Very Wet in Budapest – Day 4: Memento Park and A Foggy Gellért Hill

So it is our final day in Budapest and, by some miracle, it decided to not rain all day. The rain was replaced by the very thick fog and in some ways they added to things that we saw and in others detracted heavily, but more on that when I get to it.

In the morning, we were heading quite far away from the city centre to a place called Memento Park. In a way, this is an open air museum that shows some former Soviet statues and monuments that were on display in Budapest before 1991. In another way it is a curio of oddities which is presented in a strangely tongue-in-cheek manner.

The park itself isn’t too big and you can be done in a little under an hour, but whilst there you will see nearly 40 Soviet era statues of varying sizes and impact. The biggest ones are found towards the end of the area, one of them being so large I had to take a picture with my husband for scale in order to truly show it off. It was also pretty neat that all the plaques show where in Budapest these statues were on display before taking down. So if you know the town well, this actually gives you a very good bit of context.

This is one of those places which you don’t see on many guides, but I think if you want to get to know a bit of the history of Budapest in a slightly off the beaten path kind of way – Memento Park really is a place to visit.

We were back in town in time for lunch and went into the Central Market Hall. Trying to find a place like this in a major city is something I really enjoy doing because it shows off all the local produce and it allows you to see what locals actually like to eat. Sure, you get tourist stands and things really set up visitors, but there were locals just buying their regular fruit, veg and pig faces so it was really cool to walk around.

There was plenty of choice of food on the top floor, but without the seating areas that we got in Florence. Since we have been having a lot of very traditional Hungarian foods in our stay, we felt that we could be a bit less stereotypical in what we chose. We ended up having something which is close to the defunct Disneyland food item called the handwich. Think of a cone of bread which can be held in one hand and stuffed with small sausages, pieces of bacon, a cheese sauce and some onion bits.

Fueled up with bread and sausage, we walked across the Liberty Bridge to Gellért Hill. At the top of this Hill is a former Citadel with a statue looking over the Danube. Of course common knowing that was there, we decided to make the steep climb up the hill. What we were not aware of, was there after years of disrepair, this part of the Hill was closed and the only signs depicting this were to be found near the very top.

That would be annoying normally, but at least in regular weather you would get your fair share of spectacular views of Pest over the Danube. This was not a normal day, as this was one with pea soup thick fog. Near the actual monument at the top of the hill, you could only see about 50 meters in front of you. There were times when we were walking along the face of the hill and you could just see nothing over the edge. It was a bit spooky, but also a real shame because we never really got the amazing view over Budapest that I was hoping for.

Hey ho, in a weird way I just enjoyed the climb for the chance to be in the larger park setting… also that fog made things creepy as all hell.

Finishing off our time at Gellért Hill, we went onto the Church built into the hillside cave system. This is up there as one of the more unique places of worship that I’ve been to. Also, I have been so conditioned by theme parks that the whole set up felt utterly artificial.

It doesn’t take too long to make your way through and it’s clearly very important for a specific sect of the Hungarian church. The audio guide is definitely a must to get the most of all the nuances, although the bit near the end where it tries to convert you… was a choice.

We got the tram back into the centre, at which point it started to rain and the precipitation didn’t stop for the rest of the day. At least we managed to have a morning and an early afternoon that was foggy but not wet. Since we had done all that clarity for nothing, we went into one of the nearby Christmas markets and we split some langos between us. One with the traditional sour cream and cheese and the other with a sausage and onion topping. There was also some repeated strudel, one with apple and the other with a mix of cottage cheese and peach.

After an extended rest in the accommodation we went back out for a final dose of Christmas market food and vibes. Being a Saturday that was (finally) fog and rain free, the market was heaving so we had to time our dinner with the light show on the church.

It was time for the hun-dog. This has been taunting us for four days and we finally got one. This was a Hungarian sausage with pickles and all the sauces. It was utterly glorious and I didn’t even notice as the wind blew so strongly that it knocked over two bins.

