A day in Pest, of Budapest

After a terribly hot night and not much sleep at all, we rose as Krisztina left for work and were introduced to a small sit-down shower (as everything is tiny is a tiny apartment!) Andrew had gone to buy milk for breakfast, and had to really try hard to remember which way to go. The neighbourhood was built with rows of very functional-looking buildings that all look identical. It looked as if the area may have been in the early stages of getting a new life, as Budapest was.

After breakfast, a very overweight local greeted us with a megaphone yelling up into the houses from the street, while others yelled back. We later asked Krisztina what he may have been doing, and she explained that some people often use this tactic to sell fruit and other goods. Deciding to spend the day in Pest (the newer side of the river), and do Buda, the older side, on Sunday, we armed ourselves with guides, maps, and information that our lovely host had pre-organised for us, and caught the metro into the city. It was already so hot, and the temperature was forecast to reach 38 degrees in the heat of the day. We caught a tube to the park, and Josh attracted an unwelcome guest who tried to sit and chat with him. In Hungarian. Walking around the very dry and somewhat sombre park, we weren’t too sure what there was to do and see there, but we found the set of many Hungarian baths throughout the city, and decided we had to visit some on Sunday.

From there we walked around the Vajdahungad Var, a castle described as schizophrenic due to its various design styles (this was becoming quite common among the castle world…) but it was now home to an Agriculture Museum. Instead of venturing in, we continued around to the impressive Millennium Sculpture. The name confused us, since it looked so old and surely couldn’t have been built eight years ago… but it was actually built for the start of the 19th Century. Our Lonely Planet recommended a place for coffee and cake, and when we arrived we felt as if we were in the lobby of a posh hotel, where we didn’t quite fit in, so after seeing the exorbitant prices (and admiring the delicious-looking delights in the cabinet), we left. We tried another recommended place for lunch that looked a lot less snobby, and enjoyed a nice meal with some super sweet, but very refreshing, homemade lemonade.

Josh decided his shoes had finally overcome him in the heat, and he headed for a shopping area in search of sandals (the sound of his dad saying “I told you so” ringing loud). Andrew and I checked out St. Stephen’s Basilica – another very golden and beautiful church interior, and walked the Pest side of the river to the shopping street to meet Josh. We found him in the indoor markets, which initially looked great, but seemed to have rows of the same stuff on repeated throughout, and weren’t a patch on Dijon’s. After a bit of iced green tea at a quiet, relaxing teahouse garden right of a main street, we decided we were in definite need of a swim.

It was now early evening, and Krisztina had told us the smaller out of the two islands in Budapest’s river had some good swimming places, so we made our way there, only to find hoards of people leaving and discovering it closes at 6pm (in summer…). Another place slightly further down the island was open until 7pm, so we made our way to the outdoor baths as fast as we could and arrived with 25 minutes to spare. The place was huge, with pools of varying sizes and temperatures, and fountains everywhere. Just enough time for a quick plunge and a cool down, which was so worth it!

We met Krisztina for dinner at a place she likes to go which is remniscent of an American corner bar, and sold many different styles of food, including Hungarian. We tried our best to taste the local food in every country, and scoured the menu for Hungarian delicacies. Starting off traditionally at Krisztina’s request with a small glass of apple-flavoured Palinka (Hungarian liqueur – very strong!), we sipped the drink before dinner, and ordered our meals. We waited so long for our meals, and were getting incredibly hungry. The waitress came out, a long time after we’d ordered to inform us that one of the side dishes wasn’t on the menu, then more waiting… Once the meals finally came out, they were quite tasty (I tried the Hungarian bean soup, pork fillet Hungarian style for Andy, a chicken dish for Josh). We did enjoy listening to the annoying Australian at a table next to us try to chat up three woman with ‘enchanting’ stories of his travelling adventures. One more drink at a different bar across the road, where the boys tried a local beer, and I tasted a delicious local red wine (not chilled!), and then it was back to Krisztina’s, saving up for the Sziget music festival the following night.