Budapest | The grand tour p1

Alright, here comes part 1 and the most active day so far. I hope you will like it, at least the photos. I'm going to describe the places I visited with my friend (and many thanks again for guiding me and being an awesome host), what to see, where to eat and have a good time there.

First things first - the hairdresser

Okay, this sounds probably strange but I was postponing going to the hairdresser in Vienna until I came to Budapest. The reason is that it costs simply normal in Budapest (for the men with washing it's € 6 which is the same like in Croatia). I didn't want to pay 12-15 Euros in Vienna for the same thing nor I had time to wait until Zagreb two weeks later. And hey - it sounds much more interesting to do it somewhere else. My first 'foreign' haircut. Luckily for me, the Hairdresser saloon was right close to me so I didn't have to walk a lot. The name of the place is Bio Hair Hajvágószalon and it's in Mester u. 1, 109. It's a big place and I didn't have to wait too long. My friend went with me there since she spoke a bit Hungarian and they didn't speak English (or didn't want maybe? ) just to make sure everything's fine. Then I survived on my own. The woman that was about to cut my hair didn't speak English apparently but we somehow managed to understand each other and I was happy that I was not bald in the end. And then she put so much gel that I looked like Istvan Varga.

Now back to the apartment. We all woke up around 10h so it was already 11h when I came back, had some breakfast and then packed the stuff to go! I put my analog camera, a few chocolates and the USE-IT map in the backpack. Ready to go!

Along the Danube to the Central Market Hall

Our first thing on the list to do was to go to the Petofi bridge nearby and then head to the north along the Danube. Now the things were starting to get more interesting since we were moving slowly to the center and you could enjoy the walk, especially when reaching the second bridge (The Liberty Bridge). We passed through the Nehru part and stopped by the Shopping Center Balna Budapest which has an interesting architecture (maybe not fitting into the surroundings of old residential quarter but still... ). There we stopped to see what's on the other side of the river.

On the other side there you could see the huge theater building, old architecture. And I may add quickly a few differences with Vienna. As you will soon see Budapest is unlike Vienna directly on the Danube river. And the river in Budapest is very broad - around 340 m between the two sides. In Vienna the situation is though a bit different where the river splits into two main and third part that goes through almost throw the center, and between the first two main splits there is an island and another one much much bigger where people also live and it's kind of modern Business center with skyscrapers. Here in Budapest it's different. On the left side of the river bank (to the west) there was the city of Buda and on the right was Pest, now together they make Budapest.

On the right to the Theater and the Liberty bridge there was a hill called Gellert. We'll be climbing on it where you'll get the panoramic view of the Budapest. But first you have to survive my text by that part! We continued forward and came to the Corvinus MBA Center (Uni) and the famous City Market Hall. Now if you like the old stuff, especially the architecture that makes you feel like being in a Sherlock Holmes movie with the cityscape from the 19th or the beginning of the 20th century - there you are. You're gonna love it. And why I enjoyed walking around Budapest. Old brownish, reddish bricks and the style. This Corvinus school is apparently one of the best world's business school. My friend recommended me to enter the market hall. And good we didn't miss it.

Now this is huge. There are hundreds of people, you can smell meat, cheese, spice and other things we like to find in the kitchen. And there is also a marketplace but mostly with souvenirs, clothing and non-food products available. After passing through the waves of people on the ground level we climbed up the stairs and got into another mass of tourists. What I found funny and a bit strange was that the Hungarians were selling lots of souvenirs related to the Soviet Union; the Russian busby, hammer and sickle, cool old goggles for the motorcycle, helmets and so on. Why strange? You probably know from the history that the Soviet Army occupied Hungary after the World War 2 for practically 45 until 1990s... and there was the Hungarian Revolution (Uprising) in 1956 with a few thousand people killed and wounded. Back to our story. I found something nice that got my attention and bought it for a few euros. It's the cardboard or metal plate with some retro graphics on it. The one I bought is already being put on the wall in Zagreb. If you also love trashy things you can find here something for sure! I must admit it was a break and relaxation for my brain to look at all the stuff there, lots of Kitsch but pleasure to watch haha.

After the souvenirs we came back downstairs and bought some food. I already mentioned that Hungary and Budapest are ideal if you want to enjoy life for smaller amount of money, much more affordable. I have to say that the food was even cheaper than in Croatia (encountered that only in Serbia before) so I couldn't miss the chance to buy some kilograms of anything for half a euro... while back in Vienna it's more than euro. When you think about it, it's more affordable to go by bus to Budapest (or Bratislava? ) to the hairdresser and buy all the things on the marketplace, you're probably still in the plus with your finance and had an opportunity to travel.

Our next destination was the Gellert hill where we could have a panoramic view and then see what next. Leaving this huge and long market hall on the street that led to the bridge. Around us were again some old tall buildings that reminded me of some films. And the yellow taxis everywhere. Time go to to the other side of Danube!

