Month: October 2019

We rose and packed up in Budapest – pretty much our final pack for travel home. We had one last coffee and danish at the Paris coffee shop then headed back to collect our bags and head out for the train. We took the bus to the train station no problem at all. We arrived quite early, so I ventured to the Spar to spend our last few Forints on water, yogurt, beer, goulash spice paste and some treats for Picasso.

The train ride was about 3 hours, then after some fumbling we managed to find the train to our pension. It was quite accurately a 3* as rated – but it was clean and very conveniently located close to the CAT to catch in the morning for our flight home.

Despite our snacks on the train, we were hungry so we wandered out and found a wonderful little cafe and had some ice cream cups . The Chicago ice cream was a great find with dark chocolate, nuts and whiskey. Then to another coffee shop for a coffee and a shared strudel. The area had some lovely shops – a very nice Henkel knife shop and some unique Swiss Army knives.

Back at the room we watched Raonic lose in straight sets – the match was being held broadcast live from right here in Vienna! Then back out for dinner where Michael found a good cheap spot just down the road – thank you to google once again. Back in the room we checked in online and had to force ourselves to stay awake till 9 pm – how can doing nothing get you so tired!

The next morning we rose early. The pension staff were very helpful and even served breakfast 1/2 early in the morning for us as we needed to leave by 7 am. We caught the CAT to the airport no problem, although unfortunately we could not check in at the CAT station and needed to do so at the airport.

And then the flight home, where we again had pre-ordered gluten free meals (highly recommended!) All went smooth until landing when I proceeded to leave my phone on the plane. Luckily I caught myself right at the baggage carousel and the staff were very helpful at returning it – they already had found it by the time I reported it.

The last disappointing note on our trip – all of our Hungarian sausage was confiscated at the border. Until one week prior it would have been fine – but new restrictions went in place banning importing of all meat, even cured meats. In hindsight, we should have eaten it right then!

And that’s it for Europe this year, another trip in the books.

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Day 20 was Monday October 21 and it was voting day back in Canada! We had precast our vote before we left; so early was our voting that we had to hand write the name of our candidate on the voting card! Given that the polls didn’t close until about 2 am local time, we didn’t get find out the results till Tuesday (no, we didn’t stay up with bated breath!)

We decided to try a new coffee spot which was a bit of a walk, out past the ferris wheel. We had a very good coffee and amazing treats; a unique pecan pie which was dark with ground nuts, a spinach feta croissant with creamy feta, a salted croissant, and best of all a poppy seed/nuts/apple pastry topped with plum jam. Breakfasts here have been a tad decadent! Then off for an end of trip shopping escapade. We found an amazing insect themed shop where I picked up a ‘dung beetle’ bottle opener for Andrea (she does love beetles). The walk back to the market took us past an intriguing tribute to Michael Jackson – no idea why it was there, but clearly there was a fan or two nearby! Back at the market I picked up a Christmas table runner for myself, a doll for Jade and some food for dinner.

After dropping our collection off at the apartment, we were off to the Gellert Spa – one final day of respite before heading home. Here again there were many pools, saunas and steam baths. The indoor pools were beautifully tiled in mosaic domes. Unfortunately as it was so late in the season the wave pool and outdoor fountains were shut down. But that didn’t stop our enjoyment as we did several ‘cycles’ of hot / cold dunks and also enjoyed the non -seasonal weather with some sun bathing. It was 21 C in the shade, 31 C in the sun – amazing.

After another day of decadent indulgence, we used the remaining spa deposit money to pick up some wine and headed back for a home cooked dinner of sausages, sauerkraut, and roasted veggies. We were sure we had over bought, but alas we polished it all off no problem at all. We did manage to resist dessert and after a test run of the a new sitcom “Forever” (from Amazon Prime), we called it a day. And so our last full day in Budapest came to an end.

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Sunday at the Paris cafe was a tad less crowded so we returned for coffee and treats in the square outside the market. Then back for Derek & Marketa to pack up and we split ways. They headed to the Gellert spa for the day before returning to Bratislava where Derek had an early morning meeting on Monday. Another great travelling visit with D&M in Europe – a very nice way to spend time together!

I was so glad that I brought sleeveless tops and light pants as the weather continued to serve up an ‘Indian Summer’ in Budapest. Mike and I headed out in the ideal weather for another day of city walking with our cobblestone weary feet. But Budapest is such a lovely city that it’s worth the effort. Our main destination was the palace.

The palace complex was massive with amazing views from the ‘Buda’ side. We passed the art gallery en route, and despite it’s very tempting exhibits we kept on to our main destination. At the palace we managed to catch the changing of the guards.

