
Awoken at 9:20AM by housekeeping, we headed out to breakfast by walking to the Central Market Hall. A huge market with three levels, we explored the ground level with its produce (and tons of paprika!), the basement with the stinky items (pickled/fermented foods and fish), and the upstairs with its souvenirs and prepared foods.
For breakfast we shared a sausage with sour cabbage and langos, a fried bread I ordered with sour cream and cheese. Everything was delicious but very dense, I very rarely see Ben unable to finish his plate.
Fueled by dense Hungarian food, we headed to the Jewish quarter for a self-guided walking tour from our best friend, Rick Steves. Budapest has a thiving Jewish quarter, and we learned it used to be 25% Jewish before the Holocaust. Laws prevented Jews from owning property within city limits, so there are 3 large synagogues within a few blocks of each other. The Great Synagogue is the largest in Europe, built in 1859 by a non-Jewish Austrian in an attempt to impress the Gentiles. Ben remarked that it felt like that, looking more grandiose than what he's used to. We could not tour the inside as it was closed for Shabbat, but photos show even the interior looks like a church, including an organ (which Orthodox Jews would not be able to play on Shabbat). We walked around and saw the Tree of Life in the courtyard, hearing the metal leaves clink together, each etched with a name of a Holocaust victim.
The Jewish quarter also features many "ruin bars," which turn decrepit and aging courtyards into hipster bars where you can grab a drink and peruse booths from local artists. We enjoyed exploring Szimpla Kert.
We took a coffee and pastry break before heading to Parliament to continue the walking tour. Inspired by London's Parliament, this impressive building was fitting for the Austro-Hungarian empire. Now in 2024, the Hungarian legislature only utilizes an eighth of the space. Much of the tour was seeing various monuments. This city has endured so much, from the Holocaust to communist oppression, and the monuments reflect that. However the sheer number of monuments felt overwhelming, with a statue to something or somebody on what felt like every block... We learned this can partially be explained by the German Emperor in 1897 embarassing the Habsburg Emperor when he commented how few monuments graced the streets. The silliest monument was Ronald Reagan, erected in 2011 to try and appease Americans after the Hungarian government started rolling back previous democratic reforms. They did not quite stick the landing, as they invited Secretary of State Hilary Clinton to the unveiling.
When we couldn't stand to look at another monument we hopped on a bus to the Széchenyi thermal bath. This was the best part of the weekend! The baths were huge, with both indoor and outdoor portions. It was a brisk 40F outside so the outdoor thermal baths felt amazing. The indoor portion had pools of varying temperatures, saunas and steam rooms, so Ben and I hopped between the different rooms along with Hungarians and other tourists, "earning" time in the warmest pools by handling the cooler pools. We were both too chicken to try the coldest pools. It was more young people than we expected and had a party atmosphere. We ended the evening in the outdoor pool, swirling in the world's tiniest lazy river.
We showered off and bussed to Hungarikum Biztro to make our 8PM reservation. I almost never get us reservations on vacations, preferring to be flexible, but for my birthday I wanted to find a restaurant serving Hungarian food I knew we'd like. And man this place delivered, everything was delicious! We shared a chicken crepe in a thick paprika sauce as an appetizer, followed by a huge pork knuckle. I tipsily started a bit of an argument when Ben couldn't read my mind that I wanted him to ask the waitress for a birthday photo. I was grateful when he did, because after dinner they surprised us by turning off the lights, lighting a sparkler, and having the Hungarian cimbalom play me happy birthday while they delivered complimentary apple pie and champagne. We finished the night with a shot of palinka, which the waitress brought to us to "help with digestion." (our anecdotal experience was it did the opposite!) It was a really lovely birthday dinner.
Sunday 28Jan24
We chowed down on the leftover pork knuckle for breakfast before heading out to walk on the Buda side of the river. The views of the Danube as we crossed the bridge were lovely. We both noted that Buda felt quieter, more relaxed, and had more green park space. We walked along the river and enjoyed exploring. The walk was nice but we both wished we had more time!
We headed back along a different bridge to catch the airport shuttle bus, snagging overpriced Magnums from a convenience store to complete the morning (and add to my list of Magnum flavors tried, with the double chocolate scoring a respectable 9/10 and the no-sugar added trailing at 7.5/10).
We caught the bus to the airport and finished the rest of the pork knuckle for lunch (yes, it really did last us both 3 meals!). We both wished our 2:30PM flight was a bit later so we could have more time to explore. We were really impressed with Budapest. I felt very lucky to have celebrated my birthday here, especially with Ben making such an effort to spoil me along the way. Cheers to 26!
For the Record
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Arrival | WizzAir, Friday 26Jan24, 7:20PM BUD |
| Departure | WizzAir, Sunday 28Jan24, 2:30PM BUD |
| Accomodation | Zenit Hotel, Apáczai Csere János |
| Friday Dinner | Anna Cafe |
| Saturday Dinner | Hungarikum Bisztró |
| Maisy | With Hanna and Ray and their two corgis |
What a great weekend, and a great post!
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