Our last day in Hungary was actually our best day. Our Airport shuttle was due to pick us up at 12 noon so we used the morning to visit the Great Market Hall of Budapest. The market opens at 6 am, and we were there just after 7 am so it was lovely and quiet.  THe market is filled with the freshest fruit & veg, meat, sausages, dairy products and of course lots of pastries.

I really enjoyed walking around in the “tourist trap” part of the market, filled with the traditional Hungarian embroidery. I even spotted some crochet edging on tablecloths and table runners!

As it  was so early and we hadn’t had any breakfast yet, we bought Hungarian pastries to kick of the day…. breakfast of champions! The layered cake was very good. Between the layers of chocolate sponge was thick cream and apricot jam. The pastry tube was quite an experience. I thought we were buying a “cream horn” – a puff pastry tube filled with sweetened cream and caramel. Nope. What I thought was cream, turned out to be a salted, almost runny, cream cheese! It looked like cream, it had the texture of cream, but it was salty! Very strange sensation, especially so early in the morning. It was good, just a bit of unexpected.

After our power breakfast we strolled down Vaci utca, took a metro to Heroes Square and the Szechenyi Baths and then made our way back to the hotel for the shuttle pick up.

I have to admit that when we first arrived in Budapest we weren’t that impressed, but after seeing the Castle District and Gellert Spa on Saturday, and then the Market  on our last day, we left Budapest as happy tourists. It was a very short break, but it was just enough for us. Oh, and the Hungarian food also helped up the enjoyment factor 😉

Sunday was the big sightseeing day for us. We started off with Momento Park, the outdoor museum where all the statues from the communist era are kept.  I have to be honest and say that I didn’t really enjoy Momento Park. Their website made it look far more interesting than it really was. I’m not one for dwelling on the past (more of a move on and let it go kind of person) and I’m certainly not a history buff so maybe that’s why it didn’t really appeal. In fact, the huge Republic of Councils monument (the one of the man running with the flag) actually upset me a little. It had a negative vibe around it and made me feel uncomfortable being close it – not the other statues though, just that one….

The photo collage shows the Republic of Council’s monument (based on a 1919 revolutionary poster), Stalin’s boots (all that is left of the Stalin statue after Hungarian revolutionaries demolished it in 1956), The Béla Kun Memorial and Ostapenko & Captain Steinmetz statues

On our way back from Momento park (which we had to reach by tram and bus) we stopped at the Gellert hotel with it’s amazing spa. Aaah, this was so so so much better than Momento Park! We couldn’t see the thermal baths, but the foyer of the spa complex was so beautiful. Everything is so rich and luxurious without being tacky or over the top. Despite the tourists standing around it still had a sense of calm and relaxation – and that was just foyer!

Our last stop for the day was at the Castle District of Buda which is a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site.  The Castle District consists of the Royal Palace (which we didn’t visit), Matthias church (with it’s pretty roof tiles) and Fisherman’s Bastion (that looks like something from a fairytale). Obviously there are other buildings as well, but these are the main ones. 

We really enjoyed our time here amongst the old medieval buildings, away from the grey and depressing buildings on the Pest side. On our way back to the hotel we stopped at a little touristy shop where the shopkeeper told us all about the traditional Hungarian food. He was a lovely man and so interesting to listen to.  His food knowledge came in very handy later that evening.

Here I am putting my newly found knowledge of Hungarian cuisine to the test: Goulash as a starter,  Chicken Paprikash or “paprika chicken” with sour cream and dumplings as main and crepes filled with cream cheese with a lemon-vanilla sauce.   Hubby had the same starter, veal stew with sour cream and rice, and for dessert  Arany Galuska or “golden dumplings” with a thin custard.  Apart from hubby’s dessert which was a bit dry the food was really good and there are lots of it.  A very good way to spend our last evening in Budapest.

Greetings all! We’re back from Budapest! I’m going to do a blog entry for each day of our long weekend, so here is Saturday’s.

Hubby and I arrived late afternoon on Saturday to 33 degree heat! Wowzer! Luckily we had booked a return trip with the Airport Shuttle . Very good idea, as I can’t imagine having to do public transport in a strange city in that kind of heat. The Airport shuttle dropped us off right in front of our hotel. Brilliant! The hotel was also ideally located on Pest’s “restaurant street” Raday utca, around the corner from the Kalvin ter Metro station in one direction and around the corner from the Great Market Hall and Szabadság híd (the Liberty bridge) in the other direction. Perfect.

We didn’t do much sightseeing on Saturday, apart from taking the Metro to Batthyany ter to walk along the Danube and enjoy the Houses of Parliament and Széchenyi Chain Bridge at night.  It was a lovely evening and very good start to the weekend. Hubby took some amazing photos….