We paid to walk up the 197 steps of the Tower Matayas – the Peoples King. It was rebuilt following the war, and the bells were only reinstalled in 2010 after massive repairs. Only 2 of the original bells remain. The heaviest weighs in at 4400 kg – they are very big. The museum in the tower contained some interesting artifacts from the builders of the tower over time. The copper time capsules left by workers were full of personal letters and photos as well as lists of common goods and their cost. The oldest capsules also contained official documents signed by the many dignitaries involved in the opening. The tower dates back to the 1400’s, with it’s current style set in the 1800’s.

We returned home for some wine/cheese/fruit and a rest before heading back out to a bar / restaurant on the river across from the Gellert spa. We sat riverside and Michael and I shared his duck with spinach risotto and my basic burger and chips along with the local beer which I quite like. A lovely evening sitting along the Danube and watching the city walk by.

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Success! We returned to the market to retrieve our forgotten cheese and they were very gracious in returning it. So of course we bought more cheese, this time deer and forest mushroom cheese. They all were fantastic, but the basic old farmers cheese was the best.

Saturday morning was clearly a popular time for the Paris cafe, so we ventured to the subway station for our trip to the National Gallop Races. We found a mediocre coffee shop beside a Starbucks and felt it was better to support local business.

And then the ‘subway event’. It turns out that after purchasing our tickets, we failed to validate them. This results in a SERIOUS fine – $75 Cdn, and there was no talking our way out of it despite the fact that the ‘helper’ we had at our entry station failed to inform us of the need to validate, although he did direct Derek & Marketa to do so. Seems very much like a tourist money grab. We were NOT impressed – Hungary can be quite brusque.

Once at the races, we paid the 1600Ft ($7 Cdn) for wrist bands needed to enter the seating section for the races which in the end we could have skipped. As we were a bit early we strolled around the park which included the largest Budapest spa – Széchenyi. There was also a ‘recruitment’ display set up along the promenade with some interesting army displays (well for Michael at least). Then back to the race track where we ended up trapped in the central area for the opening ceremonies, but at least we did use our seats for the races. Mike & I sat behind the Cseko team support section. They had a horse in the youth races as well as one in race 1 of the formal races. The youth did not fair well, but the main horse and rider were winners in their heat much to the joy of our seatmates. They continued on to the next round to be run the following day. As it was to be a long day of races, and there was so much to see, we decided to venture on.

The promenade leading to the races was fantastic – full of crafts and restaurants and a booth for every team with a horse in the race. Given that the race entrants are based on local winners, that resulted in a great variety of towns and even countries hosting booths. This included many local Hungarian townships as well as China, Britain and nearby countries. It was well over a km long I would guess. After finishing the strip, Marketa wanted to return to an early booth to pick up something for her mother, so Mike & I headed back.

We passed St. Stephen’s Basilica which we were tempted to enter, but the lines were very long, the fee was not cheap, and the inside was very dimly lit so not a great photo op. We did luck out though when a dance troupe put on a show out front, and a procession of dancers from other countries came along waving at us happily.

Back at the apartment we had some wine and cheese and toasts. Derek treated us to another home cooked meal of market goodies. The sausages, peppers and onions accompanied with more wine lulled us all into a quiet night in with a final round of euchre to keep Marketa refreshed on the rules!

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The amazing weather continued – no rain and highs about 25 C – perfect for touring beautiful Budapest! We started Friday, October 18 with coffee and danish at the Paris cafe near the market. Then into the market to do some shopping.

We picked up some Hungarian salami, Hungarian sausage (chorizo like), wine, yogurt, fruit and cheeses. After dropping off our supplies (and realizing that I had left our cheeses sitting on the counter) we booked an escape room. Given that Budapest is the birth of the first escape room ever built, we had to try one out!

The walk to the escape room took us past the Jewish synagogue. The ‘Weeping Willow’ monument out front was full of leaves, each with the name of a Hungarian Jew who was killed in WWII. The ‘pillars’ of the trees were named for the people who helped the Jews.

The E-Exit Escape room we opted for was ‘Heaven & Hell’. The first room was the trickiest – a bit ridiculously so. The ‘multiple air organs’ which needed to be stacked to blow open the dangling curtain to reveal a dimly lit clue board was not well designed. Otherwise it was a great challenge with good twists. We technically finished it, but only with a couple of clues along the way and went over time by a smidgen. Lots of team work fun for about $60 Cdn for the 4 of us! On the way back to the apartment we stopped for a kürtőskalács – a ‘donut cone’ pastry – mine filled with ice cream – yummy :-).

