A little of fact, Budapest is located in Hungary in case anyone doesn't know :)
Me and Jia Ning, from China, took a euronight train on the 10th Dec 8pm from Berlin to Budapest. The trip took 13hrs and luckily, I've booked a sleeper car for us. When I boarded the train, the seats aren't like those in ICE. We got ourselves a 6 bed sleeper and we got the top beds, which had more head space and cabin space where we can put our bags. What more cool, breakfast is included :) 1 bread and 1 box of orange juice, if I can still recall.
We arrived in Budapest in the morning, took a train to look for our hostel. The train system in Budapest is quite similar like the one in Prague. It is very very deep down into the ground. And their escalator in the train station is at top speed. I had to be very cautious each time I take the escalator. I was wondering if Malaysia's LRT escalator was at that kind of speed, even the PM will fall down. haha!
the lightings @ Budapest train station. Artistic right?
And so, when we reach our hostel, we spend some time finding the correct door and waiting for the owner to come to pass us the key. However, we were unable to check in yet since it was still 10am, as the check in time is 2pm. So we left our luggage at the bar downstairs and head to walk around.
Our hostel room
It's a house with 3rooms which the owner turn it into hostel
Big bathroom
The billboard just outside our hostel
The hostel area is a strategic place whereby it's just next to the Budapest highstreet. LV, Burberry, all the luxury brands. The national theater is located there as well. And we got ourselves tickets for concert for the next night. It was incredibly cheap. approx 4euro! Compare to the concert darling and I watched in Vienna, it was 36euro!
Budapest Concert Hall
So back to topic, it was snowing the whole day. We went to the places of interest based on the map given by the hostel owner, which I've forgotten his name... The first stop, St Stephen Basilica.
The Relic of The Saint's right hand
On the way to the next square, I got myself some snacks. Caviar~~
I had a fall at the square area due to slippery floor with thick snow...
After that, we head to their famous Parliament. It was so damn cold and we had to find a coffee shop to hide while waiting for the time to visit the Parliament. Our shoes were so damp and I can feel the chill in my feet.
Front view of Budapest's Parliament
One of their many statues of Communists history
Holocaust in Budapest. Different in style with the Berlin one
Funny looking spoon :)
For sure it was less than 0 centigrade but didn't find out what is the grade though. A little drama when we visiting the Parliament. Supposedly, the parliament is giving a limited number of ticket free but when we were there, the guards told us the tickets were finished. When we were about to walk away, 2 ladies told us that there are a tour to go in and just pay some money. Weird isn't it! Nonetheless, we decided to pay to get in, since it's with a guide.
Kim dang dang! Made from real gold, benefited from Habsburg monarchy. Thanks to Sisi the queen of course.
The tray for the politicians to put their cigars. It's made from real gold
Parliament - house of debate
And so, after the parliament, we head to the chain bridge by walking. Well, we didn't manage to figure out the tram line in Budapest, so we can only walk and walk for long long distance. It was indeed super duper cold. And the snow is still heavy...
Me @ Chain Bridge
Yes, we walked in this kind of situation
Then we walked across to bridge to get to the palace of Budapest. We had to take a funicular train uphill. The snow continues to pour in heavily like nobody's business. Every night when we went back to our hostel, we need to dry our shoes with hair dryer and put in under/ above the heater.
look nice right?
see how heavy is the snow?
the palace
the snow was already very thick and it was still snowing heavily
This is a very long blog, so I shall break it into 2 parts. Stay tune!
