Would I Go Back To Budapest?
Budapest is certainly a city, that would be worth a second visit. My visit was just a passing one and I didn’t really have time to do the city justice.
I didn’t find any major problems, but I did find the Hungarian language and currency difficult.
In the former, it was difficult to relate street and station names to the map you are using and in the second, as the currency is about 350 forints to the pound, this made purchasing things difficult.
As regards the second, you can understand, why the euro was embraced as an idea and why some countries either use or closely link their currency to the US dollar.
After all, when I’m in a euro or dollar country, if you treat these as pounds, all you’ll get is a bit more change. Using forints was a bit like using lire in Italy some years ago.
Budapest would make an ideal base to explore the Balkans and places like the Ukraine by rail, as there is a comprehensive list of places that trains go to from the main railway station.
Note Timisoara in the Departures display above.
You can apparently get easily from Budapest to Kiev in the Ukraine, so I would assume the reverse is possible. Ever since I saw the film; Battleship Potemkin, at school, I’ve always wanted to see the steps in Odessa, where the famous scene from the film takes place.
I did think about going during Euro 2012, but we had the Olympics coming up.
So if anybody wants to go to Odessa and Kiev and then come home by train, send me a message. I’m going to do it, to prove it is possible.
Remember though, I won’t be doing it in cheap hotels or Second Class.
Looking at Seat61; the bible for all train travelling, I’d probably fly to Budapest, take the train to Kiev and then after the detour to Odessa, I’d come home via Warsaw.
Note
Around Budapest Station
Budapest station is an old station, that was probably built in the grand manner.
Compared to say, a British station of similar importance, it didn’t seem so busy. Perhaps, rail travel isn’t as important in Hungary.
A Ticket To Ride Out Of Budapest
I hadn’t bought my ticket before I left London and it was the right thing to do. The reason, I say that was that I enjoyed Budapest a lot and if it hadn’t been so cold, I might have stayed another day.
But I almost regretted it, as buying a ticket was a bit of an obstacle course.
In the first place, there was no automatic machine.
You first had to get the time of the train, by getting a numbered ticket to go and ask what the times were. I had an idea that the train left at 15:25. Eventually I got this confirmed and then got another numbered ticket from the machine so that I could actually buy my ticket to Bratislava.
A Ticket To Ride Out Of Budapest
As you can see, the ticket was like an old-fashioned airline ticket of forty years ago.
I would advise that if you’re taking an international train out of Budapest, that you give yourself plenty of time. You can buy them before the date of travel, so if you’re going on the 25th and you’re there on the 23rd, it would not be a bad idea to purchase the ticket early.
The ticket I had, was valid on any train on the day I travelled.
The Memorial To Sztehlo Gabor
This sculpture was outside the hotel.
It is a memorial to Sztehlo Gabor, who saved hundreds of Jewish children from the Holocaust. There is a short biography here.
The Pavements Of Budapest
Budapest doesn’t seem to do plain man-hole covers in the centre. They also allow shops to have their name in front in brass.
I would think they don’t have a theft problem.
Inside And Around St. Stephen’s Basilica
St. Stephen’s Basilica wasn’t far from the hotel.
I passed on the mulled wine, as I had just warmed up in the hotel.
Exploring Buda Castle
Eventually, I arrived on top of the city on the hill on which Buda Castle sits.
Note the excellent hot chocolate.
I think it may be true to say, that although a lot of damage was done to the buildings during the Second World War, quite a bit of damage was done since by the Communists. Wikipedia says that quite a few statues and facades were destroyed.
In the Hungarian National Gallery, there was a large section devoted to the works of Mihály Munkácsy. I’d never heard of him before, but to my untutored eye, he was fairly impressive.
Exploring Budapest
As I usually do, I used a combination of walking and the various trams and metro lines. There is a card called a Budapest Card, but at the first station I tried near the airport, they just sold me an ordinary 24 hour ticket.
These are some of the pictures I took.
Particularly useful was the number 2 tram, which ran up and down the Danube. If you’ve got a 24-hour ticket, just get on the tram and sit down. You don’t have to touch in, although my ticket was checked on the Metro.
The only problems I had were the extreme cold and the lack of information and maps on the street. But Budapest is one of those cities, where you can generally see one of major features like the Danube, Buda Castle or St. Stephen’s Basilica.
On the other hand, when I did get lost, a friendly Hungarian usually put me right. I was plagued a bit by hop-on/hop-off tourist bus salesmen, but I just ignored them, as I prefer to play my game of chance with the public transport. You see more interesting things, like the little girl sitting on the dog statue. How many places would allow that?
Incidentally, Line 1 of the Budapest Metro is the second oldest in the world and is included in the World Heritage Site for Budapest.
The Anonymous Widower 