The day was too short, the sky turned dark by 4pm. We made our way to Vörösmarty Square by foot which took around 10min.
We spent our day/night over there having our 1st taste of Hungarian food & drinks. Their handicrafts is rather unique for each individual, I really love their MUG beautifully painted, light to carry, anyway I didn't buy in the end.
I was first seduced by the city rich cultural heritage of architecture and remains.
Budapest still retain their old building structure design. You can't find high-rise building nor any modern building structure other than Terror Háza and the height of the buildings are all the same.
After a good rest, we started off with some light breakfast-bread from supermarket and headed off to Gellért Hill via Elizabeth Bridge. Gellért Hill was served as an outpost and fortress in the 19th century. Up on the hill, there is the Liberation monument.
The Liberation Monument (the work of Zsigmond Kisfaludi Strobl) was erected in 1947 to commemorate the liberation of the country and in honour of the soldiers of the liberating Soviet Army ( today we call it occupation ). The female figure holding the palm of victory together with the pedestal is 40 metres (132 ft.) high. In front of it is the statue of a Soviet soldier; of the two accessory figures one vanquishes the symbolic figure of destruction and devastation, the other one raises high the torch of progress. The names of fallen Soviet soldiers are carved on the pedestal. extracted from here
From Gellért hill, we moved on to Castle hill and by late 3pm the sky already turned dark and unfortunate for us, we missed out the neo-gothic Matthias Church which is under construction. Across the square is Fishermen's Bastion where you get a panoramic view of Danube & Pest City.
My colleagues from Hungary had taught me some simple Hungarian language and recommended the authentic Hungarian food to try. Most of the hungarian food is MEAT - Beef, pork and drink are mostly alcohol.
I want to mention here is Budapest Outdoor Thermal Spa. I never thought I will try SPA in Europe. This was one of the highlight of this trip. The SPA we went is called Széchenyi Bath and Spa Budapest. It is the largest thermal spring bath, which was build in 1913 in neobaroque style. It is situated in Városliget (City Park). When I first stepped in to the ticketing office, I thought I had went to Polyclinic where those in queue were elderly (60-70s). They had in hand is half the size of A4, it is an appointment card where they had paid for a package.
We waited for 30min before we reached the small window to get our ticket to enter. The lady in the small window had put on a white long vest like doctor over herself. We really thought we were in some hospital. Well the Spa is known to have some medical benefit to your body. You can find out more from here.
Btw, the exchange rate in Hungary is better than in London, so you may want to consider exchange over there.
Air tix cost - est 74pounds
Hostel - est 6000HUF/20pounds for 3d2n
Food/transport/other damages - 120pounds.
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