Wednesday, May 30
Seeya (SEE-ya) is Hungarian for Hello and Goodbye which is appropriate because this will be our last day here.
Deborah was still feeling the effects of her cold so she stayed in the house and I went to play tennis. I had played last Sunday at a tennis complex on the Buda side of the river and hit with a very nice woman named Veronika. She wasn’t substantially better than I was when I was playing regularly but she was up to the task of just smacking some balls with me. On Sunday it had been hot and humid and it was a challenge just to withstand the weather. Today was partly cloudy and less humid and I had no trouble keeping up. Total cost for an hour of court time plus a coach was just over $30.00; not bad. At one point I thought I might have broken a string which would have been a tragedy as I only have one racket with me instead of my normal three but everything turned out just fine. Oh the rigors of traveling.
We had planned to meet Andrea and Balazs for one last dinner but we had to cancel because Deborah wasn’t feeling well. Tomorrow we’ll be on the 7:41 am train to Prague for a new adventure.
We wish to extend a heartfelt thanks to Peter who, in addition to making countless suggestions for things to do, arranged for us to meet with his sister Andrea. Andrea and her friend, Balazs, were ever so gracious. They took the time to meet with strangers, help us with our travels and even met us for a few meals. We feel like we’re leaving good friends behind.
Distance walked: 6.3 miles
A few thoughts on Budapest
Until 1989 Hungary was still behind the iron curtain. We expected the city to have a very Eastern European look and feel. We couldn’t have been more wrong. Virtually all vestiges of communism have been erased. Budapest seems like many other Western European cities that we’ve been to.
Budapest is one of the most picturesque places we’ve ever seen. It’s an ancient city but many of the most notable buildings, in the neo-Gothic style, and have been constructed just over 100 years ago.
We found a huge number of opportunities to attend reasonably priced concerts. Many of the churches sponsor regular organ and instrumental concerts, the Liszt Academy hosts free and professional performances and there are many formal venues including the State Opera House, the Bela Bartok Concert Hall and Erkel Hall.
The public transportation system is large, convenient and easy to use. There are several trams that follow the river for several miles that make for a nice self-tour. Our only complaint was the additional cost and complexity of having to deal with transfer tickets.
Almost everyone in Budapest were accomplished English speakers. English seems to be the go to language. We saw many instances of foreigners trying to communicate with Hungarians. Several languages were often tried before all parties settled on English. It made our life much easier.
Hungary is a great place to explore food – especially if you like pork. We’ve never seen so many ways to prepare dishes from so many parts of a pig. Everything is spiced with Paprika and smothered in sour cream and yet we still managed to loose a few pounds during our stay. Many of the traditional foods struck us a very Bavarian which is probably a consequence of being part of the Hapsburg Empire for so many years.
Here’s our must do list for Budapest…
- Tour the House of Parliament. The building is very beautiful and contains the crown jewels. We thought that the price charged was exorbitant but you have to go anyway.
- Visit Fisherman’s Bastion / Matthius Church. Remember that you can climb the north side of the Bastion for free so there’s no need to pay for this. There is an entry fee to see the church but it’s not too bad and the inside is gorgeous. There is even a small museum there. If you’re adventurous you can climb the bell tower for an additional fee.
- Visit Hero’s Square / City Park. There are many things to see and do there including several museums, a lake, a castle, a bath house and the zoo.
- Visit the Buda Castle complex. There are lovely trails and parks all around. Inside there are several museums including the National Gallery and a library.
- Saint Stephen’s Basilica is the largest Roman Catholic church in the city. It doesn’t rival any we’ve seen in Rome but it’s very nice. For a fee you can climb to the viewing platform.
- Visit the Great Synagogue. For a fee you can tour the synagogue, several memorials and the museum. We thought that the museum is one of the nicest Jewish museums we’ve seen.
- See the Shoes on the Danube memorial. It’s just along the river bank. It’s understated yet very moving.
- Get something to eat at Gerbeaud. It’s a very famous old coffee house / confectionary. We strongly recommend their iced coffee with ice cream and caramel sauce. It’s actually worth the $10.00 that they charge for it.
- Take a cruise on the Danube. There are many options for sightseeing, dinner and seeing other towns.
Of course there are many more things to see and explore. We hope you’ll love Budapest as much as we did.