Budapest City Cycling

 

In the morning, we headed to Great Hall market using tram to try local Hungarian meal for breakfast. The market was only few stops from our stay. We saw lots of local produced and Hungarian specialties spice (i.e. paprika, processed meat) but could not find a local ready-meal. We found out later that all ready-meals are actually located in the second floor along with the souvenir shops. This market in Budapest reminds me to Queen Victoria market in Melbourne. We tried few meals like the goulash and the Hungarian pancake. It tasted okay, slightly on the greasy side for our liking.

 

  

              

 

From the various souvenir shopping in Budapest, the one that I really adore are the leather bag charms and embroidery cotton top. I have eyes for leathers goods and found the irresistible leather bag charms for around AU$ 10 each. I would think leather goods in Europe is much cheaper than in Australia (definitely) or Asia. Embroidery, on the other hand, is part of Hungarian culture and hence various embroidery on table cloth, vest, tops are sold in the market. I bought the embroidery that is beautifully stitched on 100% cotton top "Made in Hungary" for approx. AU$ 35 (bargaining is recommended).

 

We visited Budapest Great Synanogue or known as Dohany Street Synagogue but it was unfortunately closed due to Easter break so photos were only from the outside. Weeping willow with names and tattoo numbers of the Holocaust victims are hang and engraved in the willow. Looking at the photo of weeping willow, I just also realised that the Gheto is actually inside the Synagogue complex.

 

 

 

Weeping Willow Budapest Synagogue

We chose to cycle around the Budapest to experience the buzzing city life. There is available hired bike called "Bubi"  with numerous pit stops. It is free for the first 30 mins so if you are in the budget, swap for other bike on other pit stops in the map before the first 30 mins ran out.

 

Bicycling through Budapest 

We cycled from our hotel to Parliament House along Danube river. There is a Holocaust memorial on the pedestrian/bike pathway along the riverside. The memorial is the hundred pairs of steel shoes on the edge of river to commemorate all Jews shot into the river in the second world war. It is an eerie but important reminder. It was also quite a melancholy view because I could easily find kids shoe amongst those victims. There were numerous river cruise ships also stopped along the area.

 

 

 

Holocaust Memorial on Danube Riverside in Pest

 

 

 

It was a cold day of approx. 3 degC during the day so experienced Szechenyi Budapest hot spring/thermal public bath was in our agenda. From our hotel to Szechenyi Budapest is a good 5 km by bike. The terrain was challenging for me, mainly because we had to share roads with motor vehicles. Some main road has bicycle pathway but some not, hence the challenge was not only sharing roads with motor vehicles but also ensuring to obey traffic signs on the main roads. We passed Váci utca as well, which is Budapest main shopping road, but no time for shopping off we went. There is a designated bicycle stop to secure your bicycle in front of Budapest public bath. The public bath itself consisted of changing rooms (separated for male and female), shared indoor and shared outdoor bath. Entry fee per person was approximately HUF 5,000 (AU$ 25) for the whole day. They would give you a bracelet that used as both access pass and locker key so please ensure to keep this safe. The indoor bath had few different area and temperatures with the highest temperature at around 40 degC, whilst only one large outdoor bath is available. By the way, unlike in Japan, all the baths are shared between male and female so you need to wear appropriate bath suit. We enjoyed our thermal baths (we spent total 2.5 h alone bathing :)) especially the outdoor one to warm up from the cool weather. Comparing Budapest thermal bath to Japanese hot spring, I like the Japanese one to better since it is more hygienic and convenient (amenities are provided in Japan).

 

We left our bike behind in public bath and walked pass the majestic Heroes Square which was empty at night ! (It was very packed during the day) and then took Metro to return to our stay. Oh..what a day!

Night View Budapest Heroes Square

 

Hungarian Adventure in Buda and Pest

Budapest consists of two areas, that are Buda and Pest, separated by Danube river. Our first visit in Buda area of Budapest was Matthias church that is situated in Buda Castle complex. The first thing that caught my attention when sighting the church was its beautiful mosaic roof. The white limestone structure in gothic style looks divine and compliments the mosaic roof gracefully.





