Tuesday, 26 July, 2011 - Midway through July it dawned on me that I was running out of 'free' time in Austria although I was still going to be there for about a month and a half. I wanted to go to Budapest and as it's not even three hours from Vienna by train, I decided a bit on a whim that it would make for a nice little day trip. I also still had a few weeks of Eurail left and wanted to make the most of that.
Alas, Tuesday was just one of those days. I woke up at 5:50 to make the 7:09 train. It should have taken 34 minutes to get to the train station despite getting around the part of the U6 that's closed. I missed the bus; it drove off as I was running down the hill. Had I caught it, the extra ten minutes would have put me there with exactly fifteen minutes to spare, but I still had to get through the station, and as there were three U-bahn changes I had to make, if I missed any of them it would be a five minute wait for the next. Thus I made the executive decision to take the temporary bus line around the closed section of the U6. I got there right as the bus pulled up. However the woman didn't let anyone on, saying we needed to take the tram (which, from experience, goes a round-about way and takes almost 45 minutes from the stop nearest the house). It would have been a perfect five minute bus ride if she'd let us on! Why even bother driving the route just to tell people they can't use it? I took the other tram and got to the station just as the train was leaving. I was tempted to make new plans since I knew it was already going to be a short day in Budapest with the last train leaving for Wien at 7:10pm and every hour counted, but I was pretty set on going to Hungary so I waited for the next train leaving at 8:00am. Got on. Good. Except we got to Budapest 40 minutes late. I think that's the first time I've seen a train off schedule here.
Almost two hours later than anticipated I set foot in the Budapest train station. At least I made it there. My plan was to start at the area around Hero's Square to the east and work my way west, spending most of my time on a little suggested route I had read about (and slightly altered) along the Pest side of the Danube, then cross over and spend another few hours on the Buda side around the castle. It was a good idea in theory.
I made my way to the park behind Hero's Square and wandered through Vajdahunyad Castle, an old Romanic/Gothic/Renaissance/Baroque castle-turned-agriculture museum. They even had a National Horse Exhibition! Very frustratingly, though, I knew that I just didn't have time to amble through.
I moved on to Hero's Square and would have loved to meander through the museums there, particularly the Museum of Fine Arts, but again, time was of the essence.
I made my way down Andrássy Avenue, which was beautiful. It was interesting because most of the buildings were obviously once grand and stunning, were still grand and stunning, but the exteriors were not kept up. However I popped inside two places along the way and they were exquisitely furnished and kept, not to mention the people working there were really friendly and courteous.
I eventually made it to the Hungarian State Opera House,
Magyar Állami Operaház, and was then excited to find Bel Canto, a restaurant nearby that had been recommended to me where the waiters and waitresses sing arias as they wait to take your order... until I saw the sign on the door that they were closed for vacation (until the end of the week - so close!) Thus I opted for a French restaurant right next to the opera house called Callas. I sat outside as it was a really pleasant July afternoon and actually a little crisp out and read while waiting for the special of the day to be prepared: duck breast. I wasn't completely sure what to expect of a Hungarian French restaurant, but I was certainly not disappointed!
And, better yet, it was only
€9. I was really tempted to stay for dessert, but it was really starting to sink in that my Day-in-Budapest plan was perhaps not the best I had ever had. I knew I would never see everything I wanted to see if I continued at the rate I was currently progressing, especially considering my proclivity to picture taking and detail seeking. I calculated that I wouldn't get to Buda Castle at least for another two hours. It was 2:00. My train left at 7:10 and I wanted to be at the train station no later than 6:30. I cheerily thanked the waiters and continued briskly on my way.
My many times improvised route took me up to
Szent István Bazilika, St. Stephan's Basilica, next. There was a massive courtyard in front of its very Holy Roman western façade, and I especially liked the statuary in the tympanum.
You had to pay a mandatory donation to get inside (I find that I abhor the practice of making one pay to enter a religious site), but once in it was pretty stunning. Not quite on the same scale as St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, (though that's pretty hard to beat), but it was still awing. I still prefer Gothic, always, but gilt details really picked up the scant light and highlighted all of the arches and domes nicely. Interestingly (or so I thought), the dome is 315 feet high - the same hight as the dome of the Parliament.
