Sabbatical travel series - Budapest

Budapest was the perfect starting point to ease into my solo travels. I met another Indian who was traveling abroad for the first time and was nervous about how to get to her Airbnb from the airport. We shared a cab and chatted all the way to the hotel. She was excited to start a new job the next day and from what little I saw as we drove through the city, I was excited to see all that it had to offer. When we reached my hotel, we wished each other and bid goodbye.

The manager of the hotel I had booked had contacted me earlier to check my arrival time to make sure someone was there when I reached the hotel as it didn’t have a 24-hour reception. Despite my flight being delayed by an hour, there was a person waiting at the hotel reception to welcome me, show me to my room and was kind enough to share the list of nearby restaurants. The hotel was clean and cozy and had a small kitchen and dining area. It is in the city center in Pest; a stone’s throw away from the train station and with a wide variety of restaurants suitable for all pockets and tastes in the neighborhood. I freshened up, settled in and the moment I rested my head on the pillow, I was fast asleep.

I woke up bright and early the next morning and, after a hearty breakfast, set out to the train station, bought a 3-day travel pass and made my way to the castle hill in Buda. Budapest comprises 2 districts, Buda and Pest, that are separated by the river Danube. Buda is the older hilly part of the city where historical buildings such as the Buda castle and St. Matthias church are located while Pest is the modern part housing most businesses including the Hungarian parliament.

As soon as I got off the bus at castle hill, I was in front of the awe-inspiring and magnificent St. Matthias church with the large tower and colorful orange tiled roofs. There was a huge crowd of tourists admiring and taking pictures of the church and the Fisherman’s bastion nearby. I spent some time enjoying the beauty of the church, fisherman’s bastion, trinity column and statue of St. Stephen in the square and taking in the panoramic views of the Danube River and Budapest including the parliament building.

I made my way to the Buda tower square, which was quite empty and a kind lady, who was waiting for her husband who had decided to climb to the top of the tower, took my picture in front of the tower.

After that, it was time to walk to the Habsburg gate and the royal palace, part of which houses the Hungarian national gallery and national museum. The courtyard near one of the entrances of the palace has the very pretty Matthias fountain. 

After all the walking and sightseeing, I stopped at a nearby café to rest my legs and have some seriously tasty fresh orange juice. 

It was now time to explore some sights on the Pest side. I took a bus to the bottom of the castle hill and walked across the chain bridge to the Pest side and then to the Shoes on the Danube bank. It is a memorial to the Hungarian Jews who were shot and executed along the riverbank in 1944-45. It was very touching to see those iron shoes set into the concrete where people had offered flowers as homage to the thousands who had lost their lives. 

    

 

 

The next stop was the Hungarian Parliament. It is a beautiful stately building situated on the banks of the Danube with vast grounds, statues, lawns, and the Hungarian flag flying high in front of the building. 

After exploring the facades and grounds of the parliament building, I started making my way back to the hotel. On the way, I made a stop in front of St. Stephens Basilica and had late lunch in a nearby restaurant.

I passed the giant Ferris wheel and stopped at the market in Erzsebet Square to have a look at the souvenirs before continuing to the hotel.

It was a packed and fun first day. As I was relaxing in bed, I pinged a friend and she happened to mention that a mutual friend’s daughter was in Budapest. I arranged to meet her for lunch the next day. 

On the second and last day, I had a lighter schedule. The first stop was the Great Synagogue, which is the largest synagogue in Europe. The synagogue was less than 5 min walk from the hotel and was a quick stop as I didn’t go inside. It is a beautiful brown, orange and light-yellow tiled and brick building with tall towers.  

I went back to the Erzsebet Square market to buy a souvenir. The only souvenirs that I wanted to buy everywhere were fridge magnets. So, it was a quick stop to select the one I liked. 

I proceeded along the famous Andrassy Avenue that was lined with all the luxury boutiques at the start of the avenue, stopped at the opera house and went past the house of terror and huge mansions to the end of the avenue. 

I boarded a train at the end of the avenue to Heroes Square. The tall and striking Millennium monument takes center stage in the square with statues of Magyar and Hungarian heroes.

It was now time to meet my friend’s daughter for lunch to go to the Indian restaurant for lunch. I waited for some time before my friend’s daughter came and we chatted about her exchange program, my itinerary and everything else of common interest over roti and dal. We stopped for coffee in a nearby Starbucks and she headed back home. It was raining lightly. I lingered in the café for a while longer to wait out the rain.

I had booked an evening sunset cruise and started walking to the boarding point when it stopped raining. It was slightly cold and windy, and I was a little early. I waited for half an hour before they started the boarding for the cruise. I was greeted with a glass of bubbly that I picked and went to the open top deck. I settled down in a good seat to enjoy the views and take some good pictures of the castle hill and the parliament just as the sun started setting. It is wonderful to witness the transition from being able to see all the intricacies, design, and the finer architectural elements of the buildings in daylight to admiring the beautifully lit up views as it gets dark. I highly recommend the cruise due to the spectacular views of Budapest from the vantage point of the river. The cruise was the perfect high note with which to end the day and Budapest sightseeing. 

I picked up a sandwich to go and returned to the hotel looking forward to a brand-new day and a brand-new city to explore and enjoy.