JAX does design

Monday, December 27, 2010

Budapest: Day 3

Today we moved from the B&B to the hotel. I would have rather stayed at the B&B – Albert is a great host, and B&Bs are far more comfortable and personal than hotels. We actually could have stayed till Thursday because Albert had a last-minute cancellation, but we already had the hotel booked. I miss the beautiful & character-filled B&B building…

…and even those crazy 117 steps from the front door to our room!

Before we left the B&B, we went to the House of Terror Museum. Although the museum is fascinating, it’s also incredibly depressing and disturbing, and I’d rather not get into the details on my blog – this is supposed to be a happy place! If you want to learn more about what happened during Hungary’s two terror regimes, check out the web site. Trust me, the museum name is absolutely appropriate.

After we moved to the hotel, we did more walking & exploring, starting with the Christmas market, which is now back to being fully open. I never think to take pics before I eat, but I’ll be back at the market tomorrow and I’ll try to remember to take pics of something that looks like foccaccio that I can’t remember the name of, a yummy tubular pastry that’s cooked over hot coals and coated in vanilla sugar & cinnamon that I don’t know the name of, and rooster testicle stew. Yes, that’s what it’s called, and yes, we ate it!

We walked farther south today and came across some more great architecture…

Some close-ups…

This building is next to the Danube.

Yay, finally a blue sky!

This statue is across the Danube on the Buda side. Hopefully we’ll make our way over there tomorrow.

This is also a view of the Buda side…

Back on the Pest side, the famous Gerbaud cafe is on the main floor of this beautiful building, which covers one side of the square where the Christmas market is. We had hot chocolate & cake there yesterday – YUM!

The new and glamourous Four Seasons Hotel, which looks across the Danube.

And I finally got to Varga Design to check out the cool jewelry I told you about. The piece I really wanted was 420,000 HUF, or about $2,100 CAD. Just a bit out of my price range, but that’s the price you pay for real diamonds! The pendant I bought is almost as pretty, and ten times less expensive!

We also went to Pick to buy some real authentic Hungarian salami. It was the first place we’ve been to where nobody speaks English. It’s quite impressive how many Hungarians speak English, and how well they speak it. I’ve never been so clued out about a language – Hungarian is nothing like any other language I’m familiar with!

Well, my feet are achey, and after a lousy sleep last night (didn’t fall asleep till sometime after 3:00AM), I’m hoping for a good sleep tonight! A housekeeper actually came into our room earlier to turn down the sheets – how fancy is that?! ;-)

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Budapest: Day 2

We had a bit if a late start today due to sleeping in. But I think the effects of jetlag are gone now, so we should be good to get up early for the rest of the week! Although there weren’t many stores open today, and the museums were closed too, so it’s just as well that we didn’t get out and about till about 1:00PM, after eating very yummy omelettes cooked by our B&B host, Albert. We had a great chat with him over breakfast, and learned a lot about Hungary. Remember the run-down buildings I mentioned yesterday? Albert said they had been built in the days of communism when the government was creating make-work jobs. After the collapse of communism in Hungary, the workers lost their jobs and the buildings have pretty much stood abandoned ever since.

Just around the corner from the B&B is the House of Terror Museum. It was closed yesterday and today, but we’ll definitely be checking it out tomorrow. The building was headquarters to the KGB secret police, and is now a memorial to the victims of the two terror regimes in Hungary. It also presents a picture of what life was like for Hungarians in those times.

We made our way over the the Parliament building, passing one of the biggest and most elegant McDonalds I’ve ever seen…

And a pretty fancy train station. Yep, there’s Subway here! And Burger King & KFC too.

The Parliament buildings.

We’ll have to go across the Danube to the Buda side to get the really impressive view of the Parliament building. It was too cold & windy day to walk across the bridge today, but we’ll definitely get over to the Buda side soon…

There’s lots of beautiful and interesting architecture here. Just a few examples, starting with the Central European University:

I have to find out what this building is.

Cool circular corner on this building.

An artsy shot of balconies.

I love the copper on this building. The very top floor is interesting.

I think this building might house a TV station or something TV-related. My Hungarian isn’t exactly fluent ;-) I love the kid’s train in front of the elaborate old building.

I think this is Le Meridien Hotel. Notice the snow! It snowed all day today – good thing we’re Canadian, we’re used to snow ;-)

This is the only Soviet monument still in Budapest. When the Russians finally left Hungary in 1991, the agreement said that they could keep one statue or monument in the country. They chose this monument in Szabadság tér (Freedom Square).

Other than a few booths, the Christmas Market has been closed this weekend. It’ll be back in full swing tomorrow, which I’m really looking forward to!

A pretty winter window display:

The Hungarian version of a Grinch tree – too bad they don’t fit into my suitcase!

Oh, speaking of window displays – I found Varga Design this afternoon. It was closed, and there was no jewelry on display in the windows. Which makes me think the jewelry is outrageously expensive. I’ll be back tomorrow to find out!