Again, I couldn't linger, so I made my way south towards
Váci utca and
Vörösmarty tér, the main shopping street and central square of Pest. I wasn't really looking to buy, but it promised many ornate and colorful façades and the ultimate bringing together of all of the different cultures drawn to the Hungarian capital. I poked into a few stores, too, and picked up some post cards for my friends and family back home, but mostly just strolled around for a while. I was not disappointed.
I then continued south again, this time by way of the Danube, down to Szabadsajtó Út which crossed over the Elizabeth Bridge. Once across that, finally on the Buda side of the river, I hung a left and meandered down to the Gellért Baths, supposedly one of the most famous in Budapest and the oldest spa hotel in Hungary with references from as early as the 13th century. Again, I wasn't sure what to expect having never been to thermal baths before, but I figured it would be worthwhile to poke my head in for a few minutes, if I could.
Outside, it was ornate and massive with a taste of Art Nouveau, but that was absolutely nothing compared to the inside.
Luckily I didn't have to pay to get in (or if I did, then I didn't because I just walked straight past the line of people paying for bracelets that let you into the different areas - I'm still not sure if I was supposed to or not, but no one stopped me, and there were more barricades inside that I couldn't get past without those bracelets). From what I could see, there were multiple pools ranging in warmth, and most of it seemed to be segregated by gender. There were also plenty of other services being offered, but I was more interested in the mosaics.
Passed these remnants near the Elizabeth Bridge
Walking back up along the Danube, it settled in that I wasn't going to get anywhere near Buda Hill that day. I had given up on the Parliament quite a bit earlier. Seriously, I don't know how those three and a half hours slid by. I calculated that I did at least still have time to walk up and try and get a nice picture or twelve of the Parliament building from across the river before I needed to start back towards the train station, a walk I estimated would take at least thirty minutes. I could have taken public transportation I suppose and possibly have made time for one quick glimpse of Pest from Buda Hill - I knew what bus lines to take - but it was a really nice day, and frankly I wasn't 100% sure where to buy tickets. Probably on the bus, but I always hate holding up the drivers.
I walked up to the famous Chain Bridge,
Széchenyí lánchíd, at a moment when the sun came out from behind the clouds that had been lazing about all day to shine on the striking symbol of Budapest.
The neo-Gothic, fin-de-siècle
Országház, designed by Imre Steindl, was built between 1885 and 1904 by over 1,000 workers. Hungary inaugurated the building in 1896 on the country's 1000th anniversary. (Fascinating, right?)
Behind me was the tunnel under Buda Hill, right next to the Funicular.
Further to the left was a large brick wall with the historical Hungarian coat of arms. This mosaic had to be walled up, though, for over forty years (1948-1989) because it was not politically correct to picture angels in Hungary during that time. If anyone knows why, please, enlighten me.
Pictures successfully snapped, I started the trek back to the train station. I did pause for one more shot of Buda Hill from Elizabeth Bridge, though, before continuing on.
I figured that I really had given myself more than ample time to get back to the train station, so I popped into the Inner City Parish Church on the Pest side of the Elizabeth Bridge. It's a 12th century building, though it was built on the site of an 11th century Romanesque church and also features the remains of the Contra Aquincum, a 3rd century Roman tower and fortress. Franz Liszt also lived a mere stone's throw from here and he regularly conducted "musical Sundays", of which Richard Wagner was a frequent guest.
Back on
Szabadsajtó Út, I continued to find a lot of aesthetically pleasing architecture and such. I have no idea if these buildings have any historical significance, but here area couple that caught my eye:
I stopped for a chocolate-filled crepe along the way, but in retrospect it didn't compare to the
palatschinken (crepes) in Prague (though I wouldn't know that for another week). That aside, I made it back to the train station without much else worth reporting.
I'm very glad that by this point in the summer my feet were well back in shape for walking and standing all day long, because it would have made for a much more weary day otherwise. Even so, I can't say it wasn't a relief to be back on the train, able to relax with my book again for a few hours as we zipped back through Hungary to my favorite city in Austria.
Although I definitely goofed by trying to see all of Budapest in only one day, I am glad that I went because now I have a better feel for the lay of the city and I saw enough to whet my appetite to return again, and sooner rather than later.