Dessert was a pistachio-covered chimney cake that we took back to the apartment. There is something so satisfying about seeing these being made on the spits as you wait for a fresh steaming column of cake.

So that’s it for this trip to Budapest. The weather can suck it, but honestly I still had some lovely times here. This is a great city and I only wish I’d gotten to see it in its best light. Maybe we will come back and see it during sunnier times, if not it says a lot that I am leaving with such a positive impression after near constant rain.

Very Wet in Budapest – Day 3: St Stephen’s, Squares and More Dessert

So I’ve gone with ‘Very Wet in Budapest’ because of just how wet it has been. The thing is that I really get how beautiful this city is, it’s just that it’s hard to fully appreciate it with grey skies and if you look up you get smashed in the face with rain. Compared to our normal holidays today’s actually a bit light on individual activities, however he was nice to just have a bit of a relaxing afternoon combat but I’ll get more into that in a sec.

We started out by rectifying or wrong from yesterday, finding the shoes monument for the victims of the Holocaust. These are a series of Bronze shoes that can be found along the Danube in front of the Parliament Building as a memorial to those who were shot and thrown into the Danube as part of the Holocaust. In a weird way this is weirdly emblematic of how tourism can be a bit sick: you have a very solemn and quite meaningful memorial and then you have about 10 to 15 tourists who were all jostling to get that perfect shot of the shoes on the bank of the Danube (myself included).

To our next destination, we came across yet more and more statues. This included another memorial to the Holocaust, this one much larger and quite imposing. We also walked through Liberty Square, although we didn’t quite find the bronze statue or Ronald Reagan. Although that’s not something I would consider a miss.

Next was a trip into Saint Stephen’s basilica which is incredibly close to our hotel and is the home of our favourite Christmas Market in Budapest. Is a lovely church on the outside and this being our third trip here during this holiday, it’s weird that we’ve only now just gone inside of it. I was not quite prepared for the lavishness of the decoration.

I think it helps to know, and thanks to my husband for finding this out, a lot of Hungary’s early wealth came from gold mines. This explains just how much gold there is inside of this church. Although, to be fair, this is a Catholic church and they always seem to find a way to get gold in their major churches. This is up there with the Matthias church we saw yesterday. Everywhere you look there is some kind of art with hints of gold, even the reliquary with the desiccated right hand of Saint Stephen himself.

From here on the M1 line, the third oldest metro line in the world. This trip, originally was going to get us to the zoo in the city park, however a wet and grey day is not the best way to see capybara. Instead we had a bit of a wander around the park which took us to one of the more weird places that I’m likely to see on this trip.

I am talking about Vajdahunyad Castle, which is not a real castle. Everything here is fake. The castle and churches and other buildings were originally made out of some kind of cardboard and were part of a display to showcase the evolution of Hungarian architecture. It was so popular, that I decided to actually build it properly and it has since become this weird local landmark in the city park. I do wish that this is where the Museum of Hungarian history was rather than a museum on agriculture, because I think you could do something really cool with all these already purpose-built structures mimicking different eras of Hungarian history.

The smallest side, because we are here as part of their Christmas markets, the main bridge into the park is over just some dry land. This is because they drained away a substantial part of the lake in order to make an ice rink. The water that remains was just smoking, in a way that it looked like it was on fire or somewhat volcanic. Now I know that there is a thermal spa nearby and therefore this must be something to do with that. It was just very weird.

A final place in this area was the Heroes Square, a massive monument to influential leaders in Hungarian history, including the leaders of the original seven tribes that founded this country. The sheer scale of it is all inspiring and I do think that if it had been less wet I’d have wanted to have spent more time just looking around at each of the different statues. especially as, thanks to our visit to A History Museum yesterday, I started to recognize certain figures such as Saint Stephen and Bela IV.

