Day 14
Hopping On & Off Through Budapest
Monday, September 2, 2024
Jó reggelt kívánok,
Throughout Europe, and they're probably in every major city now, there is a popular tourist service called the Hop On Hop Off Bus. This is a double decker, open top bus that does a loop of the Top 10 or Top 20 tourist sites in the city. The bus has a commentary you can listen to that tells you a little about each street you drive down. The quality of the audio varies a lot from bus to bus, as does the comfort of the top deck, especially in summer.
We did a couple of Hop On Hop Offs on our first Great Adventure, but Rome was enough for Koro. All the bus drivers in Rome drove their double deckers as if they were Tazio Nuvolari slicing around the Nürburgring. Sitting on the top deck as the bus bounced over curbs, Koro was convinced the bus was going to topple. Koro made a vow that day, “never again”.
Today Koro forgot all about that vow as we signed up for two tickets on the Hop On Hop Off Budapest Bus.
If the bus drivers in Rome were lions, the drivers in Budapest were pussy cats. The ride was smooth and relaxed.
We know that the Hop On Hop Off is an expensive way to see the city, but sometime it is just easy and convenient. The route the bus took through the city meant we got to see more of the city than we could while walking. It would have been much cheaper to travel via Budapest's excellent Metro system, but you don’t see a lot while travelling underground.
It was yet another blazing hot day. You are probably sick of us going on about the heat. It seems that most of Europe is in a heat wave at the moment. Weather reports suggest that the temperature might come down to mid-twenties by mid-September.
So, sitting on the top deck of the bus, in the hot sun, being driven at a leisurely pace, was actually quite pleasant and restful. We had a great view of everything and of everyone.
New York Café is a famous café in Budapest. It has been open for over 100 years. Everyone wants a selfie while sitting inside the café sipping coffee and eating cake. So many people that as we drove past their was a queue out the door waiting for a table.
While riding on the bus we noticed how quickly the streets of Budapest could change. One a single street there might be beautifully preserved buildings with high end shop of cafes. Then just a few metres further down the road is an old, neglected building covered in graffiti with iron bars over the windows.
We rode over the Danube river to Buda, past the famous Gellet Baths (it would be much too hot to soak in these thermal waters at the moment!), and under Buda Castle, high on a hilltop.
The bus then used the Margeret Bridge to cross back over the Danube to the Pest side. Then drove along the river bank until we reached the Chain bridge. We hopped off the bus at the Chain bridge and walked along the river bank to the Central Market Hall.
This is the largest enclosed market hall in Hungary. It is a beautiful old building, first opened in 1897. Back then a purpose built market space was seen as an important part of securing the food supply of a large and important city like Budapest.
There was a real mixture of market stalls. It would still be possible to buy great quality fruit & veges, meats, poultry and spices at a reasonably cheap price. But when we visited it seemed that many of the stalls were aimed at tourists. Hordes of cheap souvenirs, made in China and sold at outrageous prices. The souvenirs are certainly not hand crafted Hungarian products.
On the second floor was a very simple buffet restaurant. It was serving very basic Hungarian dishes. We each had a roasted chicken leg on rice, and it was so, so good. After dining out for so long, having a basic meal like you would cook at home was so nice.
We had to walk back across the river to get back on the Hop On Hop Off bus. Once on it, it was nice to relax our legs. We were going to loop around again, but we were so hot and so tired, we hopped off at Erzsébet ter and headed to the Shot Bar for a beer, then to our apartment for a siesta.
Love to you all from Grandma & Koro & Buzzy Bee.