Day Two – 13/08/19

I woke up early on the second day as I was eager to get going and fill as much time as possible (holidays are super relaxing with me) I enjoyed the lush shower and huge make up mirror whilst Liam slept on. Begrudgingly he did get up a short while later and we headed down to our first breakfast in the hotel.

I had read on reviews of our hotel that the breakfast didnt have much choice. I didnt find that at all! There were breads, cheeses, ham, pastries, cereal, muesli, fruit, cooked breakfast and even salad! I settled for cheese, ham and bread (much to Liams disgust whilst he ate his cooked breakfast) followed by a croissant with butter and jam. Delicious!

Once we had finished breakfast we decieded to buy tickets for the Big Bus Tour. This is essentially an open top double decker bus that drives all around the city. You can hop on and hop off unlimited times when your ticket was valid. It cost us 16,000 Hungarian Forint, which is just under 50 euros (alot of tourist places took both HUF and Euro) and this got us two days on all bus routes and a boat tour included.

We then hurried on over to our nearest bus stop which was on the other side of the roundabout to the hotel and headed off to St Stephens Basilica!

The Basilica is named after the first king of Hungary and supposedly his right hand is housed inside the building. For a small donation you can have a wander round the inside and for approximately 1,800 HUF (£5 for two) you can climb the steps to the top of the dome which gives you a wonderful vantage point over the city.

The view from the top was the main reason we wanted to visit this beautiful building so we decided to do that first. There are lifts to the top but we decided to take the spiral steps all the way up! There were alot of stairs and by the time we had reached the view point I was struggling for breath and had to chug down most of the emergency Sprite I kept in my bag.

Once I had recovered from my unfit episode we spent some time enjoying the views. The dome has a balcony that wraps around the outside so you get 360 views of the city. We spent some time up there admiring the views and posing for photos – obviously.

After taking in as much of the view as we could we headed back down the spiral stairs (me with jelly legs) to have a nose around the inside. As expected it was a beautifully ornate building with stunning carvings and wonderful architecture.

Following our self guided tour of the Basilica we decided to explore the square and streets around it, looking at different shops and food places. I spotted a place that sold Lagos. This was a traditional Hungarian food that I knew I wanted to try whilst we were there. So despite it only being about 11am and still being full from breakfast I scurried inside to order one.

Lagos is basically deep fried savoury dough topped with various different things. We went for the classic sour cream and cheese. It was delicious. However it did just taste like good garlic bread. Not the 18p Tesco G-bread stick though but the gourment garlic bread you might get from a fancy italian restaurant – but with super squidgy dough. It was good.

At this point the weather was starting to change and we knew a storm was forecast so we headed back to the hotel to get changed before going to our next destination which was the Great Market Hall. We got there by using our handy Big Bus tour again. We sat at the top and enjoyed the views as we sped along. The tour comes with headphones and audio commentary so we learnt alot as we headed to our next location.

The Great Market Hall is the oldest and largest indoor market hall in Budapest. The outer walls have huge arches cut into them that allowed fisherman to bring their catch straight into the building without having to unload (according to our audio commentary). There is so much to see in the Market Hall! The ground floor is full of stalls that the locals would use to get their groceries, lots of fruits, veg, butchers etc and then the first floor housed all the tourist stalls and food stalls. We wandered around the ground floor and took in all the beautiful sights and smells. We spotted a strudel stall that we knew we wanted to come back to but before we did we headed up to the first floor.

There was so much on sale up here from russian dolls to rugs, clothes, ornaments and the touristy magnets and key rings. We took the opportunity to pick up a few bits for friends and family and had a giggle at some of the perculiar items for sale.

After a while spent shopping we decided we needed food (again) and so we made our way over to the busiest part of the Hall to try some traditional Hungarian food. I went for the beef goulash with rice and Liam had the stuffed cabbage. My Goulash was lovely, stodgy and tasty and the stuffed cabbage was…interesting. I had a bite and quite liked it but Liam said a whole plate full was a bit too much. Oh well! Thats the joy of trying different foods! We treated ourselves after by visiting the strudel stall. Liams plum strudel was perfect and beat out my apple one by a mile!

With our bellies full of goulash, cabbage and strudel we waddled off to our next activity which was wine tasting! (once again booked through Viator) We had never done a wine tasting tour before so I was very excited. It was held in a cool basement bar that looked like a wine cellar. We were in a group of about 12 people and our lovely guide (whos name I cant remember) introduced us to each wine and gave us information about which regions they were from and how the grapes were grown etc. We had two white, two reds and one dessert wine. All were delicious but the sweet dessert wine was my favourite. We were also given a platter of Hungarian meats, cheeses, bread, oil and the most amazing beetroot chutney and once again despite having eaten alot already I happily scoffed it all down. I was feeling rather merry and enjoying myself immensley.

After we had said our farewells to the rest of the group we decided we wanted to keep drinking so we set off on foot to the Jewish Quarter in search of a ruin bar.

Ruin bars are basically abandonned delapedated buildings that were ruined following the second world war. These buildings were then upcycled into funky, quirky bars. The first and most well known one is Szimpla Kert which is where we found ourselves after a short walk from the wine bar.

The first thing that struck me was the size of the place and then the sheer oddness of it. There were many different rooms and bars and the whole place was filled with perculiar memorabilia and upcycled furniture. I sat on a pile of tyres that had been made into a chair and Liam sat on a chair made out of chains. There was a room that had bath tubs full of cusions where you could sit and enjoy a drink. We sat in these for a while and then made our way upstairs. As we passed the courtyard we noticed a beat up painted car had been parked in there and turned into a table and chairs. The whole place was very odd but I loved it all. We enjoyed our ciders (2000 HUF – £5 for two pints) and enjoyed the atmosphere.

Once the cider had mixed with the wine we were feeling significantly tipsier and decided we had better go and find some food. We staggard into a nearby Mcdonalds (it was around 7pm by this point) and ordered from a very patient girl who let us fumble our way through our drunken order.

With the food being slowly soaked up by the grease and stodge we decided to take a leisurely stroll back to our hotel. As we reached the river we realised we were right by the dock that launched the river cruise that came with our Big Bus tour. So we decided to hop on and take full advantage of the lovely evening.

Once on board we headed straight to the top and got ourselves a good view point. The cruise took about 75 mins and took us up and down the river past the most famous landmarks and under the iconic bridges. We spent our time relaxing, listening to the sound of the water and enjoying watching the sun go down once again over the city. Oh and taking plenty of photos of course.

After disembarking from our boat we could tell the storm was coming in so quickly headed back to our hotel. We made it just in time and entered our room just as the first few flashes filled the sky. We got changed and set ourselves up on the (rather large) windowledge. Earlier in the day we had purchased a variety of Hungarian chocolate bars to try. So we sat testing them out, watching lightening strike across the city skyline and waiting for the rain to come. It was the perfect cosy end to a jam packed day.