Back on the super old metro line we went, and we decided to pay a visit to the old Jewish quarter. Since we hadn’t eaten anything at all, it was time for a bit of lunch. We went to Karavan, a covered area with food trucks and had some Hungarian standard foods served in bread bowls. My husband went full one filled with goulash whilst I went for the paprika chicken.

Now, here is where we made a bit of a mistake. You see It is currently Friday and the next thing we wanted to see was the big synagogue here in Budapest. The thing is that they close early on a Friday and are not open on a Saturday because of Shabbat. We got there about 15 to 30 minutes late and so we will not be able to go inside the synagogue at all as we are leaving on Sunday. It is a bit of a blow because it looks stunning inside, plus my husband has never been inside of a synagogue, but that’s just how things go sometimes.

To try and see their spirits we went to a nearby café and had a traditional Hungarian Jewish cake called Flodni. This is a layered cake which has poppy seeds, apples, walnuts and plum jam inside. Cakes I never heard of before and they already think would make for a fantastic technical bake on the next series of The Great British Bake Off. I only wish I’d gotten the biggest slice of it, because it was absolutely gorgeous and I had already drunk my espresso before I’d finished the last bite.

We had a nice rest in our accommodation before going for a night time cruise along the Danube to see a bunch of the sights all lit up. That was the plan and sounded super romantic. Until you found it hard to see out of the windows because of all the rain. Dang.

In all fairness, we booked this when there was meant to be a bit of a respite in the precipitation. Also, I was fully ready to stand outside for the sake of seeing the best of the views. Did not expect the boat to be in a plastic dome with no way of stepping outside for an unobstructed view. Still, I saw enough that it made me think that I really deserve to give Budapest another go in a warmer month. Maybe do a visit over a May bank holiday in a future year.

 

So, we’ve got off and it was still raining. Instead of going through the now busy Christmas markets (because it is a Friday) we decided to go to a restaurant for dinner instead. In a strange case of luck, we managed to snag the last unreserved seat at a restaurant near our accommodation that I had been eyeing up since we arrived a few days ago. They made a big to do on making food from the top 20 Hungarian recipes and therefore seeing what the perfect place to go and try something authentic.

Neither of us were disappointed by our choices for the main or the dessert. I don’t think I had quite expected this trip to Budapest to be such a food holiday, but that might partially be because the rain has detracted from other potential parts of the trip. So my main, I had a type of Hungarian beef stew that came with sour cream and a cottage cheese pasta. It was delicious and I really do need to start making more Hungarian things when I get home.

For dessert we split two different things. I started out with the cottage cheese dumplings with berries and a honeyed sour cream whereas my husband started with somlól (an incredibly rich and chocolaty Hungarian trifle). Both desserts were very different from each other, which works because I think you would get a bit too much with a full plate. Half of each worked out perfectly, which is obviously the main reason to get married.

So, that leaves us with tomorrow as the last full day. It is still meant to be raining pretty much the whole day, but there is hope for an hour or so here and there which will be a bit drier. I’m not holding up a lot of hope because of how the previous two days have gone so we’ll see how it is and adapt as needed.

Very Wet in Budapest – Day 2: A Classic Itinerary

It’s always a bit crap when you have gone on holiday somewhere and you have a day that is a complete washout. The thing that usually gets you through it is that there will be a dry spell or at least there is a dry day coming. Well, today we started with snow leading into hail, sleet and finally non stop rain. This is not exactly what I was hoping for, but we’re here now so it really is ‘make the best of it’ time.

The day started with a pre-booked tour of the Hungarian Parliament building, an absolutely massive building on the Pest side of the Danube that is pretty hard to miss. We lucked out a bit as the rest of the tours after ours would (at the last minute) have an incomplete visit due to something occurring in one of the rooms.

At this point, it’s getting a bit shameful that I have been to the government buildings of other nations, but not my own. Then again, there is a completely different price point involved.

