Sightseeing
Saturday, our first day to see Budapest by daylight, takes us on a long stroll. We are going to see about 80% of Budapest. Highlights of that day are the St. Stephen’s Basilica, the Great Market Hall, the Gellert Hill with the Citadel, and the Royal castle.
MTV CRIBS with GOD
Our first hotspot is the St. Stephen’s Basilica located in Pest, an interesting basilica due to its grandeur and interior. It is named in honor of Stephen, the first King of Hungary (c. 975–1038), whose mummified fist is housed in the reliquary. Along with the Hungarian Parliament Building, it is the tallest building of Budapest (96 m).
The place is huge and seems to pop up out of nowhere. The outsides appealed to me as it gives a majestic image. Unfortunately we didn’t get to the top of the building. We had no guide book and only later found out that this was possible. The top gives a great view over the city.
They have done a great job in creating an ‘over the top’ interior, which forms a sharp contrast with the reality; a lot of unemployment and people who can barely get by vs. a basilica that could easily compete with the top 10 of MTV’s CRIBS.
St. Stephen's Basilica
Souvenirs and food
The Great Market Hall is a pleasure for your appetite.
Downstairs the area is filled with little stalls offering many kinds of fruit, vegetables, meat and other culinary goods. Upstairs you can go and shop for some typical Hungarian souvenirs and food.
After at least 30 minutes of deciding what to buy, Eefje and me bought a little Hungarian secret box as a souvenir (for 1800 HUF); an interesting piece of equipment, especially when you have your friends trying to figure out how it opens and they can’t work it out!
The guys couldn’t wait that long for the shopping girls (very reasonable) and went for an interesting lunch.
Barry enjoyed a delicious goulash, Pedro had roast potatoes with sausages, Eefje went for a sandwich, and Filipe and I shared a very tasty rice dish with cabbage. Is there anyone familiar with that last dish?
After the market hall the Gellert Hill was our next stop. It gives a great view on the two parts, Buda and Pest and provided us with a short warm up on a cold day in Budapest.
The group on the Gellert Hill
A hint of Irish culture
After a long walk we had to go shopping… again!
We decided on Friday we had to make a visit to the thermal baths on Sunday. What we didn’t know, is that we needed a bathing custom in order to enter the thermal baths.
One hour later 3 of us had a new bathing custom and the other 2 could borrow some from Adrien. With our new outfits we joined Barry later on in Beckett’s for a rugby match between Ireland and England.
Beckett’s had a great atmosphere, beer flowing over the counter and a cheering crowd. To Barry’s (and therefore our) great satisfaction, Ireland won!
I am a big supporter of trying out local culinary delights as much as possible…especially since I studied sustainable tourism.
Well… sometimes it happens that traditional food requires some effort to get to….as we were on our way home to get a nap we wanted something quick to eat. I am not a big fan of fast food chains…but Burger King pulled us in and those whoppers and brownies with ice cream sure taste good.
Nightlife, Old Man’s music pub
In the evening we went to the Old Man’s Pub.
Old Man’s is a ‘Western’ pub with Eastern crowd. You can jump right into balkan culture while listening to cheesy music. It was packed to the max when we got there and the small dance floor is easily filled. Going downstairs means entering the lions cave….maffia owned?
As Pedro and Filipe were rather keen on breathing they left earlier, Old Man’s is a smoke filled area.
The three of us stayed and enjoyed some music with new Dutch friends we made there.
Conclusion: it is a bit of a pick up joint for ‘guys’ with money and girls who definitely want some.
Address : VII. Akácfa u. 13.
http://en.oldmans.hu/
Dutch crowd in Old Man