I might be the only person in existence who hates subway tiles. They literally remind me of subways! I hated taking the subway to university in Montreal, and subway tiles are now guilty by association. See, they even do subway tiles in the subway stations here!

Tonight was another show at Duna Palato – this time, a folklore show. The music and dancing were lively and fun, and the colourful costumes were fabulous. I wanted to take a picture, but cameras aren’t allowed. Sorry!

After the show, we went out for dinner. You’d be surprised how many people here eat dinner at 10:30PM! We went to a restaurant recommended by Albert called Menza. For $35, hubby had a huge beer and we both had awesome meals. My whole meal was FAB, but my favourite part was the Hot Sour Cherry Pie. It’s like cherry pie in a mug, minus the crust, And it was SO FREAKIN’ AWESOME!! I told hubby we’re going back at least once, maybe twice, because I NEED another one! I think it’s the best drink I’ve ever had, And that’s including strawberry daiquiris made with Bailey’s instead of rum!

On the agenda for tomorrow – SHOPPING! And moving from the B&B to the hotel, going to the Christmas Market, and I think we’re doing a walking tour. Hope it’s a bit warmer, or at less less windy…

P.S. I won’t have time to do my blog rounds while I’m away, but I’ll definitely be doing lots of catching up when we get back home :-)

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Budapest: Day 1

Merry Christmas from Budapest! We arrived this morning at about 11:15AM local time. Considering the flight delays and cancellations in Europe this past week, we were pretty lucky with our flights – both left a bit late, but were otherwise uneventful. BTW, if you ever fly to Frankfurt Airport and have to make a connection, make sure you have at least 1.5 hours between flights. The airport is HUGE and has multiple terminals.

Has anyone flown Air Canada lately? First class has really weird pod seating (we weren’t in first class, just walked through it to and from economy!)

And they seem to be using some sort of chromatherapy with the lighting. It’s like they put the cabin through sunset with red lighting, night time with blue lighting, and sunrise with red lighting again. With some yellow, green, and purple thrown in.

We didn’t see Santa from the plane, but we opened our stockings in Row 32 after midnight Frankfurt time :-)

Too bad my camera was in the trunk of the cab between the airport and the B&B, because the scenery was really fascinating. More stark and sombre than pretty, partly because of the grey weather but mostly because of all the old abandoned and run down buildings, I found them fascinating because I’m sure there’s an interesting story behind them. Were they abandoned after WWII? After the fall of communism? And what did they look like in their prime? There was also a huge wall of graffiti that was really more like colourful art. I did some research and found that the largest legal graffiti wall in Budapest is called FilatorigÃ¡t. I wonder it’s the wall I saw?

The Budapest Underground

The cab ride was interesting once we got into the city. Our driver weaved his way through traffic as he sped through lanes that are way narrower than I’m used to! When we got to our destination (Kapital Inn), the owner Albert came down to meet us at the front gate. The building his B&B is in has a gate that opens to a sort of courtyard, which is in the center of the building. Our B&B has a patio that overlooks it. I didn’t take a pic myself, but here’s one from Trip Advisor:

Our B&B is on the top floor. It’s three floors up, and exactly 117 steps from the front gate to our room. That’ll get the heart rate up! Thank god Albert carried up our luggage – one bag in each hand, all the way up without stopping! This is the view from our room:

It reminds me a lot of the view we had from our room at St. Niklaas B&B in Bruges a few years ago, minus the Belfort Tower:

We took showers and naps, and then headed out to check out the city. It was freezing rain, so I left the camera at the B&B. We’re here till Friday, so I’m sure we’ll be taking LOTS of pictures! Not many places were open, but there’s a street filled with home decor stores that I’ll be checking out for sure! A few food booths at the Christmas Fair were open. I had a hot chocolate and hubby had a great big deep fried potato thing (more technically referred to as langos):

Red Bus Hostel

You know that commercial for Sarah’s House where Sarah is wearing heels slogging through the mud? I had that problem tonight walking to and from the Duna Palota (Danube Palace) in the snow & wind. But not as bad as the girl I saw walking through the snow in open toe spike heels with bare feet! CRAZY WOMAN! The symphony we saw at Danu Plata was great, although I had moments of almost falling asleep from the jetlag. After the symphony, we went for a boat cruise on the Danube and ate dinner. Nothing special food-wise, but it was a great night overall :-)

A couple of pics from our walk home…

And now, bed time!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Off to Budapest & Merry Christmas!

I was talking to my friend on the phone last night, and she asked me why I was going to Budapest for Christmas. I’m not a religious person, and she was wondering why I wanted to go to a country that’s full of Buddhists. Hahahah! Cheryl, you crack me up! :-D

So yes, tomorrow hubby and I are heading off to Budapest for a week. I’ll have my netbook with me and I’ll try to post some pics from our travels around the city. We’ll be staying here for two nights…

Kapital Inn (image via Trip Advisor)