Hungary

Tuesday, May 31

Budapest train stationWe arrived in Budapest late yesterday afternoon. When you’ve been on the road for a month, you tend to lose track of days, dates, etc. and we somehow wound up here a day early for our hotel reservation. That wasn’t a problem, but it would have been nice to spend an extra day in lovely Bratislava.

  • We weren’t even off the train when a gypsy cab driver tried to put the hard sell on us.
  • The train station we arrived at was designed by Gustav Eifel. It is most impressive and quite obviously a work of the Frenchman. The main hall has been recently restored and it is stunning. We turned left down one of the several side-rooms and I found the first of many of what I consider to be the “Budapest dichotomies.” The amazing hall joined with a filthy, dank side-room. This seems quite the norm.
  • Had dinner at a place recommended by The Lonely Planet guide and the hotel. Food was a 5 on a scale of 10—just sort of blah. Cliental was about 30% indigenous folks, 50% Americans and 20% visitors from other locals, ergo tourist trap. Good piano player, though.
  • Walked from Pest to Buda via the Margarit Bridge. This would normally be a marvelous stroll with incredible views of the castle and other buildings to the south. The bridge however is being renovated. The south walkway was completely closed and the north walkway, normally some ten to twelve meters wide had been reduced to a narrow, fenced-in shoot. With two-way traffic of pedestrians, bike and skate-boarders it was a little cramped and exciting. River sights were nontheless spectacular.

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