Central Europe Day 1: Budapest

Meagan, Pam and I met in Philadelphia to board our international flight to Budapest. After an 8 hour flight we finally arrived and were eager to stretch our legs. We passed through Passport Control and were met by a man holding a sign with my name on it. He helped load up our bags into his car and took us directly to our hotel in Budapest. The Casati Hotel was centrally located, tucked away on Paulay Ede Utca (street). Our room was modern and spacious with a small balcony attached. It was large enough to include a sitting room, which spoiled us right off the bat! Since we arrived before the room was ready, we stored our luggage and took to the streets, each of us jet-lagged.

Pamela was our navigator and she didn't miss a beat! She often referred to a Rick Steves guide book as well as our instruction booklet from Go Real Europe. It wasn't long before we were calling her "Little Ricky", much to her dismay. We explored Andrassy Utca, a large shopping street, where we exchanged dollars for Forints and found a cafe for coffee and a sandwich.

Next, we made our way to St. Stephen's square where we toured St. Stephen's Basilica. Stephen was the first king of Hungary (975-1038). He was baptized in the Christian church and was sainted after his death. He is the patron saint of Hungry whose saint's day is celebrated on August 20. Supposedly his right hand is preserved for all to see in the reliquary of the church. (We opted not to see this.) We did, however, pay to go to the top of the basilica where we saw stunning views of the city.

After finally checking into our room and freshening up, we made our way to the Danube to purchase tickets for the 5:00 day cruise down the river. This was a wonderful introduction to the city as we saw many landmarks from the Pest side of the city as well as the Buda side. The Pest side was more modern, dating from the 19th and 20th centuries, while the Buda side held older landmarks that were still preserved, such as the fortress and abbey. The highlight of the cruise though, was the glass of cold beer and red wine they served us, followed by fresh-squeezed lemonade. The beverages and the cool breeze from the river refreshed our weary, jet-lagged bodies. It was just what we needed!

We ended the day by having dinner at the Kisharang Etkézde restaurant where we enjoyed the typical local specialties of mushroom goulash and chicken paprikas. Then it was early to bed!