The Blue Danube

Saturday 19 September

The blue Danube

Photos are to come - having some upload issues!

First stop was Keleti station to try and get reservations for the overnight train to Belgrade on Sunday - very helpful ticket office lady, and success, though for first class seats only, not a cabin as all the 2-berths were taken and we didn’t fancy sharing with strangers on a train that’s got a bit of a notorious rep for security. Oh well - we’ve slept in seats on planes, so this should be more restful, shouldn’t it?

On to Deak Square for our walking tour with guide Brigi, who was really fluent and knowledgeable. She was quite quirky, wheeling her bike along with her, overrunning by at least half an hour, giving us 1000 years of history in 10 minutes and then singing us a little song at the end - that was a bit embarrassing, but quite endearing at the same time. Don’t get any ideas, Guy Fairbank….

It was a really good orientation though, going from a few of the sights in the city centre in Pest across to Buda on the chain bridge, up the lactic acid-inducing steps to the castle and watching the changing of the guard outside the presidential palace. That was fun - their choreography was very slick and they all looked sharp and cool in their khaki and shades, though one of their slightly camp almost-a-goose-step moves reminded Neil and I of the Monty Python army parade (whoops!) sketch and we got the giggles.  

We saw St Mathias church with its beautiful porcelain-tiled roof and spires, and ended up at the Fisherman’s Bastion with wonderful views across the river to Pest, then went for lunch in one of the squares.

Back over to Pest by way of the parliament building - I was convinced that its Gothic splendour must’ve been reproduced as it was so pristine, but it’s evidently been through some kind of massive restoration as it really does put Westminster (on which it’s based, and is only slightly smaller) to shame.  

We also paused at the bronze shoe sculptures - I think there are about 40 lifesize pairs of shoes of various shapes and sizes on the edge of the embankment, a poignant memorial to a group of Jewish civilians whom I believe were order to  remove their shoes and then shot by the Hungarian Nazis beside the Danube during WW2. 

We took a peek inside the splendidly art nouveau-restored  Gresham Palace, now the Four Seasons hotel, and saw a very tiny bit of the magnificently-gilded St Stephen’s basilica as there’d just been a wedding there and barriers were up. II lit a couple of candles for Mum & Dad and gave some time to their memory - I’m not religious, but lighting candles always seems fitting somehow. The church is beautifully lit at night, as is much of the city.

We wandered to take a look at the impressive Jewish synagogue via what we called Andre Agassi (actually Andrassy) Street - we were also searching for somewhere to buy Neil some swim shorts in readiness for a trip to the spa next day, but there was some kind of massive street food festival going on and to be frank the smell was making us nauseous, so we thought it would be a good time to try and find the ruin bars that everyone talks about - check. They’re great, and so cheap.

Our quest for the elusive shorts took us to a shopping plaza like any other near Keleti, where to our despair C&A had already moved on to autumn/winter (we should know better really, both working in retail), so we were forced into Sports Direct, which is just as ghastly as back home in its garishness, random fixture planning, crammed rails and invisible cash desks (I now know to always head to the back of the shop - so very helpful!) Mission was accomplished though, and very footsore we headed back to the apartment to freshen up for the evening.

Dinner was again Italian-Hungarian, in a trendy restaurant with decent wine so we probably paid not far off London prices - good though. We sought a nightcap in the ruin bars, found somewhere that was noisy but not too packed and knocked back a couple of large ones before taking a turn in the opposite direction of home and getting almost spectacularly lost, with no metro in sight and weaving our way through Budapesters? Budpestians? Budas? Pests? enjoying their nightlife outside more heaving bars and clubs that seemed to be every other premises. Collapsed into bed by 1pm with a new steps record - best part of 20 miles today I think, though of course I take more steps than Neil to cover the same distance!