Budapest, Hungary

The first time I went to Budapest was in 2017 with Camille, Lara, and Sabrina. It’s probably the absolute chaos of this trip that solidified our friendship for many years to come. When the four of us went on our “Eastern European Tour” (Malaga > Bratislava > Vienna > Budapest > Berlin ) we did very minimal research. For Budapest we knew that we wanted to go to the Széchenyi Thermal Baths (Budapest, Állatkerti krt. 9-11, 1146 Hungary) but that’s pretty much it and probably how/why we got roped into a bar crawl. It was on this bar crawl that Sabrina fell in love with a member of a club soccer team and we subsequently merged our friend group with his and ended the night at a red-tinged night club that I still have nightmares about. That trip to Budapest was filled with lots of selfies on my iPhone 5 because Camille and Sabrina were both pick pocketed and have existential crises that weekend.

Fast forward to 2020, I did a little more research before flying to Hungary. This was our proposed itinerary:

SATURDAY

Arrive at 10:30 (actually arrived at 10)

Lunch @ Fekete (Budapest, Múzeum krt. 5, 1053 Hungary)

Check into Airbnb

Walking Tour 14:30-16:30

COFFEE: Artizán CLOSED

Tram #2 for views along the Danube

Ice cream pops

Pre Dinner: Street Food Karavan (Budapest, Kazinczy u. 18, 1075 Hungary) for Goulash

Bar Crawl 22:00

Dinner: Pinxtos (Budapest, Henszlmann Imre u. 1, 1053 Hungary)

LARM - techno / deep house club

SUNDAY

Brunch: Konyha Madal Cafe (Budapest, Ferenciek tere 3, 1053 Hungary)

Walk to Parliament Building

Lunch @ Tay Ho (Budapest, Ó u. 23, 1066 Hungary)

Shoes on the Danube

Climb to top of The Citadel

Central Market Hall

Dinner @ MazelTov (Budapest, Akácfa u. 47, 1072 Hungary)

What I didn’t account for this time was 90 degree heat and COVID-19 closures (hence all the cross outs and rearranging above). The city was a lot less crowded this time around since it just recently opened up to tourists. The walking tour we did only resumed tours the day before we arrived and our bar crawl was cancelled due to lack of interest in recent weeks. I remember there was a restaurant-lined passage that we ran through every couple of hours to get from the Jewish Quarter to our Airbnb, but that passage was completely deserted and shuttered down now. All of the boats on the Danube were docked and lonely light bulbs would flicker inside.

Budapest is beautiful in the same way Prague is – big buildings, gorgeous white stone facades, and winding streets that curve into one another. No trip to Budapest is complete without a visit to the Parliament. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that Hungarian Parliament is my favorite building in Europe. And Europe is my favorite continent so Parliament is…my favorite building in the world!? Half of Parliament is an official government building and the other half is a museum. There’s also public toilets there so I’ll let you do what you wish with that information. Five minutes away is the Shoes on the Danube monument to memorialize Jews killed there during WWII.

Across from Parliament on the other side of the Danube is the “Buda” side of the city. It has the Fisherman’s Bastion (a classic example of the white stone architecture of the city), the old Buda Castle, Citadella Lookout, Church of Saint Mary Magdalene, the Vienna Gate, and Old Town. Since the Old Town was built so high up on a hill, it was safe from flooding and is very well preserved.

I saw Budapest from the water, which I recommend to everybody, but unfortunately Audrey and I couldn’t do a boat tour this trip. The boat tours are an hour long and usually come with a glass of champagne and a live orchestra. This time the closest we got was drinking rosé by the Chain Bridge.

Last time I was in Budapest, my friends and I ate at Mazel Tov and it was one of the best meals any of us ate in the whole time we were abroad. Maybe my expectations where way too high, maybe it was COVID doom and gloom, or maybe the hype around this restaurant (it's on every Budapest "must-go" list) really disintegrated how great this restaurant was but the dinner we had here was mediocre at best. I really wanted to love it here again but was disappointed at the quality of the meal.

I love Budapest and everything it has to offer. As one of the former superpowers of the world, it's history is surprisingly unknown. One of the things Audrey and I love to do on a trip is learn about the city's religious preferences, history pre and post Great Wars, and cultural norms. I have SO much to learn about Hungary and hope to come back to Budapest, even if it's just for a quick glance of Parliament on the M2 tram.