On Thursday, December 21st, I caught a 7:45 train out of Vienna and headed to Budapest. I arrived in Budapest about 10:20.
Last time I arrived in Budapest, I had a driver from the Four Seasons greet me. The hotel had told me this would be best. I remember thinking the train station was sketchy, but he whisked me away quickly. This time, I just planned to take a taxi. Boy, I had not built up the sketchiness of the Keleti Train station in my mind, it was every bit as bad as I remember. Probably worse.
I caught a cab after fighting with a couple of cab drivers who I thought were trying to rip me off. I think I got ripped off in the end, but was finally resigned to it after a couple refused to take me anywhere when I told them I knew they were suppose to use the meter. One told me to "report him" and then yelled at me in Hungarian.
Anyway, I got to my hotel and they allowed me to check in early, so that was a bonus. I then walked to Vörörsmarty Tér.
I went to the landmark Gerbeaud Cafe for lunch.
It's been the meeting place in Budapest for over a hundred years.
The food is overpriced, but I didn't care. This was an open hot ham & cheese...
After lunch, I walked along the Christmas Market at the Square and along Fashion Street (which had a market two years ago and did not this time). I also stopped at the Herend store for a look around (2 years ago, I didn't make it there while they were open, and my second day there was a Sunday and they were closed). I went back to my hotel for a quick stop and to buy some tram tickets. I took the tram down to the Great Market Hall (same thing, I missed this last trip due to Sunday closure)...
The Great Market Hall is huge. On the Main floor you can find produce stands, bakeries, butcher stalls and buy as more paprika than you could ever need.
The upper level sells lots of souvenirs, and the basement is supermarkets and fish markets.
After browsing the market, I went out and strolled along the Danube to take some pictures of the Buda side of Budapest
This is the Liberty Bridge and Gellért Hill peeking over the right side...
Gellért Hill and the Liberation Monument...
Buda Castle and Matthias Church off in the distance...
I walked around and made my way to Szent István's Bazilika (St. Stephen's Basilica) and looked around the market there...
I walked back to my hotel for a check-in on my pup, and then headed out around dark. As soon as I stepped out of the hotel, it started to snow. By the time I made the block to the Chain Bridge it was snowing quite a lot. This made me so happy!
There may be a way to get pics without the snow kind of messing them up, but I am not a skilled photographer. Still, you can tell how much it was snowing! This is Matthias Church and Fishermen's Bastion...
Crossing the Danube...
Parliament Building...
I took several (very short for instastories) videos of my walk across...
Then I walked back to St. Stephen's because I love seeing it all lit up at night...
As I walked closer, I noticed there was a timer counting down on the facade of the church, but I had no idea why...
I just got close and waited to see what was going to happen...
After the show, I intended to grab something to eat for dinner at the market. But it was still snowing, and eating out in the snow didn't seem like a good idea at the time, so i grabbed dessert first...
This chimney cake was huge! It was so much larger than the proportion I received in Prague a couple of years ago. I ate the cake while I walked back to the hotel...
I chose to stay at the Prestige Hotel Budapest this time. I LOVED the Four Seasons last time, but didn't have the same luck to have Expedia comping part of my room this time. I knew I didn't want to spring for the big bucks to get the same awesome room I had last time, and I knew anything less there would be (an expensive) let down. So I chose this hotel because it seemed every bit as nice, and the location was literally only one block away from the Four Seasons (which was one of my favorite parts of that hotel). I didn't take pics of the entrance (it really wasn't anything to write home about), or the lobby, but I borrowed a couple from their site...
A lot of the rooms were interior rooms, and that is what I had...
I had just the standard room, but I think it was larger than other standard rooms because it was situated near a corner/end of the hall.
It was a great hotel, and I would definitely stay there again. The restaurant next door, Costes, provided their room service. Costes is a Michelin starred restaurant, so I took advantage and had room service for dinner.
Stay tuned for Budapest Day 2 and my final day of Europe 2017!
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