A lovely gyros for dinner - no longer hungry kids in Hungary

We’ve arrived safely in Budapest, the capital of Hungary after what seemed like an interminable plane flight. Twenty-one hours of flying time and twenty-four of total travel time really took its toll on us ageing, cashed up, self-funded retirees, but our sense of entitlement was, thankfully, unharmed. (Bit of a joke, sure, but it is interesting to note that planes are increasingly full of seniors spending their imputation credits on taxes they’ve never paid).

Looking towards Pest from Buda. In the background you can see the Elizabeth bridge (I think they named it after my daughter - must have known we were coming)

Budapest is really two cities in one, and in fact they were very separate until 1873, when the two cities either side of the Danube were officially joined. Hungary does have quite a famous history, having been part of the powerful Austro-Hungarian empire since the mid nineteenth century, only ending with their defeat in 1918.

This is Buda Castle, and in the foreground is the beautiful Danube.

The skies opened shortly after we arrived, with a couple of belts of very loud thunder, which left us with pretty flooded streets, but kindly, the rain eventually stopped leaving us with a lovely afternoon and evening – it’s daylight saving hours over here in Europe. Although we were pretty tired, we managed a lovely walk along the Danube, over the beautiful Chain Bridge and past Buda Castle (which is, obviously, on the Buda side of the city while we are staying on the Pest side). It was a lovely way to see this quaint city, topped off with an expensive Greek gyros on the way home. Two of these cost us 1400 forint, so much of our spending money for the next five weeks was blown in one afternoon (google it, haha).

A small market, with yummy Hungarian food, we discovered just near the castle.

We’re really only here for a short stay (we leave Tuesday for Vienna), so there’s lots to pack into two days. We definitely intend to do a trip(s) on the Danube, and the other must-do are the heated spas, which Budapest is famous for. Apart from that, it’ll be a case of more walking and rubber-necking. The buildings here are lovely, but probably a little less spectacular than, say, Prague, and not as well maintained. There is a real mix of ornate 18^th and 19^th century, plus a few remaining Soviet-era architectural relics. Of course, Hungary was part of the Soviet Warsaw Pact, until it all fell apart in 1989. And who can forget the famous ‘blood in the pool’ water polo final in Melbourne following the Hungarian uprising of 1956?

The beautiful Chain Bridge, one of the original bridges joining the two cities.

And then there was sun.

All in all, our stay will be short but full of things to see. It better be, we didn’t travel all this way for nothing!