Budapest is a city tottering between two worlds – one marked by grandeur and the other marked by ruin. Many of the buildings reminded us of this commercial while others showed scars of world wars and years of communism.
We arrived in Budapest on Saturday afternoon and headed out for a casual lunch of beers and hot dogs. That afternoon, we meandered around and visited the Fisherman’s Bastion, Matthias Church, and Buda Castle. On the way back, we stopped in at the Four Seasons bar for some classy cocktails and discovered the most delicious old-fashion.
After a full day of traveling and walking – we had a pretty low-key night with a delicious dinner, a few glasses of wine, and an early night to bed.
European breakfasts are notoriously underwhelming. They usually consist of cold-cuts, cheese, yogurt, and bread. While we do enjoy all of these things, we often find ourselves Hungary (see what I did there?) for a big, hearty American meal – and Budapest delivered just that. We aren’t typically people who take pictures of our food, but we couldn’t stop ourselves. It was truly the best breakfast we have had … maybe ever.
In 2010, we enjoyed our time at Széchenyi Thermal Bathhouse so much we decided to go back to the same place on Sunday afternoon. The building perfectly captures the essence of a city that once was. The formerly lustrous facilities are now quite dated and a little rough around the edges; however, everywhere you look, there are reminders of grandeur – statues, gilded lighting, beautiful filigree, you name it. At risk of sounding like a hippy, I would say the place is very poetic (obviously Sarah’s words, not Chris’s). Regardless, we had a relaxing day enjoying the indoor and outdoor pools and a 70-minute full body massage. The best part of all is the fact that Budapest is incredibly inexpensive, so an entire day at the baths (with a massage for 2) was a mere 120 USD (or 35,000 Forints). Yeah, their currency is crazy.
For dinner that evening we booked a dueling-piano river cruise with dinner. The food wasn’t great and the piano performances left something to be desired, but the experience was ultimately worth it because the views were SPECTACULAR. Plus we paid for the all-you-can-drink package, and you know us … we made sure to get our money’s worth.
On Monday, there were two major highlights. First, we had breakfast at The New York Cafe which claims to be the most beautiful cafe in the world. It was, in fact, stunning, but we learned that due to years of mismanagement [Read: communism], the restaurant and hotel had to be completely restored. It may have an old-world feeling, but the cafe is actually as new as 2006. Still, it was a beautiful landmark to check off our list. Second, we visited the inside of the Parliament building. While our guided tour was nothing special, seeing the interior of the building was amazing. It is quite possibly one of the most magnificent buildings we have seen. The city may be poor and dirty, but the Hungarian government is (or at least was) opulent to say the least.
SASgoesSwiss 