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11 December 2023 Budapest, Hungary – Pest side of the city

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Public Transport

We had a very successful journey today to the other side of the Danube River. We couldn’t buy the tickets from the app because the e-sim I bought was data only so we couldn’t get any verification codes on my phone – so no codes – no tickets. So, up the street, we went to the ticket machine. Bought our 72-hour ticket for all transport in the city.

Next back to the app, check the timetables and catch the 16 or 16A bus down to the river.

This app gives you routes so you can follow it live on your phone as you go along. Very cool and helpful.

We caught our local bus 16/16A to the bottom of the hill on the Buda side to then cross over to the Pest side. Once we were off the bus we were not sure where to go next and checked with a Spanish speaking couple who spoke English as to our next move. They showed us their phone and we took a photo of the route they were taking – to the Hungarian Parliament Building which was near the Shoes on the Danube memorial we were heading for.

We then went to the M2 metro line and headed down, down, down to the platform. Travelling down to the bottom took a good 3-4 minutes. We followed the couple and got onto the same train. We had to travel 3 stops and then we had to get back on the escalator and ride all the way back up again.

You can follow the journey live on the app which is very satisfying and reassuring.

We walked aross the the Parliament Building then down some stairs to the river to see the Shoes memorial.

We caught the tram after we had finished with the memorial from a stop nearby. This was a 7 stop journey to the central markets.

The escalators travel fast and when you get on at the bottom it’s a jump-and-run scenario – hilarious at the time. No one fell over, so it all worked out.

Tram to and from the Markets

Our first stop was passing the Hungarian Parliament Building,

Also, in the picture is the tram.

The memorial is called The Shoes on the Danube.

It was created to honour the Jews who were killed by fascist Arrow Cross militiamen during World War II in Budapest. In 1944-1945, the victims were ordered to remove their shoes before they were shot at the edge of the water so that their bodies would fall into the Danube River and be carried away. Their shoes were kept for the militiamen to use or sell as a commodity during the war.

https://budapestfrontier.com › shoes-on-the-danube-bank

After the Danube we went up to road behind us and caught the 2B tram to Föväm Tér (Central Markets ). We were getting hungry so decided on some Hungarian Street Food.

Red Cabbage, Green Cabbage, Cabbage Roll, Meatballs, Hungarian sausage and sour cream.

We looked around the markets and passed shop after shop of souvenirs. A lot of rubbish but some pieces were clearly authentic crafts and ceramics, clothing and manchester.

The food stores were amazing. We bought some strudel and some pretzel things with hazelnut paste inside. Not bad at all. The strudel was ok but I have tasted better.

Paprika – its everywhere.

The door to the Markets was covered in very heavy canvas with plastic to see through. Very cold outside so it seems to help keep the cold out.

After the market, we wandered back to the station for the tram.

On the way we passed a very interesting sewer cover and the Corvinus University.

Sewer cover
The outside of the Central Market and on the right, Corvinus University

It was time to go home so we caught the Tram, the train and then the bus home. Oh and then we walked a few minutes to our apartment.

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9 December 2023 Budapest walkabout

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We thought we would have a look around. So chose a destination based on the menu. On our way, we saw Jamie Oliver’s Italian restaurant, so we went in and booked a table for dinner.

We walked for a while down loads of stairs from our home on the hill, to a great little place called Makos Guba Bistro. We shared a burger, and had two hot chocolates each. $Au40ish.

I am not sure if we are being ripped off or that the meals here are not cheap. Meat is expensive.

After lunch we crossed the road to the supermarket – SPAR. A dutch supermarket chain. We bought some food and then worked out that we could walk home from where we were. There was only one hurdle and that was a staircase of 90 steps to climb, but after that it was just easy inclines and then a lift to our ground level and then five more minutes home.

Dinner at Jamie Oliver’s was very civilised. The staff were aware, attentive and friendly. It was a lovely meal.

Jamie Oliver’s Italian – Budapest

After dinner we wandered over to the Christmas Markets next door to Mathias’ church.

Mulled wine and skewers, and sausages.

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7 December 2023 – Arrival in Budapest – Castle District

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We found a taxi in the freezing rain having found one guy – a “freelancer'” (We were told later and I think I read it in my pretravel study, that they are very expensive)who was not in the least bit interested in taking us, due to his explanation that the roads – over there were very busy and congested.

We walked a little further towards McCafe and found a Bolt Taxi – the reliable ones. The driver was lovely and was not worried about the drive at all. He quoted 5000 HUF (AU$21.37)and when we arrived unscathed and in a relaxed manner – I tipped him 1000 HUF ($AU4.27)more.

He deposited us in the Castle District on the Buda side of the city.

