I have a friend who was once before studying in Budapest. His story is always started with, " ...there are 2 sides of Budapest, Buda and Pest, separated with a river...". That is more than enough to drag me to Budapest to see with my own two eyes, Buda and Pest. So Asif, wish you are able to read this.
On arrival, we were greeted by thunderstorm. In fact our flight was delayed. We were still lucky compared to those who were flying to Bratislava as they had to land in Budapest because of the bad weather. But the bad start did not stop us from enjoying our vacation.
Budapest is beautiful, with a lot of tram lines criss-crossing the 2 towns (remember Buda and Pest) with a lot of trees. It is really really green. There are many places to visit, from museums, monument, churches, plaza and all will take years to finish.
People in Budapest are friendly, some can speak English and some don´t. However, don worry trouble appears, there always Samaritans who will help translating, reminding or guiding. On the first morning, we met two Danish guys, tourist like us, telling almost everything we need to know about transportation. So we save some transportation allowance by using family tickets. However, telling this to the local ticket counter officer was not easy, because once the ticket is sold, you cannot change it. But, there are always people who were there to help. And we were just lucky.
Transportation in Budapest is reasonably price. One strange thing is when buying long distance ticket. Just imagine, by train, a single trip to Bratislava cost 15000 Forint, but if you buy return tickets it only cost you 8800 Forint. And the ticket officer won´t cheat you, they automatically give you a return ticket even if you ask for single. They understood travellers always look for the cheaper one.
Food in Budapest is not so difficult. We found a lot of halal food but mostly kebab or the local called gyros (gi-ros). Most of these places are operated by Muslim from Turks, no surprise as once Hungary was invaded by Turks. We enjoyed eating so much. And they serve tea in big mug too! (Okay, I am tea lover, in Barca they serve tea in coffee cup, which is far too small for a tea bag, so the taste is bitter).
And of course we took tons of picture, visiting places like museums, squares, monument, castle etc. And my darling, he spent the moment by taking various pictures of Hungarian Parliament from across the river to get the best production. For him, "Budapest? BudaBesssttt".Budapest is beautiful, with a lot of tram lines criss-crossing the 2 towns (remember Buda and Pest) with a lot of trees. It is really really green. There are many places to visit, from museums, monument, churches, plaza and all will take years to finish.
People in Budapest are friendly, some can speak English and some don´t. However, don worry trouble appears, there always Samaritans who will help translating, reminding or guiding. On the first morning, we met two Danish guys, tourist like us, telling almost everything we need to know about transportation. So we save some transportation allowance by using family tickets. However, telling this to the local ticket counter officer was not easy, because once the ticket is sold, you cannot change it. But, there are always people who were there to help. And we were just lucky.
Transportation in Budapest is reasonably price. One strange thing is when buying long distance ticket. Just imagine, by train, a single trip to Bratislava cost 15000 Forint, but if you buy return tickets it only cost you 8800 Forint. And the ticket officer won´t cheat you, they automatically give you a return ticket even if you ask for single. They understood travellers always look for the cheaper one.
Food in Budapest is not so difficult. We found a lot of halal food but mostly kebab or the local called gyros (gi-ros). Most of these places are operated by Muslim from Turks, no surprise as once Hungary was invaded by Turks. We enjoyed eating so much. And they serve tea in big mug too! (Okay, I am tea lover, in Barca they serve tea in coffee cup, which is far too small for a tea bag, so the taste is bitter).
Parliament building during daylight
Parliament building at sunset
Hungarian flag with a hole to mark the Hungarian Revolution in 1956
I know somebody who took picture with this statue, but in different pose..Then hopefully this will add to the variety, En Rezal...
Buda Castle during daylight
and also at night, viewed from Danube River
St Anne´s church
Funicular ride up to Fishermen´s Bastion, just like the way the shot it in Amazing Race.
In the shadow of Stalin´s boot (and my pump shoes, hehehe)
Momento Park
The great historical Chain Bridge, built in 14 century during daylight
Chain Bridge at night
A close up of Chain Bridge
St Stephen´s Basilica
A beautiful building on sale right in the heart of Pest, anybody??
Jewish Museum
Family portrait with Voldemort at Hungarian National Museum´s garden (Harry Porter fever)
One of the museums
Another museum ( there are too many museums, I could not recall them)
Heroic action at Heroes Square
At Contemporary Art Museum
Keleti Train Station
