Christopher Rowe

Some nine hours after departing Nuremburg, Germany we arrived in Budapest.

Divided by a river, Budapest is made up of two cultural influences; the society of Buda on one side of the city, and Pest on the other.

It was mid afternoon by the time we arrived at Budapest central station. With the hotel being some kilometres away and the fact that both of our luggage was beginning to weight at this point of the trip we hired a taxi.

We had been cautioned by our hotel prior to our arrival to ensure we only use ‘marked’ taxi cabs, as the city is swarming with knock-offs that rip you off. We made our way to the main taxi rank outside of the station where a line of taxis, all similar in colour and model were lined up. Each vehicle possessing the same illuminated taxi sign on their roof. Reaching the front of the queue we jumped in. The Taxi driver then asked whether we would be paying in Euros or the local Hungarian currency forint. This did not surprise me too much since I expected that the Euro was a great deal stronger than the Forint and everyone would prefer Euro. However, Michelle and I being prepared we had enough forint to pay for the cab. I was though a little surprised that the taxi was asking though. I responded, indicating we were going to pay in forint and asked if there was a problem. ‘No problem’ he replied, ‘my meter isn’t all that precise with forint, its out by a thousand or so’… I smiled back, I didn’t really care, after such a long train trip I just wanted to get to the hotel. I gave a nod of approval and we got underway. One thousand forints works out to be about five dollars Australian, so it didn’t bother me. What did bother me though, that the longer the journey progressed, I became all the more convinced that we landed in a knock-off taxi.

After a few detours, obviously taking the scenic route, we arrived at the hotel. I would have argued the chosen route but it was a good ride all the same. As it turns out, Budapest is an exceptionally beautiful city by night. Most of the journey was driving up along the river. The right hand side boasting castles and other impressive near-medieval era monuments and buildings was Buda, and to the left, sporting a more modern feel, the likes of a Four Season’s hotel, Hard Rock cafe and H&M for instance was Pest. The city was very yin-yang with the old and the new. Very beautiful.

Having had such a long train trip and also now being quite dark we didn’t venture out too far the first night. We crossed down a few alleyways, underpasses and street markets before stopping for a convenient ‘no need to think everything is in English’ meal at the Hard Rock cafe. Afterwards we walked back to the hotel for an early night and to get an early start to our first full day of Budapest.

We awoke the next morning to a damp rainy Budapest. In reflection, we have been quite fortunate that we have not come across rain til now. Never the less, determined not to let the rain dampen out mood (pun intended) we set out on a hop on – hop off bus city tour. Since it was raining it seemed everyone else had the same idea and by the third stop the bus was completely full – something that you probably wouldn’t otherwise experience until the height of the tourist season in summer. By the forth stop the windows were beginning to fog up with condensation and it wasn’t long before we could no longer see a thing. Since our bus passes were valid for tomorrow as well we decided to hedge our bets on tomorrows bus service and get off now and actually ‘see’ Budapest.

A very friendly greeting from the staff at Hooters

Feeling wet and somewhat frustrated at how our day started we decided to have an early lunch at the one place that was bound not to disappoint; Hooters.

Both Michelle and I are quite fond of this American franchise (probably for different reasons) having been to the one in Singapore a number of times, including New Years Eve. It is an obvious step up from the likes of Burger King and Maccas and when you’re in a foreign country looking for that little bit of American/western consistency Hooters delivers.

With a friendly ‘Welcome to Hooters’ greeting, donned in an American accent from one of the waitresses we found our seat, placed what has become our standard order, chicken strips and beer and sat back and relaxed as it continued to rain outside.

Unfortunately the following morning wasn’t much better. Although the rain had now subsided you still could see nothing of Buda. Instead of the windows on the bus being fogged up we had actual thick fog consuming all of Buda and the river. Not wanting to waste another morning on the Bus we took it as far as the Budapest Baths (on the Pest side) and decided to go for a swim outdoors in a chilly minus five degrees.

Believe it or not, on a good day you can see the whole city of Pest through those trees. On this particular day, we could barely see the couple meters in front of us

The Baths in Budapest are a series of natural thermal springs, some even claiming to possess proven healing properties. Some baths were strictly for women, others just for men. These spas included special treatments involving people whacking you with bamboo, squeezing your feet as if they were clay and spraying you with cold water. As tempting as that all sounded, Michelle and I opted for the unisex baths outdoors. Although it was near minus five outside the water, the inside was a simmering thirty plus degrees. It was brilliant, had we had more time in Budapest I would have started each day with this.
Feeling fresh and energized after our hour long stewing we set back off into town browsing through the Christmas markets and shops.

Found out today just how water proof my new camera is.. fortunately VERY water proof.

Considering our morning bath as a type of ‘detox’ we felt a re-balance was in order and appropriately followed it up with a ‘tox’; a pub crawl. Starting with a glass of Jacks before leaving the hotel room, we made it as far as two levels down before arriving at our first stop; the hotel bar. Two cocktails later we somehow ended up at the other end of town and before long were once again at Hooters, where we ordered two more cocktails each, some chicken strips and a shot of something vodkary. Not wanting this to be a one-stop pub crawl, we reluctantly left Hooters and made our way back towards the city centre, dropping in at a wine bar on the way and staying for two glasses of Chardonnay. A bit of a blur later we were standing out the front of the Hard Rock cafe. The intention being to get dinner and have a few more drinks. To our disappointment the restaurant was closed – it was only 10:30pm – even Perth is better than that!

Balanced diet.. getting my fruit intake again

We staggered to the old faithful Burger King. As we left, Burger King turned off its lights and closed up too. Presuming everything else was shut we returned to our hotel bar and had a shot of Absinths chased by two cocktails just to get rid of the taste and went to bed. I woke up feeling great, Michelle not so much.

Being our last full day in Budapest and with the fog finally being good enough to lift, we spent the morning visiting Buda, catching a steep hill tram to the top of the castle looking out over the river and Pest. Pest was now the one shrouded in fog.


Later that evening we took a candle lit cruise up the river, complete with buffet and champagne; a fitting farewell to our time in Budapest.