Over the Liberty Bridge to the Gellert Hill

I think it was already around the noon when we came there. To our left was the old Uni Corvinus building and now the old bridge. It had on its both sides a two meter or more broad pedestrian and cyclists' road. And the bridge was full green, the metal, so there's this wonderful movie feeling again! Right in front of us on the other side you could see the Gellert hill and the citadel on the top covered by the forest. There was also some kind of fortification down the hill.

On our right now was the beautiful view towards the next bridge and with the city in the background. We stopped there to take lots of photos and also jumped on the bridge and some guys copied us. The bridge is also about 360m long.

Once on the other side we passed by the Gellert Thermal Baths and found the path that leads to the top

Gellert Hill, the Citadel and the panoramic view over Budapest

Time to climb up the road. There were several of them, we just followed the others and hoped they know they way. Once we lead the others into the wrong direction. Still no regrets. And every here and there you had a nice view over Pest (the eastern part of Budapest) so we used the opportunity to take some photos again. And of course, after climbing for few minutes we already felt exhausted, too much exercise man! Then found one nice stop before the citadel, now high above the ground and you could see far behind the city, as far as the fog or the clouds allowed you too. Check the pictures. Few more minutes and we were at the citadel. Which was pretty big and long. There were of course lots of people; tourists, the locals and the runners. And the giant statue representing the Liberty. We walked forth to see what's on the other side but not much except for stands/markets where you could buy toys or something to eat and drink. Again there was another view over the city, this time also much of the western part was visible. To the north was the castle we planned to visit, on the other side there were two bridges, the Parliament house relatively far away, the huge Ferris wheel I saw yesterday and now our home seemed a bit far away but still part of the 'center' and the river.

Our next destination was the castle of Buda. We found a zig-zag road that led us to the next bridge and then along the river into direction of the castle.

The castle of Buda

This castle is also a pretty big thing and looks awesome during the night. But we came there around 1pm I think. The first thing I noticed and my friend made me pay attention was that the garden was renovated, as well as some other parts of the complex. The entrance into the garden looks a bit like of some Greek temple. And it must be a popular destination for the young couples to have a wedding, since we were just mocking one that was there (okay, it was me buahaha).

After a few minutes of being a bit lost we found the way to the entrance and the main yard in front of the castle and around it. There were again lots of people and it had a nice view over Pest including the Parliament and other things. There was also a show by the soldiers, but that's the classic thing you see in every city with two guys having fun with the guns and jumping around to amuse the crowds. And a bit of fun fact about the castle: it was the Royal castle of the Hungarian kings first completed back at the beginning of the 13th century, almost 800 years old. Now it's a museum and there are lots of exhibitions within. Unfortunately wasn't free or affordable for us so we headed forward.

Matthias Church, Fisherman's Bastion and back over the river

We headed pass some labyrinth and streets to Szentháromság square where was this Matthias Church located. We didn't enter it nor I know much about it nor we cared haha, I just didn't find anything else to make a title for this part. Next to the church was a small park with a man dressed in the Hungarian historic clothing with the feather on the hat playing an instrument similar to pipes (only the sound). Behind the church to the south was St. Stephen's statue and also an opportunity (that we skipped) to go on some walls and have a cool view. But we had it few meter away. This was related to Fisherman's Bastion. The Parliament was now almost straight in front of us. And I forgot to mention there was a funicular at the Buda castle but we didn't use it (the same exists in Zagreb). We decided to go back on the other side of the river and make a lunch break.

On our way to the road down the hill we gave some money to the guy playing in the park and again I enjoy a bit seeing the old abandoned buildings, maybe the brick factories... although it probably looks creepy during the night, especially if you would have to enter it... alone.

We came to the Széchenyi Chain Bridge, again an old one (the bridge between Buda Castle and the Citadel was rebuilt completely after being destroyed in the war). At the beginning of the bridge there were big lion statutes since lions are one of the symbols of Hungary. It was now maybe around 2pm or half past 2. We took some photos and headed to eat some food first. Right at the end of the bridge was Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace Budapest and to the left Hungarian Academy of Science.

Enjoying the delicious food at the Baotiful bar and restaurant

Since we were now starving and it was lunch time my friend recommended to go to Baotiful restaurant which was on the half of our way to the Parliament.

If you don't know that it exists you might miss it (like I did! ) since it's "blended" into the street. And it's an Asian street fast food restaurant. You have to open the huge doors of something that at first looked like abandonded factory. And it was something in the past. Now the next are the curtains and when you go through them you're in the relatively big or medium size space with cool chairs and table and two guys who are cooking and serving you. The menus are in Hungarian only if I remember. We ordered something that looked like a very good (but maybe smaller) spicy sandwich which in combination with Sriracha ketchup was just like heaven! I know I wanted to eat more but had to save money for other things. I don't remember the name of it but I remember it tasted like paradise.

So yeah, I recommend you to go there, it's a cool cosy place and they offer wonderful food. And maybe try this special sandwich which name I don't know.

Time to go to the Parliament.

Photo gallery