Aaron Around The World - Austria and Hungary

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Day five was spent mostly on trains en route to Budapest. This funny-looking dude, well, I don't really know what to say about him hehe!		We had an hour's stopover in Salzburg where I gobbled down a big-ass wiener schnitzel - nice!

After that it was a six-hour train to here - Budapest, Hungary! Just like Glockenspiel-Pumpernickel, Budapest was two separate cities back in the day: Buda on the west bank of the Danube River (which can be seen above) and Pest on the east bank of the river. Today, Budapest is home to just under two million, and is regarded as one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. It also has the world's largest thermal water cave system, the second largest synagogue, the third largest Parliament building, and attracts over 20 million visitors a year!


And it was fucking cold hahaha!		"Gimme your wallet!"


This was the view for all our first full day - very dense fog! From here you should be able to see the vista in the panorama above, but nope.				I'm sure there's a Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings joke here somewhere.


Not far from where we were staying is the oldest coffee house in Budapest, so we thought we'd get some chow in there for a while and hope the fog lifts. But it was full (of tourists) - not having much luck so far!		So it became a day of wandering around in the mist (which was quite cool actually, but just not ideal). This is the Castle Hill area that sits above west bank of the Danube (which cuts the city in half through its centre). This is a really nice little area with heaps of cafes and touristy stuff around.


This is one of several buildings in the city that are riddled with bullet holes. I'll mention this more later, but as we were to discover (not unsurprisingly) Eastern Europe wreaks of war-torn eras not long passed. It wasn't a good century in this part of the world.		Some random ruins (that are pretty well ruined!).		This is a memorial in remembrance of Hungary's rebellion against communist rule. Apparently a young boy was arrested for whatever, and the powers that be of the time had to wait until he turned 18 before they could execute him. Lovely.


That dude on the left looks like Hulk Hogan hehe!		From Castle Hill we headed down and south along the river.		Chain Bridge in the mist. This big guy was the first permanent bridge across the Danube in Budapest, opened in 1849.


Down the river a way is the massive three-storey Great Market Hall. When Buda and Pest combined at the end of the 19th century, the chaotic outdoor markets of the time could no longer supply the growing number of inhabitants with fresh produce, and so construction of this big mamma started in 1894. It's full of fruit and veg, butchers, booze, clothing, arts and crafts, and paprika - a lot of paprika (the Hungarians love the stuff!).


More weird-looking meat, and even pig trotters hahaha - damn!!				Plenty of granddad's cough medicine.


From the market we headed back up the other side of the river and found some Christmas markets.		After seeing all the meats on offer in the markets I was in the mood for some. Looks pretty appetising doesn't it - big ol' slab of something slapped on the plate!


After chomping down that animal like the carnivore I am we continued up the river to the Parliament building (with the scary-looking guards everywhere). As I mentioned before this is the third largest in Europe, but we couldn't see much of it thanks to the fog.


Fosters?! Yuck, gross!		This could mean one of two things really: please pass by with your bike over your head...		...or please ride past like so ;)


The Castle Hill area again by night - looking very cool in the mist!		Buda Castle atop Castle Hill, from which the panorama above was taken. Back in the day Buda Castle was the complex of the Hungarian Kings. It was completed in 1265, and nowadays I'm not sure what it's used for. It does house the Budapest History Museum, however.


Along the walls of Buda Castle, and another shot looking towards the Danube in which you should be able to see a whole host of stuff, but nope.


Roosevelt Square on the Pest end of Chain Bridge - pretty.		About a kilometre up the road from Roosevelt Square is another square - Liszt Ferenc Square, which is a major restaurant and cafe hub. We had a good ol' feed there of more random stuff on the menu, and I had a good ol' gay cocktail with a cherry to wash it all down :)

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Page Comments

Yeah I did notice that, and I did wonder what it was about too, thanks!!
- Aaron

Don't know if you've spotted the text under the bicycle sign - critical mass - it's when cyclists take over the city for a day - no cars on most important routes of the city etc...nice stuff, look: http://bit.ly/cq4x3z
- David

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