BUDAPEST - Europe's most underrated big city

After two days of unexpected experience with some enthusiastic individuals in Olomouc and Bratislava, I started for my next destination, albeit one and a half hour late, to the capital city of Hungary, Budapest. The bus journey was through a FlixBus, one of the cheapest option to travel within Europe, especially if the city are close by. Two and half hour of journey is basically nothing for Indians, who are used to travel for 7-10 hours on a bus. Believe me, the Europeans go "OMG!" if they have to travel for over two hours on a bus. The bus was completely filled with students, everyone enjoying a trip, just like me, four day-long extended weekend.

So, I reached Budapest at 11:30 PM. I had a couchsurfing stay confirmed here with a Polish girl, who was in Budapest for her exchange semester. Her place was around 6 Km from the bus terminus. So, I bought a 24-hours city transport pass, as I would need it the next day as well, for the sightseeing. But, the metro line U3 was not working that night due to maintenance reason, so, I had to take a special night bus, and then change the bus again to reach her place. Because of all these confusions, I reached her place at 12:30 AM. She had to cancel her party plans that night, just because I was so late, first because of the flixbus delay, then the metro line shutdown. I felt guilty for all this mess, but she said "Shit happens, if I'd gone to the party, where'd have you gone? Relax, it isn't suppose to be a great party anyways." Now I don't know how true the last part would've been, but, I would have certainly been put into a situation, if she'd have decided to go to the party instead. Oh, and the house was absolutely gorgeous. Since, it was already very late, and I was really tired of all the delays, I just got up, and slept quickly.

My couchsurfing stay in Budapest

Next morning, I woke up earliest in the flat and freshened up. While I was packing my stuffs to start my city exploration, my host woke up and prepared breakfast for both of us. And finally, someone offered me tea in Europe. So I gathered it with both hands, literally. While having breakfast with her, we had a long talk, where she told me what she's studying in Budapest, why did she choose Budapest over any other places, and I told her, why I chose Poland and about my travel experience. I met her flat mates, two of them. While one was going out for his work, the other, who did attend that party the previous night had to tell us to lower our volume. So, brief meets and not the best ones I'd say.

After breakfast, my host opened up a city map and told me which all places can I visit in a day and how. Unfortunately she couldn't join me for the city exploration as she had some work to attend to. I contacted the Belgians whom I met in Bratislava, but, since they were there for two days, they were in no hurry to attend all the sightseeing options. Rather they wanted to explore the city's vastness slowly and steadily. So, I decided to go on my own, as I had a lot of places to cover on a single day. And this is why, one day for Budapest is a silly plan. You should plan at least two days for it, if not more.

Heroes' Square

Anyways, since I didn't had the option of going steadily, I started off my Budapest excursion with a visit to the Heroes’ Square, which was very close to my host's place. The largest square of the city, with a 36 m high Corinthian column dominating the square with Archangel Gabriel on its top holding St. Stephen’s Crown. The monument was built for the 1896 Millennium celebrations, that’s why it is called Millennium Monument. It is surrounded by two important buildings, Museum of Fine Arts on the left and Kunsthalle (Hall of Art) on the right.

Vajdahunyad Castle

Passing through the back side of Heroes' Square, I reached the Vajdahunyad Castle. This beautiful fairy tale like castle, built on the city park is a fusion of Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque structures. The surrounding park and the nearby boating lake/ skating rink with the nearby Heroes' square and the Széchenyi Thermal Bath, makes it a huge place to wander around and could easily consume half of your day. But, as I had a huge time constraint, no matter how badly I wanted to stay in this place, I had to make way towards other places.

M1 metro - Europe's second oldest Metro Line

So, now I was in the third oldest underground transit system of the world. The M1 metro line, and the underground stations have their own charm. And, the metro system within the city is highly convenient and budget friendly for a traveler like me. My journey was from Hősök tere M1 station to Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út, which is like the center of the city, from where all the other attractions could be visited.

St. Stephen's Basilica

From the metro stop, I made my way to the majestic St. Stephen’s Basilica. This largest Church in Hungary, is dedicated to Hungary’s first king, St. Stephen. This domed neo-renaissance style Basilica is 96m high. St. Stephen's  mummified right hand is kept in a glass case in the chapel to the left of the main altar. The beautiful interior is also noteworthy as it is decorated by famous artists of the era. The path in front of the Basilica, leading to the Danube river, is one of the most enthralling paths that I've been. Every time you turn back to look at the church, the vastness and the beauty doesn't diminish.

