Hungary, wedged between no less than 7 Eastern European neighbours, home of fantastic goulash, gypsies and the romantic Danube.
Budapest
Visited: September 2004
Budapest was once two cities - Buda on the hill and flat Pest spilling across the other side of the Danube.
The cities merged in 1873 into what was called Pest-Buda. A some point over the succeding years the "Queen of the Danube"
became known as Budapest.
We witnessed some of the train and border guards making themselves some extra income that night by "fining" people for not having their tickets signed enough times (one guy missed one of the checks because he was in the toilet but this apparently wasn't a good excuse) and for putting feet on the seat. The fines didn't seem to be any more than about �20 but it is definitely something to watch out for on the night trains. Something tells me the money collected wasn't going into the coffers of the Polish train company......
Castle Hill and Gell�rt Hill - The hill on the Buda side of the river is home to the remains of medievil Budapest. It was the centre of power in Budapest for many years and contains the royal palace, several gothic churches. To
south is Gell�rt Hill and the Citadella fort. There is a fanstastic view out over the Danube and Pest from the Independence Monument at the top of Gellert Hill. It is particularly spectacular at night. If you can get over the fact that
Gell�rt Hill is named after the monk Gell�rt was pushed down it by pagans in a barrel lined with nails in 1406 it can even be quite romantic.
Sz�chenyi Baths - If you do only one thing in Budapest you should visit some thermal baths. There are lots to chose from but we chose Sz�chenyi Baths, which are right next to the Sz�chenyi station in City Park. There are 9 outdoor pools surrounded by what looks like a custard yellow castle complex. The baths are popular with old people who come to losen their joints and if you go in the wrong entrace you are likely to end up in a grey power spa group. Even if you go through the main entrance you will encounter a bevy of middle-aged pot bellied Hungarian men arguing over the chess table in the middle of the baths - definitely adds to the authenticity of the experience.
House of Terror - Number 60 of tree-lined, tranquil Andrassy Ut was once the headquarters of the Hungarian secret police. It is now used as a modern museum (kind of a cross between a museum and an art gallery) cataloging the atrocities committed by the facist Arrow Cross party and the Stalinist regime. All of the captions are in Hungarian but there is an English information sheet for each room. Definitely worth a look.
Arrive
We took the overnight train from Krakow to Budapest. It was packed with tourist and there very hardly and spare seats so sleeping wasn't really an option. We shared a compartment with a couple of guys from Hong Kong who had heard some scary stories about Polish night trains and were terrified that theives would gas us in our sleep and steal everything. Their solution was to tape the door of the compartment shut with masking tape. The only problem was that every time someone needed to use the toilet or a guard came past to check our tickets the seal was broken. An hour into the journey the tape was hangin limply from the side of the door. Not the most practical security measure.We witnessed some of the train and border guards making themselves some extra income that night by "fining" people for not having their tickets signed enough times (one guy missed one of the checks because he was in the toilet but this apparently wasn't a good excuse) and for putting feet on the seat. The fines didn't seem to be any more than about �20 but it is definitely something to watch out for on the night trains. Something tells me the money collected wasn't going into the coffers of the Polish train company......
Explore
Castle Hill and Gell�rt Hill - The hill on the Buda side of the river is home to the remains of medievil Budapest. It was the centre of power in Budapest for many years and contains the royal palace, several gothic churches. To
south is Gell�rt Hill and the Citadella fort. There is a fanstastic view out over the Danube and Pest from the Independence Monument at the top of Gellert Hill. It is particularly spectacular at night. If you can get over the fact that
Gell�rt Hill is named after the monk Gell�rt was pushed down it by pagans in a barrel lined with nails in 1406 it can even be quite romantic.
Sz�chenyi Baths - If you do only one thing in Budapest you should visit some thermal baths. There are lots to chose from but we chose Sz�chenyi Baths, which are right next to the Sz�chenyi station in City Park. There are 9 outdoor pools surrounded by what looks like a custard yellow castle complex. The baths are popular with old people who come to losen their joints and if you go in the wrong entrace you are likely to end up in a grey power spa group. Even if you go through the main entrance you will encounter a bevy of middle-aged pot bellied Hungarian men arguing over the chess table in the middle of the baths - definitely adds to the authenticity of the experience.
House of Terror - Number 60 of tree-lined, tranquil Andrassy Ut was once the headquarters of the Hungarian secret police. It is now used as a modern museum (kind of a cross between a museum and an art gallery) cataloging the atrocities committed by the facist Arrow Cross party and the Stalinist regime. All of the captions are in Hungarian but there is an English information sheet for each room. Definitely worth a look.
Rest
We were met at the train station by Elizabeth, a Hungarian woman who offered us her apartment in the middle of Pest. It had a TV and its own bathroom and was a good deal. Unfortunatley when we left we took the apartment key with us by mistake. By the time we realised we were in Sarajavo and had no idea of the address of the apartment to send it back - so apologies Elizabeth from Budapest, I think we've still got your key somewhere.
