Budapest!
Like Vienna, Budapest is a sprawling metropolis, a busy city with lots of charm and lots to see. I think that Budapest has a couple of factors that give it a very different feel though.
Its location, with its cities of Buda and Pest joined by the Szechenyi Bridge, create a united Budapest via the River Danube - itself a large part of the city's identity.
Its accessibility also sets it apart from Vienna and other large cities; despite its size, its attractions can all be reached on foot, though there are buses, trams and a metro system joining its districts should you want to use it.
I immediately loved Budapest. Arriving in the evening and seeing the city lit up gave it a very playful feel, with its ferris wheel (we couldn't resist), riverboats, and the charming old town of Buda up on Castle Hill across the Danube. I couldn't help but be drawn in to its romance.
The following morning, after a good night's sleep, we decided to walk down Andrassy Ut, a boulevard often compared to the Champs Elysee in Paris and recognised as a World Heritage Site in 2002, along with the millenium underground railway that runs its length, and Heroes Square. The length of Andrassy Ut is lined with spectacular neo-renaissance mansions and townhouses, many now embassies, and grand squares built in the late 19th century to link the Varosliget, the large public city park, with the centre of the city.
We took the metro to the park, walking back past the Szechenyi Spa, through the tree-lined avenues of the park and past its Vajdahunyad-ver, a romantic, fantasy pastiche castle showcasing the architectural evolution of Hungary and set beside its own lake. Once through the park, we came to Heroes' Square, with its huge semi-circular Millennium Monument and Stone of Heroes set in a vast pedestrian-only square at the head of Andrassy Ut.
Then began the 6km walk that would lead us through the Pest District towards the banks of the Danube. There was certainly a lot to see: in the first quarter alone, the art galleries and museums off Heroes Square, the Franz Liszt academy of music and the House of Terror, not a fairground ride but an exhibition related to the fascist and communist regimes in 20th century Hungary. Then we came to Kodaly Korond, a square (or more accurately a circus) with beautiful painted buildings at each corner and statues of four of Hungary's great heroes who defended the city from the Ottomans.
Further along and the Pest Broadway is a Square junction with four theatres at its corners, followed by university buildings and the State Opera House. In between all of these notable buildings are grand houses and garden fronted palaces, and its intersections lead to other great boulevards such as The Grand Boulevard at Oktogon.
Arriving at the Danube, we decided to continue across Elisabeth Bridge to Buda, making a slight detour to climb to the memorial of Elisabeth of Bavaria on Gellert Hill to see the views of the city. Descending to Castle Hill, and after a well earned drink in one of the many bars, we wandered the winding cobblestone streets taking in Buda Castle, the Castle Hill Funicular, Fisherman's Bastion and Matthias Church, before weaving our way back down to the waterfront at Szechenyi Bridge.
Local history tells us that, for centuries, the cities of Buda and Pest stood separated by the Danube, but that in December 1820, Count Istvan Szechenyi found himself stranded on the Buda side unable to reach his dying father due to the bad weather. He vowed to build a permanent bridge, which he did; It took him 50 years, but the 'Chain Bridge' played a large part in facilitating the union of Buda and Pest.
Unfortunately we were unable to continue our walk across the bridge as it was closed for renovation, so crossed via metro, underneath the river instead.
This is probably a good time to mention the metro system, the oldest electrified underground railway system in mainland Europe.
Line 1, which was completed in 1896, runs directly underneath Andrassy Ut, and is wonderfully untouched, probably due to the lack of funding throughout the communist years. Most of its stations are characterised by a liberty style, retaining their original tiling and wooden panelling, and some of the escalators still have their wooden footboards. If you are lucky, you may be treated to a ride in one of the original carriages which still run alongside the newer ones
Earlier I mentioned The Szechenyi Spa, and the next day we decided to treat ourselves to a visit.
There have been spa baths in Budapest since roman times and there are half a dozen public spas to choose from close to the city centre, but Szechenyi are the most famous and grand. Set in a richly decorated, purpose built (in 1913) palace, there are three large outdoor pools and a further 15 smaller indoor pools, all heated to between 30 and 40 degrees by natural hot spring water - heavenly. There are also steam rooms and saunas as well as spa treatments should you want them.
After a relaxing couple of hours exploring the pools, we continued our treasure hunt in Budapest making our way to St Stephen's Basillica, the neoclassical Roman Catholic cathedral set in its own square. Built on the site of an earlier theatre, it is one of the two tallest buildings in Budapest, equal in height with the parliament buildings. We spent half an hour inside, finding St Stephen's hand 'the Holy right' inside a golden reliquary, looking at the fine artworks covering every surface and admiring it's huge dome before beginning our ascent to the viewing platform. There is a lift, but climbing the 363 steps earns you the views and also gives you insight into the structure of the building; the first part of the journey took us up a dizzying spiral staircase to the treasury, a collection of liturgical artefacts - and a chance to catch our breath. A metal staircase then zig-zagged further upwards giving us views of the structure of the dome before we exited onto the viewing platform that circles the dome giving panoramic views. It was actually quite a surprise to see the city stretching out so far in all directions, as Budapest does feel much smaller and intimate than it actually is.
That evening we gave our feet a rest for an hour and took a trip on one of the many river cruise boats, a lovely way to see the city in the evening, Buda and Pest lit up on either side of the Danube with the most spectacular sight being the iconic parliament building, lit up so brightly that birds could be seen flying around it's towers.
We spent our final morning mooching around the little back streets in Pest, exploring the artdeco Market with it's sloping floor, which makes you feel a little bit drunk, and eating Hungarian goulash for lunch, before heading to the airport for the next stage of our journey.
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