RTW

Buda — Pest

The train to Vienna was stress free and relaxing; we caught up on our blogging responsibilities and continued making our way through season one of Suits. We reviewed our Budapest itinerary and prepared for our walk out of the train station and over to our B&B.

Thankfully, our host in Budapest provided us with thorough instructions on how to navigate the tricky train stations and avoid the taxi “hyenas” (as they’re referred to by locals) to make our way to safely to the hotel. We arrived at our B&B around 10:30 am and were greeted at the front door by a handsome 30-something native, who spoke flawless English.

Insert Albert, the owner of Kapital Inn and the coolest person on the planet. He immediately welcomed us with hugs and sat us down at the kitchen table for fresh pastries, coffee and shots of the local appertives. We picked his brain about the best of Budapest and he asked us more about our adventure. After the hour-long conversation, it felt like we were old friends.

Albert’s English is flawless because he went to college in the UK and then worked in Boston for six years as a “Manny” (man-nanny) for a wealthy family of four. He now runs the show at the best B&B in Budapest. Seriously folks… if you ever get the chance to visit, please stay with this man! Before sharing our favorite sights, we do want to give a huge shout-out to our friends Abby and Nick who stumbled upon Albert more than a year ago. We are forever indebted to you for this recommendation; our visit wouldn’t have been the same without meeting Albert and staying at the Kapital Inn, so thank you!

After our chat with Albert we freshened up and headed out to explore the city. On our first day we focused on the Pest portion of the city, and Buda on the next. We started with the picturesque Opera house near our hotel that was designed to mimic Vienna’s.

From there, we made our way down the trendy Andrassy Utca and admired the various shops and buildings that have all made impressive post-communism recoveries.

Our next stop was St. Stephen’s Basilica, named after the first Catholic King of Hungary. St. Stephen’s is hands down one of the most beautiful churches we have ever seen. While it is quite lovely from the outside, the inside takes it to a whole new level. Vaulted ceilings, stain glass windows, marble sculptures, fresh flowers — this beauty has it all. After admiring the architecture and decor, we hiked more than 300 steps up to the top of the basilica for a 360 view of the city. Stunning!

After the Basilica, we swung by for a tour of Pest’s ornate Parliament building, then followed the river down to the city market. The market was full of Hungarian crafts and foods (lots of sausage and meat and cheeses, but more on that later). After a search around the market, we grabbed a late lunch and headed back towards our hotel through the historic Jewish district, which is now mostly full of trendy bars and hipsters.

On our second day in Budapest, we crossed the Danube river to the Buda side of the city. It is the more historic and hilly of the two and houses the city’s castles. We started with fisherman’s bastion, where we hiked up a plateau to see the national gallery and historic town that overlooks the rest of the city. After walking back down, we followed the river south and stopped for a couple of Borsodi beer (the local brew). We quenched our thirst and then tackled our next task: hiking up another plateau to the Citadel, where we enjoyed the best views of the city yet.

Exhausted from our hikes (we trekked more than 30,000 steps that day), we headed back to the Pest side for a stop at the city’s thermal baths to soothe our muscles. Using underground water, this complex had dozens of pools and spas, each with a unique temperature and mineral composition. After an hour or two there, we were recharged and ready to take on the evening!

For our last night in Budapest, we sampled the city’s “ruin pubs”, which is what in sounds like: bars built in buildings that were never refurbished after the war.

Now, off to Hanoi!

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Maggie

235 thoughts on “Buda — Pest”

  1. Loved the narrative on Buda & Pest, but I agree with Kelly – more pictures – the ones I’ve seen are very good, so the more the merrier. Sounds like Albert was the perfect host/tour guide. Hope you enjoy Hanoi and I saw where Papua New Guinea had a volcano erupt so I was wondering if it would effect your getting to either Hanoi or Bali or Tokyo for that matter. Keep on trucking you two. Love Dad

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  2. Hey Maggie: I finally got on your blog site (Thanks, Rita Ann)……I’m remembering the climb up to the fortified “castle” and the whole trek that you described……your Mom had the lens cap on her camera the whole day, so we’re missing pictures of that part of the trip ) : But she was our photographer and she did a great job (otherwise). Now that I’m on the site, can’t wait to see and read more……..stay safe and have fun. xo Marty

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