Budapest

Budapest was my first trip to a central European country and won't be my last. We decided to go after some guests on bike tour told me that they had been to Prague and Budapest and preferred Budapest. We flew over just before Christmas and stayed near the Synagogue. We were convenient to the central part of Pest and to public transport, though we never used it. It was somewhat shocking coming from clean orderly Zurich to chaotic, recovering Budapest. The city is still in the process of rebuilding from Communism; as we came in from the airport we passed by the deconstruction of a huge tenement complex. Throughout the city we would pass gaping holes in the ground and giant skyscrapers littering the skyline. Graffiti decorated many buildings and others just had larges chunks of the facade broken away. However, we also saw beautifully refinished buildings, open spaces, ate wonderful food and met some marvelous people. Our small bed and breakfast was called Danube Guest House and run by Zoli and Bob. They just opened their doors in July and do a great job. Breakfast, chocolate and coffee were always available, they helped us get acquainted with the city and make arrangements. We took their lunch recommendation the day we arrived and had the best food of the entire trip. It was a mom and pop restaurant, no English menu and true Hungarian food. CF had stuffed cabbage with sauerkraut, MW had paprika chicken and I had stuffed peppers. All were terrific and a great way to get excited about the trip. As usual we wandered about with a general goal; see the river, get coffee, find the Christmas Market, stay warm. We did happen upon the main Christmas and were pleasantly surprised to find the best one we had seen yet. This one had the best food, the widest variety of handmade goods and great gluhwein. Our favorite market food was the Hungarian "doughboys" with cinnamon, they were being made at two stands over a large fire pit. Another favorite, of course, was the gluhwein, and here you paid a deposit for a real cup instead of a flimsy plastic one, paid for refills and then returned the cup at the end of the day. Well, that is what you were supposed to do, our cups never quite got returned. CF's favorite stand was the one with pork shoulders and sausages being grilled over a fire. We spent quite a bit of time eating and shopping there. We wandered around Castle Hill on the Buda side one morning, from up there we got amazing views of the very Gothic parliment building and the rest of Pest across the Danube. Following the building of the Chain Bridge these cities, Buda and Pest, became one city, starting a century of prosperity for the region. We also stopped by the giant food market that supplies the restaurants and citizens of Budapest. The huge glass and metal building contained near a hundred stands of fresh food, ranging from fruit to venison and live fish, covering 3 floors. Later that day, our search for lunch on a Sunday seeming to go horribly wrong, it turned around very quickly. We saw a place called Le Marquis de Salade and thinking that a salad would be great we went over to check out the menu. The menu was pages long with all types of Middle Eastern and eastern Mediterranean food but the restaurant was empty, however, we decided to go in. We were led through an empty upstairs down to a ancient cave basement, that was also empty. The food was very good, well spiced, something missing from a lot of Swiss food, and different from everything else we had eaten lately. Budapest has a lot to offer and I would love to visit it again. Now, with a successful trip to Budapest behind us, we look forward to our adventure in Prague in a few weeks.

Thanks for reading.