Buda or Pest? - Blogabond

Holy cow, the Hungarians definitely contrast the Viennese! A little more rambunctious crowd and noticeably larger stature. Last night's bar crowd was a little rowdy, knocking things over and getting wild. The underground here is functional and packed with people, but definitely not new and pretty! But we like Budapest the best so far, what a great cultural city, with a little grit :) We like it so much we decided to stay an extra day and a half, and fly back through Paris w/ a night's layover by the Eiffel tower! We got 30,000 miles back for changing our flight!

Budapest feels a little more foreign than the other part of our travels so far. Most people in Czech spoke English, and we squeaked by in pinches in Austria with my German, and I could read menus and signs etc ok enough. But in Budapest, English is definitely a little harder to come by. Some things are in German, which helps, but most every public sign etc...is really only in Magyar (Hungarian). People are the most friendly here though it seems so far, which is nice. The restaurant service is usually really great.

Hero's Square

Today we checked out Vaci Utca which is the shopping street our hotel is located on. We also walked up Andrassy Utca which leads up to Hosok Tere (Hero's Square) where there is a huge monument to commemorate the Magyar conquest of the Carpathian Baisn.

Beyond that, in the city park, is the Vajdahunyad Castle which was also very cool.

Vajdahunyad Castle Entrance

Vajdahunyad Castle

City Park

Vajdahunyad Castle

We took the M1 underground on the way back, which is the oldest underground line in Budapest and I think the second oldest underground line to be built in Europe...which would explain why our train got stuck between stops, eeking a few feet every minute or so to the next stop. Then, in Hungarian, we were all told to get off the train because something was wrong with it... a girl beside us politely told us we had to get off, since we obviously did not understand the instructions, and for some reason, some part of us thought maybe it would still be ok to rid to the next stop, what were we thinking?

Hungarian State Opera House

We also saw the beautiful Opera House on Andrassy Utca and St. Stephen's Bascilica further south. It was a little more of a relaxing day with some breaks at the cafes. It is nice to have the Danube flowing right through the city center, because it helps with orientation especially when coming up from the underground station.

So it's still cold here and I'm running out of clothes...hopefully it warms up tomorrow!

written by

blondie on September 1, 2010 from Budapest, Hungary

from the travel blog: Central Europe

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Tx so much for the pix and narrative. Helps me to relive it with you guys. What an awesome experience for both of you, KOOL! :)
LOve ya lots, Mom H:) XXXOOXOXOXO

written by Mom H on September 2, 2010

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