Budapest, Hungary - Day 1

Budapest, Hungary

February 27, 2010

J. had three days off in a row (!!!) so we decided to set out to explore a new city! We actually found out on Friday afternoon that he had the time off, so I got on the computer and planned our entire trip in only a few hours! We left early the next morning on a flight to Hungary!

Upon our arrival in Budapest, a car from the hotel picked us up and brought us to the hotel. Palazzo Zichy - it was a beautiful hotel! I got a great deal (probably because it was so last minute) we really enjoyed the "refuge" of this wonderful hotel!

We had a difficult time with the money here. At the airport, we exchanged about 250 euros and got over 42,000 HF (Hungarian Franks). It was so weird to see a bill for food come to 3,500... we never really got the hang of this conversion. Budapest was a fairly cheap place (even though the numbers were ginoumous) , our meals (including drinks) came to between 20 and 25 euros - not bad!! J with a 20,000 HF bill! Probably the only 20,000 bill we will ever hold!

After checking into the hotel, we set out to explore the city and orient ourselves. Budapest is actually two cities Buda and Pest - they are separated by the Danube River. Our hotel was on the Pest side, so we spent most of our time on that side of the river.

We stopped by a fun bar called the "For Sale Bar" for a taste of Hungarian Beer and a snack. The bar's ceilings, walls and even floors were covered with business cards from people who are selling things and for sale notes left by people from all around the world! It was a fun place!

That evening we went to a Hungarian dance concert. It was SO fun! The dancers did the traditional dances from different regions of Hungary. The dancing was very unique! It involved a lot of jumping, stomping, clapping, slapping and snapping. They did a lot of "rhythm play" using different parts of their body and costumes to make different sounds. It was a fun, fun show!

After the show, we went on a dinner boat cruise on the Danube River. It was absolutely beautiful!! I think the city is most beautiful by night. The buildings were sparking and the bridges shone.

They served traditional Hungarian food, which tasted really good! It was a fun, fun night!

It was hard to take pictures that on a moving boat at night, since our camera needs to be really still, but we thought this one turned out well. It is a view of the Chain Bridge with the Buda Castle in the background. What a sight!