It took 3 hours to fly from Cork International on Malev Airlines to Ferihegy Airport in Budapest. Soon we had bought Hungarian Forint (Hungary hasn't converted to the Euro yet) and were ready to head on to town. The MiniBus service costs about $10 per head and is slow; so, we decided to take a cab which ended up costing the same per head at a flat rate of $20.
After a 28 kilometre ride we reached our Hotel, unpacked quickly; then headed out to get the "lay of the land". That day we just window-shopped and ate. Hungarians love goose, especially goose liver. They eat a lot of potato pancakes, pickled vegetables, and fish - mostly Pike and Catfish. They like a good cup of coffee, too. But, the best part of eating in Hungary was dessert. On more than one occasion I had "Gundel Palacsint" which are crepes stuffed with walnut, lemon, and raisins, covered with rhum and chocolate sauce - heavenly!
All the wines in the restaurants seem so well selected one can't go wrong no matter what one's income bracket. Szekszard (pronounced "sex-hard") and Villany are very good regions and 2000 is a good year to look for. Hungarians also enjoy their huge variety of fruit liqueurs, as well. One caveat, everything in Hungary is reasonably priced EXCEPT alcoholic drinks.
Once we bought our "Budapest Cards" (full explanation in the slides at the end), we were set to go. Our hotel was in Pest which has many restaurants, shops, and museums, as well as some fine examples of architecture, the most beautiful being the Opera House which enthralled me. Buda, on the other side of the Danube, is hilly and has the most examples of architecture dating well into the past. Hungary became a member of the E.U. in 2004 and desperately needs to refurbish existing landmark buildings and rebuild some in disrepair.
With our Budapest Card, we took the tram, then the metro to the Museum of Fine Arts to view the Van Gogh exhibition. The museum had many fine works by such greats as Titian, Raphael, Bonnard, Monet, Manet, Cezanne, Rembrandt, etc. in its permanent displays.
On the third day, we went to the most popular of the baths, the St. Gellert Thermal Bath. "Baths" are very popular and date back to the Romans and Turks. I didn't relish the idea of bathing with hundreds of people no matter how medicinal the waters are reputed to be (some claim cures for eczema); but, we ended up soaking for 2 hours, feeling very relaxed at the end. There are 3 medicinal baths and a pool - two of them are 36 and 38 degrees Celsius, one had just a hint of menthol. These immense sumptuous areas all had beautiful porcelain tiles and statues which enhanced our experience. Bring swimsuit and towel.
On the last day we went to the zoo which was generally a very good experience even in winter; however, we did see one of the birds had gone mad and the habitat of the lone American Bald Eagle was so substandard I was compelled to report it to the U.S. Embassy in Dublin upon our return.
SLIDES