Our accommodation in Budapest was luckily very affordable. It was a two bedroom apartment near the city center, built in the mid twentieth century—with high ceilings, spacious and cozy (we wouldn’t have chosen for worse, yeah).
My Dutch fellow found every single thing about this apartment strange—old-fashioned doors and windows, window bars and the overall look of it. What I personally found unusual, was the square shape of the house, with a small inner yard:
Later on, looking all over Budapest in Google Maps, I noticed that almost all of the houses in the city were built that way:
And this was the first time that he saw a live cockroach. A memorable experience, I suppose.
The apartment cost us only € 50 per person (for two nights), which is very cheap in my opinion.
The prices in general are not that high: much more affordable than in Austria or Holland. Our first dinner in a Chinese restaurant cost 930 forints (€ 3,60), for a huge dish and a Coke.
We had our breakfast at Costa Coffee which was of a luxurios kind here. The prices there were of more European level (eg. 600 HUF for a cake), and I only saw foreigners there. Another noteworthy thing was coffee portion size. A capuccino is served in a bucket-sized mug (equipped with two handles for a better grip):
A perfect lunch in the restaurant Rumbach 7 for two, with wine, coffee etc. cost ridiculous € 15. The waiters were so sweet and complaisant that we eventually felt obliged. We repayed with a generous tip and by mentioning in this (massively popular among the Hungarians) blog. I highly recommend this restaurant if you happen to be in Budapest:
You can trust everything on their website (in the event you happen to read that). Rumbach 7 is the address.
Another recommendation is the Iguana bar (Zoltán utca 16), cozy and decorated in Mexican style. However they close as soon as 11 PM.
And the last observation regarding restaurants and prices. I gave a glance to the menu of Four Seasons hotel’s restaurant, an evidently chic one, which I concluded by the appearance of people sitting in there. The most expensive dishes were some 25 000 HUF (less than 10 euros), which is more than average price for Holland.
Here’s that hotel:
Impressive, isn’t it? Budapest at night is a magnificent view. And the streets, like in the Netherlands are completely deserted after 8 PM.
This is the quay of the Danube:
The Chain Bridge, a suspension bridge that spans the River Danube between Buda and Pest:
Building of the Hungarian Parliament, a very good looking one (because I have no relationship with it, apparently):
A different view of the same building:
The library of the Parliament (Országgyűlési Könyvtár):
There was a photo exhibiton in the Parliament square, nicely forsaken in this late hour:
Monument to the first president of Hungary Mihály Károlyi (1875-1955):
We met a Mexican student living in Paris beside it, who read us quotes from his book about this and nearby monuments.
The Comedy Theatre of Budapest (Vígszínház):
And, at last, St. Stephen’s Basilica (Szent István-bazilika):
I’ll come back to it later, in the daytime. Its interiors are simply stunning.
Next: Part 8. Budapest by day
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