Budapest Eye
7th of April 2021
I flew to Budapest in late August 2020. It was my first time visiting Hungary. I rented a cosy studio apartment just a minute or two from the Budapest Eye.
There is a lot of stuff to see in the city and I had only two days to see it all. That meant a lot of walking, taking buses and riding on the subway but I was OK with that. I wish there had been a proper Uber or Bolt service - technically you can use Bolt but due to various laws in Hungary the cars and prices are set by the government and it was much cheaper to use the public transport.
After meeting with the owner of the apartment I went to the closest grocery store to buy some supplies and then headed to Gellert Hill. It's a 235-metre hill named after Saint Gerard who was thrown from it, and as you can guess, he died.
The weather was perfect, however it was about 30 degrees celsius and even though the hill is not that tall, I was covered in sweat by the time I got to the top. The view from the hill is gorgeous, you can see the Danube river and most of the city. I'd love to go there again, during winter, when everything's covered in snow. At the top you can buy a slightly overpriced but very refreshing drink, I drank mine in almost no time.
It was already three o'clock and my stomach was slowly getting hungry. I climbed down, strolled around the city a little bit more and decided to eat a pizza. I didn't do any reading on restaurants and randomly chose Vapiano. It was a good choice, I can recommend it to anyone who visits the city.
In the evening I went to see the parliment. It's a huge, beautiful building which looks a little bit like a castle (well, it's Budapest, everything looks like a castle). When it gets dark, the parliment gets illuminated and above it you can see projections of birds. Someone said those are real birds but I find it hard to believe, real birds don't fly in circles above one place for a few hours every night. On the other hand, do birds really exist?
The next day I woke up at around ten o'clock with sore legs and, well, sore body. I was tired after all those kilometers I walked the day before. Luckily a cup of coffee and a can of some Hungarian energy drink made me feel a tad better and having eaten breakfast I continued sightseeing around the city. I had a list of places I wanted to see, they were all beautiful, sadly I don't have a lot of photos from that day, so I'll just write about the most important sights.
The first one is Vajdahunyad Castle. It was bulit at the end of the XIX century and inside it you can find the Museum of Hungarian Agriculture which I did not see. There is a small lake next to the castle and you can rent a small boat there and paddle your way around. During the winter the lake gets turned into an ice-skating rink.
I was doing some googling ducking and one of the websites listed Cat Cafe as one of the tourst attractions in Budapest. I like cats and I was tired after all the paddling so a small break with the cats was exactly what I needed.
The cats were calm, soft and friendly. Most of them were asleep though. I ordered a juice and tried to befriend a cat which wore a tie. I managed to pet it a few times but then the tie-wearing gentleman went away to eat some food which had just been served.
Cat/Coffee break came to an end and it was time for more walking and sightseeing. I don't remember exactly where I went but here are two more photos I took:
Budapest is a beautiful city which consists of numerous gorgeous buildings, places, sights and my photos can't do justice to them. You really have to go there and see it with your eyes. The city is modern, public transport is reliable (thought it can get a little bit crowded) and I'd advise against renting a car, unless you want to visit other parts of Hungary. If it's just the capital - don't bother, you will waste time looking for parking spots. As I mentioned before, the city is worth visiting in both winter and summer so just find a cheap flight and go there, you will not regret it.
Couple of tips:If you have any questions or need advice, please drop me an email at contact@mtthw.net