We managed to find some sandals in the front hall of the apt which saved us needing to purchase some for the spa. On a recommendation from Marketa’s friend in Budapest we headed to the Rudas Bath spa. We all started with saunas which included dips into the cold pool between stints in both the dry and steam saunas. Then we split up and Mike and I headed to the programmed shower before heading to the Thermal Pools. We cycled through the whole range of temperatures from 28, 30, 33, 38 and 42 C.

We found Derek and Marketa at the Wellness Pools and we swapped venues. We did the ‘cycle’ of 50 seconds in the 42C pool followed by 10 seconds in the 17C pool – and repeat 2 more times, shower and then rest in a body temp spa. Back to the Thermal Pools we found Derek and Marketa where we followed our saunas with a ‘bucket of cold water’ dump and steam baths.

Finally when it was dark, up we went to the roof top with it’s domed top to sit in the whirlpool overlooking the Danube and the river scenes of Budapest. Eventually we were all prunes, so decided we needed to head for dinner.

This evening we feasted on truffle risotto, with a very nice wine and splurged on some great desserts. I had a raspberry creme brulee with pistachio lime ice cream, hazelnut wafers, raspberry coulis and a ground powder with nuts and lime.

Following our indulgence, Mike collected his photo gear and headed for an outing to capture the scenes along the Danube in the dark while Derek, Marketa and I walked along the river to the parliament buildings. We were serenaded by the ‘party boat’ which runs the Danube Friday nights. The river was full of tour boats – both cruise and day tours.

We beat Michael back to the apt, so Derek & Marketa went to move the car to a free weekend spot and I waited at a bus stop outside the apt (one set of keys is a real pain!!!). And I waited….and waited…..and waited. D&M had to deal with a broken parking payment machine so had problems leaving the parking lot. Finally after 40 minutes they returned, and Michael finally came back about 20 min after that.

Despite all my fretting, all was fine after all and I was able to sleep soundly after a very full day!

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Michael rose early and headed back up to the basilica for early morning photos and the early morning mist assisted nicely. As we were only at the BnB for one night, we needed to move our car before exploring Esztergom for breakfast. We had ‘pizza danish’ and a cream cheese filled croissant and lattes. Derek and Marketa tried some different ones including a cone full of cheese. So many calories!!!

Then the drive to Budapest following the Danube before heading into the forest roads. Our plan was to mushroom gather for a meal in Budapest, so we stopped to explore But the forest here was very dry so not fungi friendly. So back to paralleling the river to a stop for lunch at a small town. Michael had marked on his map, he thinks from his conversation on the plane with the ‘Bratislava lady’ sitting beside him. It was a gem of a little town with a nice church atop the hill.

We ended up arriving in Budapest at rush hour but the drive along the Danube was so lovely that the snails pace crawl was just fine. We passed the Shoe Monument on the river wall with its 40 or so pairs of shoes as left by the Jewish women, children and men. They were forced to strip naked, march the river bank. They were then shot and killed and their bodies fell into the river. Very moving to see.

We were checked into our place by a very unfriendly Hungarian woman. The key situation is very bizarre – you need to lock yourself in and out of the apartment and we only had one key. Derek went to move the car to a better long term parking spot, and upon returning, he proceeded to try to use the apt key on the front main door. It jammed in the lock which required a call to the owner. So Michael, Marketa and I were locked in the apartment for a lengthy wait for someone to come and replace our key (and lighten Derek’s wallet by 30 Euro). So we snacked on what we had – wine and almonds. Luckily there was no fire alarm as we waited!

When we finally reconvened we headed off for a walk along the river esplanade and over the ‘green bridge’ to check out the Gellert Spa. Nearby the church built into the caves required a visit – where I wandered in not realizing it was actually closed for the day. It was quite unique and amazing. Then a walk along the other side of the river in Pest…..or was it Buda…..?

The moon was amazing – huge and orange. Then a bite to eat. Mike & I opted for a 2nd rate Hungarian food pub – which actually was very interesting with lots of music paraphernalia including the Stones, Red Hot Chili Peppers, a Dave Gilmour video playing and photos of Yes. Derek & Marketa chose Korean which looked much better than the 3.6 rating it scored on Google.

We continued walking to the chain bridge was was lit up red and then looped back to our apartment on the other side of the river. We briefly considered a late night visit to the Ruina Bar to hook up with Dan, Suz, Natalie and Duncan, but once back in the apt we decided that was enough walking for one day. And so to bed!

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