Shoes on the Danube - a touching and unique memorial

As I reached the end of this fascinating path, I was greeted by the "Shoes on the Danube" Promenade, a trail of iron footwear standing as a monument to the thousands executed along this riverbank during world war II. Whilst the views are spectacular and the moments timeless I urge you to stop by what I consider to be one of the most moving memorials that can be found openly in this fantastic city. Since, I was in Budapest two days after the Memorial Day, most of these shoes had flowers laying beside or on them. These were probably laid by the relatives of the people who lost their lives during the horrific time of WWII.

The Parliament Building

Walking down the Danube river bank, I now reached the Hungarian Parliament Building area. This magnificent Neo-Gothic architecture is the third largest parliament building in the world. This parliament has a memorial of Lajos Kossuth (square also named after him) and a memorial for the 1956 Hungarian Revolution in front of the it. During World War II all of Budapest's bridges were destroyed and as a temporary solution a bridge was built between Kossuth Square and Batthyány Square. The bridge, also named after Lajos Kossuth, was in use until 1960. A memorial next to the Parliament building marks the site on the Pest side.

The Parliament from the Buda side

Since my 24-hour public transport pass allowed boat ride as well, I decided to take a boat ride from Parliament Building to the Buda side of the city. And, instead of taking a direct boat to the other side, I just hopped on from one boat to another before finally arriving on the other side of the river after an hour. The view of the Parliament Building from the Buda side is formidable.

Matthias Church

On the Buda side, my first stop was The fisherman's bastion. This place was stocked with tourists. By far  the most tourist I saw at a place in these 3 days. This panoramic viewing terrace with fairy tale towers were built in the 19th century to serve as a lookout tower. Inside the surrounding walls of this towers is the Matthias Church. This most unique church  has a breathtaking interior with colours inspired by orientalism and romantic historicism. Its mystically exotic atmosphere paired with its Neo-Gothic features differentiates it from any other church.

After spending some time here, I decided to move towards my next destination in the city, the Buda Castel. This imposing Castle overlooks the city from its elevated position atop Várhegy (Castle Hill), rising forty-eight meters above the Danube. There are so many things to see wtihtin this castle, which inclues two museum set-up inside it. Unfortunately, it was getting dark, and there was a huge queue to get inside, that I just decided to soak the views of the Pest side from the castle hill. Another miss for me was the Citadella, which, although was visible from the buda castle, is situated at a higher elevation, and I am sure, the view from there would have been amazing.

THIS IS WHY FELLAS, YOU SHOULD PLAN ATLEAST 2 DAYS STAY IN BUDAPEST! CAN'T BETTER EXPLAIN IT!

By the time I came down the hill, it was already dark, and the city was lit. And, boy-oh-boy, doesn't the city looks absolutely enchanting when it lights up. The bridges, the parliament building, the party place around the city, everything looked so diffrent and colorful, that I started to really regret not planning longer duration for this enchanting city.

Street Food Karavan

I strolled down back to the Pest side to visit "Street food Karavan" which was suggested to me by the Belgians whom I met in Bratislava. And, this was really a little gem in the middle of the city. Numerous trucks offering some authentic Hungarian dishes at a relatively cheap price. I was tired and starving when I reached this place, so I had a Langos, which is basically a deep fried dough, a Goulash in a bread bowl (goulash being a stew of meat) and a Cherry beer to finish off my hunger. By far, this is the best place with so many varieties to eat, that I've found in all my travels so far. I would recommend this place to anyone who is visiting Budapest anytime.

And so, this was my last action in Budapest. I caught a UM to the Kelenfold end of the city, from where I had my bus to the next and final destination of this 4 days solo trip in Europe, Vienna, the capital city of Austria. Thankfully, this time around the bus was on time, RegioJet Bus and it reached Vienna in time as well. There were a lot of surprises waiting for me in Vienna, and, it would turn out to be one of the best trip I'd ever had in my life. More on Vienna coming up on the next post.