Matthias Church in Buda Area, Budapest

Matthias Church Tower

Although entry to the church is not free, getting into the church is a must. We bought combined tickets to enter  both Matthias Church and Fisherman's Bastion (which is located in front of the church). Price per person on April 2015 was 1300 HUF (AU$ 6-7). Note: Hungarian currency is Hungarian Forint (not Euro).

 

The interior of Matthias church has baroque style that is adorned with exquisite colourful frescoes (wall paintings). Some of the frescoes resemble golden embroideries, which  reminds me to Persian cushions! In my opinion, the church interior decoration displays Eastern influence, which is very unique  - am not sure if this is due the Turks influence who had conquered the city in the past or else. There is a tour inside the church, in which you are allowed to climb to their balconies for different vantage view points of the church.

Matthias Church Interior

 

 

Tombs of the King Matthias and his Queen inside the Church

  

Next to the church is Fisherman's Bastion (Halaszbastya), an old rampart  site that was defended by the guild of fishermen  during the Middle Ages. This site is also one of a kind as it reminds me to "Dwarf houses". The walkway area in this little fortress is an open space with some steps so flat shoes and weather appropriate clothing are advantages. Fisherman's Bastion in Buda is also a highpoint where you can overview Pest area on the opposite side. Both Matthias church and Fisherman's Bastion are in my extra-ordinary places to visit.

Fisherman's Bastion



Fisherman's Bastion from Different Viewpoint

In Fisherman's Bastion Area with Matthias Church Background

 

In Fisherman's Bastion Area with Parliament's House Background in Pest Side

Buda Castle complex has been significantly reconstructed due to major damages in the past. I think all the original architecture and influence has been retained as much as possible, like the Dome decorating the complex and, similar to Prague, its touch of Habsburg (Viennese) influences. The popular part in the Castle complex area is the bronze equestrian statue of Sigismund. Some of the castle area has turned into National art gallery with paid entry ticket. For those art lover, entry is worthwhile if you have time to kill otherwise city sight-seeing maybe a better option.

Hungarian Guard on Duty

Bronze Equestrian Statue in Buda Castle Complex



"Lovers" Inside Art Gallery in Buda Castle Complex



Cool 3D Paper of Medieval Castle sold in Art Gallery - Quite tempted to buy this!

 Typical road in Budapest (Pest side) retains the old and beautiful architecture but I think it needs some good scrub to reveal its true beauty. Essentially, it is not as clean as in Paris or other Western Europe.

Typical Road in Pest Side

We returned to hotel to get ready for our night activity that is watching an opera in Hungarian National Opera House. We never watched an opera before so our goal is simply to experience it. I also randomly chose the opera performance without knowing the story and composer. I chose opera called "Parcifal" by Wagner for 14,500 HUF (AU$ 70) per person for almost-front-row seats. The interior of the theatre is a baroque style with magnificent golden painted carving decorations. Most of the guests were well dressed with the men wearing suit and ladies wearing dresses. I wore my modern "Kebaya" and Batik skirt to match the occasion (actually that night was so cold at approx. -1 degC, I needed to wear my Ugg boot to walk there for warm and comfort! But of course change from Ugg boot to heels upon arrival :) - there is  cloak service available for opera guests).