This is our street and the night we arrived it was raining and snowing and looking amazing. In the map below we are the red pin. The image on the bottom left is our front door. Behind it is a long entry way with historical glass panels showing the planning of the apartments and the previous owners. After the entry, we found the 15 stairs to our apartment. We were met there by a very capable woman called Krisztina, who lifted our cases up the stairs like a seasoned weightlifter.

This is where we have been staying in District 1 on the west side of the city(Buda).

Once we had dumped our bags, Krisztina gave us two tickets for our first ride on a bus or whatever, and said she would be back on Wednesday, to collect the keys.

Next we went up the street about 200 metres to Prima – the only supermarket in the district. We bought the food we needed for the week.

Then we went out to dinner just across the road from our apartment at #Matyėka-ház. The food was fast tasty and expensive.

Chicken Parmi above and Paprika Chicken with dumplings and cucumber salad with sour cream below. One glass of wine each $83

A very nice meal.

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7 December 2023 The journey to Budapest, Hungary

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The train that took us from Prague to Budapest 6 hours

The ride was easy from Prague to Budapest, comfortable and we were in 1st class so next to the dining car. Found out later that we could have had a proper meal, there was one cook slaving away in the kitchen and then delivering the food to individual seats in the train in the 1st class carriage.

We wandered up there and bought sandwiches and tea and chips. It was enough but hot schnitzel with garlic potatoes and beans would have been nicer. Ho hum, the price of not being a local or a regular traveller on the system.

The translation for the sandwich is – (Google) Stuffed pastry with chicken, crispy bacon and boiled egg. It was bread not pastry by the way. It was not bad at all. The bread is heavy but tasty. Not soft but not stale either. I found it satisfying and enough to get me to the end of the journey. The train staff supplied us with a bottle (600mls) of water. Very yummy.

The journey was good, just sitting back and watching the world go by.

Budapest Main Railway station.

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5 December 2023 The Prague Castle

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Ok, a quick skite – walked 8kms today. I know, I know, but I don’t usually, so it was big.

It took a while to find out what was happening on the day due to emails with Spanish as the language for the tour being plastered onto the final instruction page. So after 5 or so emails back and forth between my travel agent to the tour operators – I finally received the confirmation that the tour would be in English.

I had the meeting point of the statue of Saint Wenceslas.

15 mins by Uber. Waiting there freezing etc – all planned and accounted for. Red umbrella spotting to follow.

https://maps.google.com/maps/contrib/103438021815875083473

So I was ready, I ended up being the only person on the tour so I was organised and ready to leave the apartment at 9:15 – to catch an Uber to get to the Square by 9:35 ish. So I left, heading down to the entrance of the building only to be accosted by a small elderly woman telling me she was there to take me on the tour and that the doorman would not call me, or let her come up to knock on my door to say that she was there. She was not impressed.

So I am trying to understand why she is there, cancel my Uber and get out the door, to get some money from the atm next door.

I managed all that and she explained what had happened turned me left, slid her arm into mine and off we went. It was a good idea to be together, we both were able to help the other in times of slippage. It really was a very comical way to start the day.

Eva, My wonderful Guide

Her name was Eva and at almost 80 in December, she was as spry and as strong as someone much younger. She said she was a ballet dancer from age 4 to 14 when she developed cancer in her leg so had to stop. It obviously didn’t stop her. She took me to a tobacconist to buy a tram ticket to the castle. She has had a full life living overseas and working in diplomatic situations, has met and guided Prince Charles (King) three times and he would send letters of introduction to her regarding those he knew who were coming to the castle for a tour from her. Fascinating woman. I really enjoyed my time with her and learnt so much. The history of Prague goes so far back it is mind-boggling. I come from a country whose European history is just over 200 years. Not 12 centuries.

The photos I took along the way were many so enjoy. They mean something to me and I hope you enjoy them for their content and colour and just because they show what exists in this old and fascinating place.

I apologise for the crowding of the photos. It’s not a flexible program. Will endeavour to remedy the situation in due course.

The view from Prague Castle back across Prague in the snow.
The gates near the entrance of the Castle
Soldiers – don’t move for one hour – except eyes
Once inside the complex, this is where all tours begin.
It really is a big place and 3 hours was necessary. The windows on the right are accommodation for the soldiers who guard the castle
The Golden Lane The Golden Lane is a row of miniature houses glued literally to the walls of the Castle. This is where the Castle's fusiliers lived, and later goldsmiths, from whom the alley way got its name.In more recent times Czech writers, including Franz Kafka and his sister.
Franz Kafka was supposed to have lived here, however, my guide told me only his sister did.
These are rotating columns of wood for the archers to move to change the angle of their shots.
Implements of Torture
Saint Ludmilla and Wenceslas at age 9. He was her grandson.
Court records from cases convened at the castle
Description of the records
Crests of noble families.
Perspex model of the castle
Replica of Crown Jewels
This room was originally used to train horses and horsemen
This was the exit from the horseman training room.
Stoves – in all the bedrooms in the castle – stoked from outside the room so as not to disturb the occupants
The outside of one of the cathedrals – mosaic
Different designers worked on all the windows. Such different styles.
Stairs out of the castle leading to Charles Bridge
On the right is the building where our apartment was.
We went out for dinner across the road at Golem

Our street and our apartment door.

