24hours in Budapest

Travel

Mar 20

Written By Carol G

Long awaited— Budapest Story
is finally here!

I guess I should mentioned that I actually had multiple drafts about this story because I wasn't satisfied about the look?
Paris is snowing again, I decided to bring back some sunshine in my little space.

A little reminder— not much research was done prior to this trip. I had big names in my mind while googling when I was there.

We got out early that day, and the first stop was actually the Grand Market. The original plan was to potentially have breakfast there, but we were too early! A lot of stalls were closed besides the real kinda-wet market: selling fruits/veggies and meat.

Parliament House

So after a sunny break at Starbucks, we headed to The Parliament House. The sky was in a beautiful shade of blue, which also spelled out how warm it was during summer. By noon, my shoulders were already toasted.

The building looks majestic in every angle. I was quite glad to pick a red dress for this sunny day out, I stand out perfectly and matched the skies (ღ˘⌣˘ღ)

Outfit

— Dress / Mango (options: 1, 2 , 3 )
— Shoes / Fratelli Rosetti (options 1, 2 )
— Bag / Louis Vuitton Pochette Metis

After 10000x photos, we were told that we could actually visit the interiors! A friendly guard directed us to the side door, and we were instantly greeted by the insanely long queue. So naturally, this was what we missed ( ｉдｉ )

The Parliament was surrounded by other beautiful buildings, such as the Museum of Ethnography. My curious mind would have been delighted to go in for a tour, but you know, museum tours are absolutely the kind of stuffs that my parents hate. And now, unfortunately this museum is closed till 2020 for moving!

How times fly!

A Memorial

Not too far off the Parliament house, you'd be able to spot the Danube River Memorial. Some people brought flowers, some people seemed to "toy" around the shoes （°o°；）

If you're not familiar about the story, these shoes belonged to victims who were killed by Arrow Cross Militiamen during World War II. They were shot by the edge of the river bank so the waters would carry their bodies away when they fall (ಥ﹏ಥ)

I never really understood the necessity of cruelty in the olden days ●︿●

After a depressing moment, we drove up to the Castle hill, I wasn't too sure about the castle, because after x-number of castles they all start to look the same: Castles / museums / or even Parliament House. But on top of the hill, it offers a higer land to peek at the whole city on the other side of the river.

Which by the way, do you know that Budapest is actually made up of two cities?! (∩╹□╹∩) I never knew that! I always thought that it was a random joke made up by my dad.

Anyway, there's lots of things going on in this "hill", a couple of cute restaurants and we managed to get our lunch. There were little souvenir shops and post office to conveniently send your postcards ღゝ◡╹)ノ♡

Hősök Tere

By the end of the afternoon, we got to Hero's Square! As you can see, I was totally burnt! My shoulders were aching, any bag straps could leave painful markings. We took our time here, as we were waiting for the sun set. We wanted hike up the Citadella for the bro to take night shots, and tried to ventured towards the back of the Square, a forest park where you'd be able to find the Széchenyi Thermal Bath, Vajdahunyad Castle and the Közlekedési Múzeum ( Transport Museum).

One of the disappointments in the trip would be not attending the baths. But it was summer, 33ºC was too warm to be being with. Going to a hot bath, didn't make any sense either (*ノ_<*) We took a cooling walk in the forest instead and checked out the Japki Chapel next to the Vajdahunyad Castle because they were already closed for the day.

Citadella

Dad drove us to the closest stop to the peak, and then we had to hike up. It wasn't exactly easy to find a parking lot, so do take note if you're planning on driving. There were lot's of people and huge tour buses. Eventually, where we parked were also the furthest place where the bus let tourist off.

Along the way up there were some snack and trinket shops. Just follow the human flow, you'd reach the end point where you'd be able to see the Liberty Statues. Lots of human traffic, and local youngsters sitting in groups.

If you're up for night photography, it'd be a little difficult, because— there isn't really a good spot to see everything. Unless you get a drone perhaps. While I didn't walk a full 360º around the Citadella, there were a lot of trees blocking views and some rowdy unpleasant tourists acting up.

I'd come back to this city again!

There's so many fun things to do, besides tourist attractions. I'd definitely want to come back when it's all cold and white. I'd have to try out the outdoor thermal baths. But I guess it'd be sans the parents ( ╹ਊ╹) so that I'd be able to check out the museums, and probably include all the interesting bars/clubs （＾3＾）~♪ And all the food! (jump to below), I always thought that to know a city, it's best to café hop and all the different characters would appear magically. Plus 24hours is too difficult to squeeze in 7 meals.

THE

FOOD ADDRESS

Menza *****

Through the recommendation from my brother's friend, he brought us to this wonderful retro-deco restaurant.

All of us were super hungry after a long night. Somehow most of us were very interested by their salmon pasta.

I personally, got the love-a-first-sight plat when I saw those words foie gras. Pan-seared no less! Plus it was unbelievably affordable. That magnificent plate of yum-yums was only at 13+€ (if my memory is well), that comes with 4 pieces of foie gras! (●♡∀♡)
FYI, for that 1.5 piece of foie gras in Paris, it's probably at least 20€. If you go to a slightly more than average restaurant, it's gonna cost you at least 27€. But I gotta admit that at the third piece, it was very very filling.

The overall ambiance of the restaurant was great! However the serving was quite slow and we were starving. So maybe it's thing to consider if you're too hungry. But the food is definitely worth the wait! (*´﹃`)