The tour took us through some really grand staircases and some stunning rooms, the most beautiful being the only one where we were not allowed to take pictures: The Dome Hall. It is apparently because they want to protect the crown from photos, but I think they just want to make it feel extra special. But I’d understand it from a flash point of view. Still though it was really cool to see a crown that is nearly 1,000 years old even if the little gold cross on the top is a bit wonky thanks to someone shutting the box a bit too quickly.

We never got round to seeing the shoe statue for the victims of the Jewish Holocaust, so have put that on the list for the next two days, assuming we are still in the vicinity.

We then took a walk over the famed Chain Bridge and ended up on the Buda side of the Danube. Given that the snow had turned to sleet the bridge was incredibly slippery and we could see that the visibility across was going to be poor once we had gotten up to Castle Hill. It is still mind boggling that it took so long to build a bridge across the Danube, however you just have to see a churning underneath you for it to make a bit of sense.

Since we had skipped breakfast and it was nearly lunchtime we decided to grab something to eat from a local place before we made the climb up the hill. We both ended up having the Hungarian pork stew with spaetzle which was exactly what we were both hoping for. Warm, filling and it made you forget that your feet were actually getting increasingly wet from all the precipitation out there. The owner was also really sweet having asked me where I was from and then asking if I was a football fan. The fact that I was English and did not like football seemed to go over well.

Fuelled up and ready to go, and not paying the extortionate rates for the funicular, we climbed up the stairs towards Buda Castle. The castle itself does look lovely from the outside, but the reason you come here is to get views across the Danube… something that was lacking thanks to the cloud.

Whilst we were here, and to get out of the rain, we went inside to the Castle History museum. It was a good chance to get a bit of knowledge about the history of the place we were staying. This was also a chance for me to realize just how many places we have been to that have near incomplete or broken histories thanks to random invasions (really thinking of Korea here).

The museum itself gives you a good overview of the history of Budapest and of the castle, both of which have been severely damaged thanks to repeated invasions from the Ottomans. However, the real thing to come here and see is Saint Stephen’s Hall which, given you have to buy an extra ticket for it, is actually quite small. The really cool thing in that room is, surprisingly, the fireplace which is massive and Incredibly decorated with ceramics.

Having spent just over an hour in the museum, we ventured back out to head towards Fisherman’s Bastion. On a normal non-rainy day I would have spent some time wandering around the castle town up on the hill, which would have been pretty rather than dismal if it had not been for all the rain. What helped make things feel less dismal was going inside of Matthias Church.

At some point I actually need to make a list of my top 20 places of worship, which I threaten my husband with every time we go somewhere I am in awe of. The inside of this church definitely earned itself a place, as I have never seen anything quite like it. There is not a single corner of this church that is not covered in some kind of wall art. Even some of the paintings on the bottom of the main wall look like flowering tapestry. It’s a very strange thing.

What made this church visit all the more special, was that you were able to actually go up into the gallery free of charge. Is very unusual to get such a bird’s eye view of the inside of a church without having to pay extra and it’s something that I would highly encourage anyone coming to Budapest to do, especially if it’s raining because it actually boosts your spirits.

Despite all the rain we had managed to tick off nearly everything from our list to the things to do and so we made our way back to our accommodation to rest up a little bit. On the way we went to a confectionery shop and picked up some slices of a local cake: Dobos Torte. I have had this cake once before many years ago in a Hungarian restaurant. Think of it as a cake with multiple layers filled with a dark ganache and there is a sprinkling of chopped hazelnuts on the outside and a caramelized topping of some sort.

After a bit of rest, we went back out into the rain and in search of the other major Christmas market of Budapest. It is larger in terms of area compared to Saint Stephen’s market, however I think I prefer the one we saw yesterday because there was something more quaint about having the stores more closely packed. Once again, the food options were absolutely insane and I would happily just eat there for weeks and weeks.