That’s Prague – we are off to Budapest now.

Thanks for reading this. And commenting.

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4 December 2023 – Prague

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We had to get to the Phone shop today so that was the first priority despite the temperature of -9℃. The sun shone today and the buildings’ gold shone brightly. The city looked much more beautiful in the sun than in the snow. Again the walk to the shop took much longer than expected – but the snow was hazardous and some had melted so there were patches of footpath mosaic squares about 5cm x 5cm in various colours and I would say it is probably granite. It makes it easier to stay upright and not slip, which makes life a lot easier.

The original pavement on the streets of the Old Town and Lesser Town and Hradčany was made of quartzite. Simply put, sandstone has metamorphosed in such a way that its dominant component is quartz. This composition makes this stone hard but brittle.

https://www.ourbeautifulprague.com/what-is-the-prague-pavement-named-after/

Later, granite, which is more robust and has a rougher surface, was used to pave the streets so it’s not slippery after raining, like quartzite paving. The early paving was laid in a semicircular grid but later in a parallel grid.

Czech Christmas FYI
Old Town Square, Astological Clock and Market Stalls.
Anywhere you cant see the stones, that would be ice and snow.

Lunch was at an Italian Restaurant with a very unassuming entrance. We got inside and there were heaps of tables full of people. Bit heavy on the salt but the meal was tasty.

Later for dinner, we went on a river cruise. It was great fun. The food was good, and we had some Americans on our table and they were amazing. So much fun to hang out with – we may even see them in Budapest.

So there were two musicians, a guitarist, and a violinist. They played tunes from my era and were received well by the assembled group.

Photos from the boat were not great due to the illumination of the sights with bright lights shining towards the river. But, I did what I could.

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1 December 2023 Berlin to Prague by train 2 December 2023 Prague Old Town.

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We decided to book first-class ticket to Prague and happened to walk past the first-class lounge at the station. So we flashed our ticket and asked if we qualified to go in. We were very pleased to have the opportunity to get out of the cold. We had about an hour before we had to go to the platform. It was warm and cosy and there was free coffee

1st Class lounge

Once we left there it was down 3 escalators to get to track one. We had seats allocated to us So we got on – with the help of strangers, and pushed our cases down the aisle to stow on the racks near the toilets at the end of the carriage. But, someone was in our seats – so instead of arguing with total strangers we found empty seats in the same vicinity and settled in.

The train ride was a nice change from all the bits and pieces we had been looking at and doing in Berlin. Enjoyed Berlin a lot and realised, as usual, when you go to a place you have never been to, it is hard not to want to stay longer and see more.

So we had four and a half hours of ‘downtime’ and it was delightful.

Then we had to plan our arrival in Prague. We had been asked by our apartment owner if we wanted to be collected by taxi and brought home by him at an already agreed price. We said yes, please and were very glad to have him. We had a long walk to the end of the platform to get to the wheelchair ramp, otherwise, we would have had to walk our cases down the stairs. So, we came in about 8 minutes late, walked as far away as possible, and then had to go back and look for Burger King because that was where we were meeting our taxi man. I asked the first young guy I saw – “Burger King” he looked at me – I mimed eating a burger, he got it and said, “That way – left”. He was right. I thanked him and we continued our journey.

It was slightly cool to find the taxi driver, holding up my name, all three names, one under the other, on an A4 sheet of paper. His English was not good, but we got by and he was very strong. lifting the cases like they were hand luggage. It was very impressive.

So, it was pretty cool (temperature) when we arrived and the streets were covered in snow, and snowing.

The first outing was to the convenience store across the road where we spent 336.00 CZK which was at the time about $22. Just to grab some food for tea and breakfast. Lasagne seemed safe. It was.

2nd December

The next day we decided to have lunch at Hard Rock Cafe. It was great fun. Good food and then we continued our journey to the supermarket.

Today we started to wander a little further afield and discovered that Google’s 8 minutes equates to 30 minutes when there is snow, Christmas Markets and people who don’t stay home when it snows or is freezing out. They were everywhere and at one stage we were moving down an alleyway as per Google’s instructions on our trip to the supermarket. The lane was narrow and we walked bunched up without any gaps. We moved in opposite directions very slowly but eventually, we were expelled at the end of the tunnel and continued our journey only hindered by ice, snow and more people travelling in different directions.

