Budapest- Part 2

On our second day in Hungary we ventured outside the capital, to a small town called Eger.  This small town is a little away from the main tourist route- English directions are not always present and a bit of research is required to sort out the public transport (wikitravel was useful), but it was definitely worth the visit.  We spent the morning at the castle Egri Var, which is famous for its roll in deterring the Turkish invasion in the 16th century.  There was a nice walk around the castle grounds , and a great view out over the city including the main Dobo Square.  A short distance from the castle was the minaret, a 40m tall tower with a claustrophobic winding stairway leading to another nice view over the town.

Doba Square, Egar

Egri Var Castle Walls

View over Doba Square

The Minaret seen from the castle

The minaret seen from the inside

If you look closely you can see me at the top

After a stop at cafe Dobos Cukraszda on the main Széchenyi Street for some delicious and traditional layered sugar torte, we headed off to the nearby wine region. Szépasszony-völgy, which translates to Valley of Beautiful Women but is noted as Nice Women Valley on the street sign, is about 20 minutes walk from the town and is home to a U-shaped street surrounded by 20-30 cellar doors.  When we were there only one in three or so were open, but given that they are all willing to give a free sample of a few different types of wine, a few is more than enough.  They had bottles of local vintage for sale, and many would also just fill plastic containers with wine from large casks in the storage rooms- for ridiculous prices as low as 2 euro per litre.  The local specialty is the Egri Bikavér, aka Bull's Blood. There seems to be a number of stories as to how it got its name, but the most common was that the Turkish invaders saw the locals drinking a strange red liquid as they laid siege to the Eger castle, and the invaders figured that the Hungarians must have got their incredible courage and strength from drinking blood from bulls.

Valley of Beautiful Women/Nice Woman Valley

Plastic containers for taking home the local wines

Later that evening in Budapest, we wandered along the river until we could see the parliament, a stunning building on the water's edge which is lit up beautifully at night.

Chain Bridge at night

Parliament at night

On our next day in Budapest we went on a guided culinary walking tour with Taste of Hungary. We met with our lovely guide Dora in the city's main food hall, where we tried delicious cheeses, cured meets (including horse salami), pickled vegetables, a deep fried bread called langos, and a herb liquor called Unicum which was originally made as medicine for the king. We walked for a few hours through Budapest visiting a lolly shop, a chocolate shop where we tasted mushroom chocolate, and a cafe serving traditional cakes modeled after the opulent goodies being produced by Parisian and Viennese pastry chefs in the late 19th century (e.g. Dobos torte). We had lunch at a local eatery where we stood around a small table crammed in among the local lawyers, business men and shop owners who were also enjoying a paprika filled feast of pasta, sausage, duck, cabbage and pickled veggies.

Budapest Market Hall

Deep fried Langos

Lunch at Belvarosi Disannotoros

Delicious cakes including Dobos torte

That night, we stopped for a drink at a pub called Szimpla Kert. This unique bar is one of a few so-called 'ruin pubs' in Budapest, which are eclectically decorated hipster hangouts in old converted warehouses or basements, complete with broken down walls, unfinished flooring and peeling paintwork. It is definitely worth visiting here, even if the psychedelic patterns shining from the collection of old CRT monitors hung from the roof is not your normal thing.

We spent our final day in Budapest on the hilly Buda side of the Danube. We took the funicular up to Castle Hill where we wandered around the grounds of the Buda Castle and the Royal Palace. Just a short walk away was the Matthias Church (which was unfortunately under renovation work) and the Fisherman's Bastion, a sandstone structure along the top of the cliff which looks like it is out of a Disney movie.

View over the Chain Bridge from the castle grounds

Buda Castle

Fisherman's Bastion

Matthias Church

Along the edge of the Danube

Budapest- Part 1

Budapest is an exciting and enjoyable city, living up to it's nickname 'Paris of the East'. Its wide streets and classic architecture make it recognisably European but it has quite a different feel to Western European capitals.  This is partly due to the Turkish influence on the city from the years in the 16th and 17th centuries when the Ottoman Empire rules.

The Chain Bridge in Budapest

On our first day in the city we headed to the Szcehenyi thermal baths, one of the most well known remnants of this Turkish culture. This Turkish bath is in a park at the head of the heritage listed Andrassy Ut.  We walked along this wide busy avenue, lined by spindly trees whose leafless branches did not obstruct the view of the beautiful, but in many places crumbling, buildings.  At the end of the avenue we reached Hero's Square, surrounded by museums and proudly displaying monuments and statues celebrating important figures of from Hungary's past.

Andrassy Ut (Andrassy Avenue)

Andrassy Ut (Andrassy Avenue)

Statues at Hero's Square

Central monument at Hero's Square

After a quick wander through the park, which was also full of amazing sights including a castle with an ice-skating rink, we reached the thermal baths.  The yellow, domed building was attractive even from the outside but on the inside it was a whole other story.  There were two large outdoor thermal pools, a number of indoor pools at various temperatures, and 2 saunas at different temperatures.  Unfortunately the change rooms were in a different section of the complex, so we had to brave the almost freezing temperatures in nothing but our swimming clothes, with the bitterly cold concrete floor hurting our bare feet before reaching the relief of the steaming water.  

Statue of the Anonymous Author at Vajdahunyad Castle

Ice skating rink in the central park

Szechenyi Baths

Szechenyi Baths, during the day

Sunset at Szechenyi Baths

Night time at Szechenyi Baths

As it grew darker it became even more stunning, with the lights shining through the thick steam that covered the water like a ghostly blanket. After a few hours in the water though we braved the 30 metres of freezing cold between the pool and the change room, and headed home.  Again we walked along Andrassy Ut and were treated to some nice views of the scenery at night.

Hero's Square by night

Andrassy Ut by night

Dinner was had at a cozy little place just off the avenue called Restaurant M., which served delicious local specialties.  We arrived without a reservation but were allowed to wait at their small outdoor area with a complimentary glass of palinka, the Hungarian liquor made from fermented fruit, which kept us warm in the wintery night.

Snow in Beatrix Park

On Saturday there was quite heavy snow and it continued over night, so we woke up on Sunday to inches of fluffy white snow.  On a weekday this would quickly turn into an annoying, muddy sludge with people doing their best to get to work, but on a lazy Sunday morning there was hardly a footprint in the snow.  We walked from our house, along Beetthovenstraat to Beatrix park.  Things that you would not normally even give a second glance look beautiful in the snow.  Here's a selection of the best photos we took.

View of our backyard

View from our front window