Another thing checked off of the food list is a local type of stuffed cabbage roll and it was delicious especially when perched on top of a potato pound cake and with a sprinkling of cheese and sour cream on top. Splitting this using plastic cutlery and eating it under a covering whilst your husband is slowly getting drenched by the rain is definitely going to be one of those experiences.

We bought some surprisingly cheap decorations and then my husband wanted some strudel, so we ventured back to our first Christmas market of the trip with me knowing that they had some strudel places. Sadly, given the unrelenting rain, a lot of the stools in St Stephen’s market were closed and the tree had been switched off. This is the weather we were dealing with, it even cancelled a Christmas Market.

So we got some strudel at a local café where we sat inside with some Pepsi Max and listened to Christmas radio. What are the strudels with sour cherry and the other was cottage cheese and redcurrant. Both were delicious and finished ridiculously quickly and we were out of the door around the time they started playing the ‘Millennium Prayer’ by Cliff Richard.

So in the end we made the most of the day that we could. Tomorrow is set to be just as wettest today, but a degree or too warmer so I don’t know how much of a difference that is going to make. At this point I’m not too sure what on our various to-do lists will be covered tomorrow but I am sure that we will find a way to see some really interesting things even if we are slowly drowning in Hungarian rain. Hopefully this will be the day that I have some goulash, preferably in a bread bowl.

Very Wet in Budapest – Day 1: Arrival

Two weeks in Japan, two weeks in Italy and now here I am with a mini-break to finish off the year. This is another one of my Christmas market trips and, this year, I have come to Budapest. As this is just how the cookie crumbles, it looks like after this arrival dear it is going to be near constant rain until the day we leave. Still, I had tonight.

Since the direct flights were a bit garbage, we ended up connecting in Munich as things just worked out better that way. This all meant that by the time we got to our accommodation it was 6pm and hovering at freezing point. Lovely accommodation in the heart of Pest though, the kind where I would happily hang out if weather gets too bad.

In Budapest, there are two main Christmas markets. Our accommodation is pretty much over the road from the smaller of the two, which is where we went tonight. This is the St Stephen’s market, right in front of a basilica I want to visit in the next few days.

The market itself is larger than it looks from the outside and has some of the best looking food I have ever seen at a Christmas market (more on that in a bit). There’s a cute little ice rink around the Christmas tree and there’s a projected light show on the front of the church every half hour.

Dinner was market food, which it just had to be on the first day. Since this is Hungary, I had to have langos – this one had sour cream, cheese and bacon on it. Third time I have had langos from a market, but the first time I have had this very Hungarian food stuff in its native land. Afterwards I split a freshly cooked chimney cake with my husband. We went for a cinnamon sugar coating which absolutely did not disappoint. This will probably not be the last chimney cake we eat during this trip… but maybe not such a big one next time.

Since it was still early, and likely the only dry evening, it was time to just explore a little bit – starting with a stroll to the Danube itself. We are going to be seeing so much of this river in the next few days, but there is something special about seeing the bridges and buildings all lit up. All places we are planning to visit like Buda Castle, Fisherman’s Bastion and the Parliament Building.

On this walk I also started seeing just how any sculptures there are around the place. I wonder how much of this feeling is going to come to fruition, but this feels like such an arty city that I am really going to have to keep my eyes open.

Towards the end of our stroll we came upon ‘Fashion Street’, with plenty of high end stores, the Lithuanian embassy and some beautiful decorations. Sadly it was too late to go into the Lindt store for a hot chocolate, but maybe another time.

Finish off the evening with a trip on the Budapest Ferris Wheel. Honestly, this felt the only time we’d be able to do so before the rain and snow set in. The capsule was a bit too reflective for photos, but it was fun nonetheless.

A nice way to start off this trip. Tomorrow the rain is coming and I guess we’ll have to see how it goes and how much we will need to adapt our plans. At least we’ve got our tour of the parliament building booked. That should be very interesting.