This week was a special week for Brooklyn; she had her eighth grade dance! She wore her beautiful, red dress that we shopped and shopped all over Stuttgart for last weekend. She met with some friends to finish getting ready, and they all went to the dance together. Brooklyn said it was an awesome night.
Friday, there was no school and I was off work so we planned a quick trip to Budapest. We had a 6am flight and this time we breezed through the airport; this was the first time we didn’t have to show any covid documentation to board. In fact, since we were flying to another EU country, we didn’t even have to show our passports.
We went immediately to the hotel but of course, our rooms weren’t ready. I was hoping they wouldn’t have been full the night before, but apparently they get a lot of guests who stay the night before departing on Danube River cruises. They did store our luggage though so we headed out for the day.
First stop was breakfast; we had an amazing brunch around the corner from our hotel. The restaurant was called A La Maison and I had the best Eggs Benedict I’ve ever had.
After brunch, we walked across the river. Budapest is actually two cities; Buda and Pest. Buda is the old, medieval side and Pest is the newer side, built in the late 1800s. Our hotel was on the river on the Pest side and we crossed the Elisabeth bridge to the Buda side in order to visit Buda Castle.
The views from the castle were amazing. Unfortunately, the Chain Bridge, the beautiful icon of Budapest, was being renovated and was covered in scaffolding (story of our lives). We will have to come back in two years to see it complete.
We walked along the ridge in Buda over to Fisherman’s Bastion, an old fortress with views over the river to Pest and the Hungarian Parlament. Fisherman’s Bastion is also directly next to St. Mattias church and seems to be the best place to check out the beautifully tiled roof.
We had lunch at a Hungarian restaurant in Pest, where we had good food and were able to try Hungarian beer, which was also really good. Then, we walked back across the river to our hotel.
We took a much needed nap and then headed to dinner at TGI Friday’s. Yea, yea- I know, but we miss American food. Luckily, there are TGI Fridays in Europe so every time we go to a new city, we see if there is one. We loved having the mozzarella sticks, ribs, and burgers.
After dinner, we walked down to the river where we met our boat for an evening river cruise. There was prosecco for the adults and lemonade for the kids and we had fun cruising past some of Budapest’s most iconic sites, lit up for the night. Everything was made a little extra prettier because the moon was almost full and there weren’t that many clouds.
We started out Saturday, walking along the Danube.
Our first stop was the Shoes on the Danube Bank. The shoes in statue are a memorial to the Jews who were massacred by the Nazi party during the World War II. As shoes were valuable, the victims were ordered to first take them off, before being shot and having their bodies fall into the river and be swept away. It was incredibly moving to see that people are still leaving candles, flowers, and other mementos at the site.
We walked to Kossuth Square, and checked out the Hungarian Parliament from the opposite, city-side. Here we met our walking tour for the morning.
Our guide was an actual Hungarian woman named Orsi, who gave an amazing tour. Besides walking us past several iconic squares, buildings, and monuments, she gave information about Hungary’s history and it’s people. It honestly was pretty sad and made a lot of things about Hungarian people make sense. She noted how Hungarians are usually silent and not talkative, which we had noticed during cab rides, in the hotel, and talking to waiters. She explained this was down to several generations of Hungarians living in mistrust of everyone around them for decades, and for good reason. A Google search of Hungarian history would do a better job of explaining as opposed to me trying to sum it up here. She did also note that there is hope on the horizon; Hungarians are free now to speak and the latest generation is now living “out loud.”
After our tour, we had lunch at a Japanese restaurant and then headed to Szechenyi Thermal Baths. We spent the afternoon soaking in the hot pools, which were actually really nice despite the cold and rainy weather.
Sunday was Easter! After breakfast, we headed to House of Terror. I only thought about it after the fact, but this was a very un-Easter activity, whoops.
House of Terror was first the former headquarters of the Nazi secret police, and then the Soviet secret police after World War II. Hungarian distrust is truly justified when you learn that one in four people was somehow being paid to spy on those around them, including their families.
The House of Terror had exhibits on how the spying took place, the arrests, sham trials, and executions. There was a memorial for the 1000s of people arrested and murdered for alledged spying. There was also a wall listing all those complicit with the spying, including people who are still alive and who were never brought to justice after the end of the Cold War.
After House of Terror, we stopped for chimney cakes. Although we thought these were a Czech pastry, the Hungarians actually take credit for them as well. Then we walked by the Opera House and took a peek in. We couldn’t see the actual concert hall but were able to see the luxurious entrance hall that dates to Austro-Hungarian Empire times.
We made our way to St. Stevens Cathedral and after seeing the line for tickets, opted to take in the view from out front.
We had Easter lunch at a Mexican restaurant. Mexican food is notoriously bad in Germany, and well, this was not much better. However, the chips, salsa, and guacamole were awesome. Still no free refills on chips here though.
After lunch we took a long walk past more Budapest sites; the State Museum, the Central Market Hall (which was closed because Easter) and Liberty Bridge. Then, we walked back to our hotel along the river. I got one, final nap and then we checked out and headed for the airport.
We made it home by midnight and are ready for another full two weeks home, in Germany.
Gilcrests Abroad 