Budapest (Hungary) - November 2014

Hotel: Central Basilica, Pest

After we had seen "Grand Budapest Hotel" at the cinema, and loved it, Clare had decided that our secret anniversary destination this year would be Hungary.  Last year I had taken Clare to Edinburgh as our first anniversary treat, Clare had definitely up the ante with Budapest for our 2nd.

We arrived late in the evening on the Sunday night so quickly unpacked and set off to a local restaurant for something to eat.  Clare and I love to eat with locals and not big flash places, as we tried to find our way around, we stumbled across a quaint little place that look ideal.  The place was full of locals (I say full, there were 6 tables), and the service was fantastic.  The food was superb for a little place and was full of flavour, I knew I was going to enjoy the food in Budapest, and this just confirmed it.

We woke in the morning and it seemed as though the weather we had in Scotland had followed us across seas.  Despite this we set off the to furthest destination from our hotel, "Hero's Square".  When we arrived the thought of walking back down to our hotel despite being wet and cold was something we both didn't fancy, so we jumped on the next hop-on hop-off tour bus and toured the city in the warmth of a lovely cold double decker bus.  It was difficult to see most of the sites as the windows had steamed up that much, but it helped us get our bearings ready for the next non rainy day.

When we arrived back at the hotel, our feet were that cold we had to jump straight into a red hot bath and stand until the feeling returned.

I had downloaded the trip advisor app before arriving in Budapest and it was great for finding the kind of restaurants we like on holiday, local, cheap and authentic.  Our second night took us to another Ettorem, the food was divine and so tasty, i got a recommendation from the waitress and with starters, mains and drinks the bill came to a little under £20.00, you cannot beat that!

On our second day the sun had come out for a little so we decided to venture towards the palace and castle hill on the Buda side to see the vistas.  After finding the hilliest route with the most steps, we finally arrived at the palace and it was definitely worth the hike.  The views into Pest were breathtaking and the Parliament building just looked immense.  The palace was so beautiful and well worth our walk.  Our next destination was the castle hill, I had originally assumed that we would have covered half of the climb and could cut across, but no, we had to go back down, across a main round and the double the distance on the next climb.  Suffice to say, Clare was none too happy with me as I kept saying, "we are nearly there" for another set of stairs to appear.  Again, when we reached the top all sense of aches and pains from the climb deteriorated and the view just blew us away.  When we arrived at ground level we started to head back towards the hotel and we found a main street with shops galore, one being the most expensive Christmas shop on the planet, I was a little terrified walking around, but I knew it made Clare happy
.

Using our trip advisor app again, we found another local restaurant that changed everything.  I was considering either the Pork Knuckle (an Eastern European favourite of mine) or something different like a Deer Stew.  When I presented my options to the waiter, he simply took the menus and walked away.  Fearful that I had ordered both mains due to language issues I waited pensively.  The waiter brought me the deer stew and told me that there was no other decision for me to make, he was fully correct.  It was possibly the best meal I have ever had abroad, and believe me, I eat well abroad. The flavours were so rich and moreish, I actually struggled to engage Clare in conversation for fear of missing some part of this experience.  Believe me, it was that good!  When we returned to the hotel that night I checked my pedometer and we had covered 18 miles in a day, the feet needed some rest!

The next day brought a little more rain, but things were brightening up, we ventured towards the grand market hall and tried to see as many of the Christmas Markets as possible.  They had only just started opening as it was early in December, but it still felt very Christmassy.  We returned to the restaurant from the night before to try the soup for our dinner, Transylvania Meatball Soup, it was as good as it sounds!  As I am trying to complete a marathon soon, I had taken my runners with me to Budapest, so decided to go out into the city for a 7-8 mile run.  What a fantastic adventure, from the Basilica, passed parliament, over to Buda, up to Fisherman's wharf and then along the banks of the river Danube, cross back into Pest and then a busy run back to the basillica, the sights were a lot more interesting than my home town and that what kept me going.


In the evening we boarded our Danube River cruise accompanied with a vodka and schnapps (which were very strong) and the beautiful city around us.  Parliament building had only been seen by us during the day, so the night time version really impressed us.  As well as castle hill, the palace and fisherman's wharf, such a beautiful city.

After our cruise we found another local restaurant and Clare had Chicken in a Honey and mustard sauce, returning the lack of converation I had given clare the night before with my deer stew, Clare did the same with this dish, no talking whilst eating, the food is just superb.


Our last day and we decided to walk to Parliament, impressed by it last night on the cruise we wanted to see the
impressive building up close, it was still as impressive, and the sun had come out to play as well.

All in all, Clare's surprise anniversary trip to Budapest is something I will remember forever, a fantastic, vibrant city with so much to see and do, we didn't even scrape the surface.