My second stop is Budapest. If I have to say something about this city, I can only say that it is truly the most beautiful city I've ever seen (so far) and after seeing Budapest, I'm afraid that no other city can match her beauty.
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| Soldiers in the parliament |
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| The Parliament (országház) |
I arrived on the 22nd of December, it was really cold and foggy all-throughout my stay, but that didn't really stop in exploring this city. And since it was December, Christmas markets popped-up around the place! I was staying near St.Stephen's Basilica, so I was near to everything in Budapest.
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| St. Stephen's Basilica and the Liberty bridge |
I don't really know how to start, because I've really enjoyed this trip, not to mention Budapest was extremely cheap! For public transport, you can buy 24-hour travel cards, which cost just around 5 euros. Their subways and trams may look old, but it's very efficient, and it comes often (if I could say, more efficient than the ones in London).
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| St. Stephen's Basilica. Very decorative. |
It's extremely easy to get around the city. They have incredible tram, subway, and bus links (not to mention, the 24-hour travel cards also include ferry services in the Danube river). To be at all honest, you can never get lost in Europe.
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| Quick snapshots around the city |
If it comes to the places to see, to be honest, I've found every nook and corner, every building to be impressive as hell. Don't get me started to the bridges. This place gives me an eerie vibe, yet hauntingly beautiful with the fog. There's the Heroes' Square, the Parliament, St. Stephen's Basilica, the Szechenyi bridge, the central market. The list is endless.
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| Central Market Hall |
I went to the central market in Budapest- it's a good place to find cheap local goods and not to mention, Hungarian sausages and salamis. I could say that really, the best sausage I've tasted was from here. All the stalls have some chilli and paprikas on their shelves! If you go up to the second level, you'll see a lot of street food vendors. I've always believed that the best way to know the culture is by what they eat, and I just love street food!
Well, I didn't eat every single food here, but I did try Goulash (Gulyás), which is probably their most famous food (on an outsider's perspective, I guess) and its incredible. It has a lot of spices, the meat was so tender. If I would compare it to a dish back at home in the Philippines, it could be a bit like 'caldereta', only not-so tomato based, and more spicy.
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| The central market, gulyas, Keleti station, and snapshots of their subway |
If you'd be there during Christmas season, you have to try Kürtőskalács (pronounced as kur-toss-ko-latch), they are tall, piping hot chimney cakes which they sell on the streets. They are grilled. Crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside. On a winter night, I guess they call them chimney cakes because they're tall, and freshly grilled, you see smoke coming out of it. Also, I have to take note that these chimney cakes can also be seen at some parts of Romania (next destination).
Other street food they have is Langos, which is a fried dough. You can choose the toppings, but the traditional one sour crème, topped with more cheese. Some are chocolate, or topped with meat, etc. Don't confuse it to a pizza!
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| Kurtoskalacas, Hungarian hotdog, Langos, Christmas market, St. Stephen's Basilica and the Chain bridge |
But probably the best one I've ate was the hot dog. Incredible. It's not a plain hot-dog. It's a Hungarian one.
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| Tunnel to Buda Castle |
I really wished I stayed longer, because probably I've only seen 50% of this city. I didn't get to visit the baths and Buda castle, not to mention, inside the parliament or the churches. I'll definitely return here one day. Overall, it was an incredibly cheap trip. I've paid only 50 pounds for huge apartment, for 3 nights, the food? cheap. Transport? INCREDIBLY CHEAP.
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| The chain bridge (Szechenyi) |
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| Heroes' Square |
Thanks for reading! Next stop: Romania!
