Budapest Day 2+3

Heroes' Square

We went to Heroes Square the next day. With A and B's expertise, we had a fun time trying to come up with photos with optical illusions.

Photos can be so deceiving. If I had taken off my coat, which of course I wouldn't due to the freezing temperatures, people would have thought that I went there in summer

The millennium memorial. This was the place which looked like Bradenburg Gate in Berlin.

Vajdahunyad Castle:

The castle does look unique, as if two parts of it were built by different architects but decided to put them together anyway.

Doesn't it look a bit odd?

There were stalls selling warm wine, pretzels and hotdog by the roadside. A decided to buy one of the Pretzels to share. We bit into it, thinking that it was going to taste like normal pretzels but how wrong we were. It was extremely salty! I seriously couldn't believe that they even added so much salt to pretzels that it was torturous to eat.

Schezenyi Spa and Hourglass:

Apparently Hungary is really famous for its spas and outdoor swimming pool. I'm not that keen on soaking in water in this type of weather, so we just took photo from the outside. Nearby there was the world's largest hourglass. At midnight of 31st of December of every year, it will be manually turned upsidedown using human stength. Too bad we weren't there on the 31st.

You can even see ice forming on the ground. That's how cold it was.

Finally, lunch time!

We went to a restaurant near the Opera house. This time, I ordered ternderloin on a spith with bacon, gree salad with roqefort and steak potatoes (can tell you this because I took a photo of the menu). A had chicken breast in honey and mustard sauce with croquette potatoes which tasted like chicken stir-fried with sweet soya sauce. I won't bore you with what B ordered as it looked too similar to a western meal with chips.

From this point, it wouldn't be a chronological order as we went there on the evening of Day 2 and I went there on Day 3 on my own after throwing A and B to the train station for them to make their way to Vienna. They did tell me that Vienna and Slovakia were more interesting as compared to Budapest. Therefore, both places have been added to my K.I.V. list.

Opera house:

This is the famous Hungarian Opera house. They only have tours at 3pm and 4pm everyday and plays in the evening. I went for the tour on my own.

Oh yes. This is just a photo to demonstrate how wide the streets are. It's supposed to be a main street and the number of people on the road and the cars seems so little as compared to the size of the place.

The Opera house was really beautiful inside. It was frustrating that my camera doesn't really capture nice photos in poor lighting and dark areas. It was also frustrating that no one was there to help me take photo, therefore, the mirrors and skills earned from vanity of taking photos of myself come into handy.

My favourite picture. This was taken in one of the boxes on the 1st level. I wonder if the person sitting there will concentrate on the play or spend most of the time admiring one's beauty in the mirror.

St. Stephen's Basilica

I went there twice as well. There was this huge Christmas tree in front of it which was lighted up at night.

The interior was really beautiful. However, I still feel that St. Paul's cathedral in London is more appealing. There was the display of St. Steven's mummified hand in one of the small chapels. It was weird that you had to pay 200 HUF to switch on the light to illuminate it for 2 minutes. Even churches do this to rip tourists off. In a more positive way of saying this, to raise funds to maintain the church.

It does look impressive from the outside.

Dohany Street Synagogue:

This was the second largest synagogue after the one in New York. They offered tours but I chose to just enter due to financial constrains. Already very poor after posting 5 postcards. First time in my life I had to go through a security check and metal detector before stepping into a place of worship.

As you can see, the design is very different. I felt that it was very unique.

If you want to know, I took this photo using the 10s timer on my camera. Hehehe. Liked the chandelier.

Christmas Market:

I really liked the Christmas market. So many things to see, buy and eat! The only drawback was, I was already pokai at that time, so, no money!!!! It was also the first time seeing so many people. Usually the streets are empty. I liked the tall table placed near the food stalls and people standing around to eat.

Bodies exhibition:

I can say that this is a truly 'lawatan sambil belajar'. Previously, the exhibition was in Manchester, but we chosed to go all the way to Budapest to attend it. How I wished anatomy was presented as interesting as this. Then I would have learnt more.

Finally, it was time for me to make my way to the airport. I had to take a tram, and then change to the bus service.

It was so crowded but the bus stop was just a small stand. The condition of the buses was really old as well. That's how all the transportation look like in Budapest.

The only thing I can say after exploring on my own was, travelling as a girl alone is dangerous. Therefore, I'm never going to travel alone again, even if it's just for half a day.