 

Hungarian National Opera House Baroque Style Interior

 

 

 

The opera started at 5 PM and we thought we still could have had a 'late' dinner after the opera. The theatre is equipped with mini  subtitle reader on the top of the stage, allowing foreigner guests to understand the performance. If you sit on the front row, however, this could bother you as you need to keep tilting your head to read subtitles especially in a long opera performance. That was what happened to us. After 4 hours (yes 9 PM), the performance kept going.. and going.. and everything seemed to be in slow motion :). I literally felt sorry for my husband as he was actually struggling to stay awake an keep focusing to the opera  - and so do I!  After finishing the second plot (there are three plots in total so maybe another 2 hours before conclusion), we decided to go back to sleep in our hotel room instead :D. It is certainly not the actor or the opera singer that bored us but I think the whole story plot is somehow very slow and dragging. Upon "investigation", Wagner-composed opera is actually known to be slow to exhibit all emotional aspects of the story, which is not our thing. Based on this, opera might not be our kind of entertainment (I think it will be while before I can convince my husband to watch an opera again :D - maybe Mozart opera will change our current perception).

 

My travel tip based on opera experience is do not skip your homework should you want to watch an opera to avoid disappointment. This is largely to understand not only the story plot but also the opera composer delivery style so you can ensure the opera delivery style suits you.

 

Night View of Buda Area from Our Hotel Room

 

To Budapest with Love

We travelled to Budapest via overnight train from Prague. The main reasons choosing overnight train were to both save the day travel and rest during travel time - actually, we were not sure about this choice  (even flipped a coin to decide :P) but it turned out really well and definitely in our travel option in the future.  

Before evening departure to Budapest, we left Prague for Kutna Hora during the day (that day Prague was snowing! Excited but a bit overwhelmed as I remembered seeing -2 degC  current temperature in yahoo weather!). This is to visit St. Barbara church that is in UNESCO heritage list and church of All Saints/Kostnice Ossuary aka. the Bone church. 

Snowing in Cathedral Complex, Prague

There is small fee to visit each tourist site in Kutna Hora but there are combination tickets which are cheaper with more sites. We chose 3-in-one combination ticket that costed 185KC (~AU$10)/person (St Barbara church, Church of All Saints/Kostnice Ossuary and Cathedral of Assumption of Our Lady).

St. Barbara church was beautiful and majestic. But the big plus is it is in elevated location with its own garden, overlooking Kutna Hora town.

 

St. Barbara Church

St. Barbara Church Interior

Area surroundings St. Barbara Church (1)

Area surroundings St. Barbara Church (2)

Next site is Kostnice Ossuary church that is decorated with human bones. This church obviously is one of a kind and not for the faint hearted. It was still an eerie visit even during the day. I do not think the church is still active as St. Barbara since it looks more like a museum. 

Church of All Saints aka Bone Church

 

Cathedral of Assumption of Our Lady, also in Kutna Hora, is not as expected since it was quite plain with some excavation sites inside - not many photos there at all.   



Combination Site Ticket in Kutna Hora





In front of Cathedral of Assumption of Our Lady



Our train to Budapest was called Euronight that departed at 11.50 PM and arrived at 8.30 AM in Budapest. We chose first class cabin called "Sleeper" with its own bed and bathroom (toilet and shower) for approx. 200 Euro (two small breakfast included). There are other options available (without bed, with bed and shared bathroom). The cabin size is approx. 2.5 m x 2 m (bathroom area included) with bunk beds. Internal heating system and all basics are provided (i.e. soaps, blankets,  some mineral water). Drawback was the train came quite late at almost midnight - if available, next time we would choose 10is pm departure. We slept well throughout the night, had our breakfast in cabin and showered before we arrived in Budapest - overall a refreshing and well-spent train experience!

3xB (Bed, Bathroom and Breakfast) in Euronight Train Cabin

We went to our hotel from the train station using taxi for approx. 3000 Forint (~15 AUD). Our hotel in Budapest was Intercontinental Hotel on the Pest side next to Danube river overlooking Buda Castle.  It was approx. AU$250/night. Nothing wrong with the room but somehow we slept better in a train :)

Intercontinental Budapest Room View

We headed directly to Matthias church in Buda through the Chain bridge as soon as after dropping our luggage.  On my walk, I was miming "My house in Budapest, my hidden treasure chest.."  By George Ezra.

Chain Bridge Connecting Buda and Pest