We made it to our destination and back unscathed. Wet feet though, so shoe drying tonight. Ready for tomorrow.

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30 November 2023 Little look around Berlin

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We only had today to ‘finish’ our trip around Berlin and we didn’t get to do the tour we had booked – long story, so we had to do it ourselves.

So we started with Brandenburg Tor – scaffolding and all. It has a long history.

The Quadriga was placed on top of the Brandenburg Gate by Johann Gottfried Schadow in 1793. The sculpture, depicting a two-wheeled chariot pulled by four horses running side by side, was meant to symbolize peace entering the city. Berlin.de
Branadenberg Gate with construction
Brandenburg Gate. (2023, November 22). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandenburg_Gate

That is what it is supposed to be like – just a bit snowier on the day we were there.

The memorial for the murdered Jews of Europe

After the very thought provoking and silent memorial we meandered on while enjoying the crunch of icy snow under our feet, we found an Italian restaurant La Viva del Muro (the life of the wall) very apt considering its location. But if you are going there for a pasta or other dish – remember that they will charge you €6.50 for a bottle of still water.

La Viva del Muro interior
La Viva del Muro interior

Then we headed for Checkpoint Charlie which is now, right in the middle of Friedrichstraße in Mitte. Not very far from our apartment but too far to walk.

Checkpoint Charlie – with me in the middle

Checkpoint Charlie is definitely at tourist destination , but it really looks incongruous in the ‘centre’ of a Main Street with Macdonalds on one side and fashion houses on the other. I pictured it on a bridge. But I guess it’s been moved?? Maybe that was just the movies.

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/nov/13/the-controversial-plan-to-redevelop-checkpoint-charlie

We took the obligatory photos and then went into the Ubahnhof station Kochstraẞe. Then three stops to U Oranienburger Tor, from there we popped out of the ground and walked across the road to the tram stop and went 5 stops to our stop which was Rosenthaler Straẞe 72.

The app I downloaded on the first or second day was very easy to understand once I got the hang of it. It’s just that the names of the stations and locations are so long it is hard to remember them. But we felt so good working it out and getting to where we needed to be without having to walk everywhere.

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29th November 2023 – Berlin – Snow Day

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Well, not in the true sense of the expression. It is so light and fluffy that no change to anyone’s activities. So, it’s not a lockdown experience. But it is fun to watch it float all over the place, and in the window when we opened it to look at it up close.

Snow from our apartment in Berlin.

This travelling business can be tiring and also if the weather decides to be very cold or snowy, then sometimes a ‘day off’ is required to catch up on domestic tasks and rest. So we declared it a snow day and stayed home.

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28 November 2023 – Christmas Markets

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Well we caught the M1 Tram to Bebelplatz. 7 Stops to Universitätsstr, then walked 400 metres to the Gendarmenmarkt Christmas Market around 4 this afternoon. 0C – so not too bad.

This is the site of the first Nazi book burning on May 5th 1933. Below the square is a set of white empty bookshelves (an installation by Micha Ullman, 1995) which could house over 20 000 books which represents the number of books burnt, written by people who were independent authors, journalists, philosophers and academics. Blacklisted authors included Sigmund Freud, Erich Kästner, Karl Marx Rosa Luxemburg, August Babel. Many of the vilified and persecuted writers had already left Germany and gone into exile. Visitiberlin.de

We paid €2 to get in and we wandered around looking at really lovely stuff. There was an enclosed pavilion with a large number of stalls under the heading of Art and Crafts.. It was so much warmer inside. There was also a bar where there were crowds of people looking very comfortable. I really enjoy the patience the Germans have shown me, mostly, when I speak English to them. I usually try to speak German first, but after I have been spoken to and don’t understand, they switch to English and carry on like that’s normal. I am so impressed and thankful.

Then came the Gluewein – beautifully hot red wine in a mug you could hold in your cold hands. Very tasty , very warming. We had to pay a deposit on the mug and so we could then wander around with it and keep it if we didn’t want the refund. We returned ours. We found some Germans who asked if we were English. When we told them Australian they told us of their journey to Oz including Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide. Of course we admonished them for failing to cross the desert to our city. It was a very convivial interaction and the gentleman’s wife took photos for us, after we had taken some for them.

After the markets we caught a taxi back to our street and wandered around the corner to a lovely Greek Restaurant called Apló Greek Kitchen and Foods. We had a lovely dinner and now it’s time for a movie.

Another good day.

Apló Greek Kitchen and Foods

Where have you been?