Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Night location: Budapest
A fantastic day in Budapest. Our morning started with a three hour Segway tour in the glorious Budapest sunshine. We love Segways. Amber wants David to buy her one! Since we had done a Segway tour previously in Prague we found that we felt more natural on the Segway as we didn't really have to think about how to manoeuvre it. We spent two hours exploring the city area on the Pest side of the Danube and then crossed the Chain Bridge for an hour exploring Castle Hill on the Buda side. Our guide Katie was very engaging and shared her own experience as well as giving a historical overview of various sights.
This month the Budapest Spring Festival is on which means that in the city centre market stalls have been set up selling a range of Hungarian handiworks as well as local street food. The square has a very festive feel and we took the opportunity to sample some Hungarian flat bread for lunch which was delicious. Amber then spent some time exploring the stalls, making purchases and marvelling at the wide variety of goods on offer.
Next up we decided to sample one of Budapest's famous grand coffee houses, The New York Cafe. Upon entering the building we immediately marvelled at the palatial ceilings and were seated by a smartly dressed waiter. We instantly felt that this was a much more refined experience than either of the famous coffee houses that we visited in Vienna. Not only that but both the beverages and the cakes we ordered were far superior as well.
Feeling revived and with several hours of daylight remaining we planned a route to the top of Castle Hill via the Metro and a bus. Because we have loved Budapest so much, we set out with the intention of buying a piece of art to add to our lounge room collection. We found an interesting art studio run by an elderly couple whose whole family produced the art that was on display. After making our purchase, we got talking to the woman and she shared that she had lived in Australia for three years moving there when she was 19. Her first husband was a violinist who wished to leave the Communist regime so he could continue to pursue his love of music. In Australia, he was appointed to be the first violinist of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. She spoke of how growing up in Hungary had shaped her to be a frightened and closed person who did not wish to speak of personal details with anyone. She felt that moving to Australia and experiencing our freedom of life helped her to overcome this. We felt like we could have spoken with her for hours and it is nice that we have a beautiful artwork to not only remind us of Budapest, but of her.
After bidding her farewell we stopped in at the oldest Coffee House in Budapest opened in 1827 for refreshments. We shared their signature cake which was delicious and then walked back down the hill and across the Chain Bridge.
We opted to have dinner back in the markets and then following some inside knowledge found a gelato store that shaped the scoops of gelato into the shape of a rose. Not only did they look nice but the gelato was also excellent.
To finish our day we retired to our hotel spa area that included a large jacuzzi, a Turkish Hammam and a sauna. It was the perfect way to rejuvenate our weary legs in readiness for our long haul flight tomorrow.
- comments