Armed with a bumbag full of plasters and my one foreign language (which unfortunately isn’t Hungarian), we trundled off to Budapest last weekend. We’ve always wanted to go and our upcoming anniversary (12 years – I’m not sure which one of us deserves a medal more!) seemed the perfect excuse.
So, nothing at all about Bulgaria this time. Just a few pictures (alright, loads of pictures) of our time in lovely old Budapest.
The touristy things
Churches, parliament and the like…
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| Siklo cog railway. |
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| Liberty Monument.
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| Matthias Church.
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| Shoes on the Danube. |
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| Gellert thermal baths. So good after a long day of walking! |
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| Inside Parliament. |
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| Studying the map and ignoring the view. |
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| After spending a morning in the beautiful Buda hills, we rode the cable car back down. It was relaxing and terrifying at the same time. |
The socialist section: Memento Park
Rather than destroy all their old socialist monuments, the canny Hungarians shoved them all in a park for eager tourists to visit. So we did.
The weird and wonderful
First up: the Children’s Railway. Except for adult drivers, this railway line is run entirely by children. Look at the tiny conductors go!
We couldn’t resist the Buda Castle Labyrinth, a series of tunnels under Buda Castle where Dracula was imprisoned. It was wonderfully kitsch. For some reason, they’ve filled the tunnels and caves with mannequins dressed in opera costumes, and opera music blares at you as you walk around. Inspired!
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| A typical scene down in the labyrinth. |
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| I mean, what the actual fuck??
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| Just terrifying. |
One bar claimed to play all these different music genres. I know I’m old but surely half of these are made up?
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| Kinky reggae, anyone? |
Crazy wiring in Szimpla Kert, a totally touristy, totally brilliant ruin pub.
This one’s for a friend:
And, finally, here I am with Columbo. Obviously.
Looks a lovely place and that wiring looks like the back of my telly.
Terrific post, as always! 19th of June sees us arriving in BG, at long last.
Argh! They have just given us the quote for the freight from Shenzhen to Bulgaria. 12,000RMB and that is nearly two thousand euros. Ouch! Well, our apartment is looking decidedly bare and it is just a few more days to go.
I will never complain about EasyJet prices again…
It was a really fun city. Highly recommended. And that bar wiring reminded me of the gazillion cables around my office desk, so you're not alone!