Our first full day in Budapest! We decided to start with the Buda side of the city and explore the royal palace. It was a yogurt and granola breakfast day then we set out into the bright sunshine and heat to explore. A short bus ride across the Danube dropped us at the bottom of the castle hill, at a completely different side of the castle than we saw yesterday. A series of stairs and lifts brought us out in the middle of a building that seemed to be half offices and half museum. Odd but informative.
The display there outlined the 1000+ years of history for the castle from King Steven (now Saint King Steven) through the Mongol raids, the Ottoman occupation, and the incredible destruction in both world wars. It was my kind of museum exhibit: 2-3 sentences of information that was right to the point and supported by a visual aid (map, sketch, photograph, etc.) Best of all was the fact that we had the entire place to ourselves.
With this modicum of knowledge, we started to wander the grounds. The main thing that the palace seems to be known for is the sweeping views from the hill across the Danube. And they are spectacular. It just seems odd that the most famous building in Buda is all about the view of Pest. Out along the castle walls we found the hoards of tourists with their selfie sticks (I didn’t even know they were still a thing!) so it was time for a little more learning.
We bought tickets for St Stephen’s Hall, traditionally one of the most important rooms in the palace and recently refurbished. It was a pretty impressive display of Baroque-inspired idolatry with the saint and his retinue captured in goal leaf. (Aside: there was a holographic rendering of what historians now believe Stephen looked like and it reminded me of Graham Chapman in Monty Python and the Holy Grail!)
More interesting for us was the exhibit on the history of the city which laid out all the major changes that both Buda and Pest (and others) had been through in the last 1000 years. Similar to the castle history outline, this exhibit went through the settlement and migration patterns of the inhabitants of the city at the various eras of history. And there is a lot of information about the destruction of the city that accompanied the regime changes. Frank noted that Budapest seemed to blow up more often than a Spinal Tap drummer (aren’t we just full of pop culture references today!) This exhibit had much more information on the city’s changes post-WWII under the communist regime. It was interesting to compare that to what we learned in Bratislava.
Another interesting display was on the reconstruction plans that the castle is in the midst of. Whilst walking about the grounds, you can’t help but notice that everything is under construction. It is quite annoying to try to get some historical zen on when there are jackhammers going all around you. But we learned there is method in the madness and the work is part of a massive plan to reconstruct the palace and surrounding buildings from the war damage and neglect of the last half century. Pretty ambitious to be fair.
Wandering through all the construction was a bit of a challenge but we managed to get to the other main building of interest: the Matthias Church. Classical gothic architecture outside, amazing almost Moorish decor inside. It reminded me of some of the churches we visited in Spain several years ago. I couldn’t help but wonder if there was some influence from the 150 years of Turkish occupation in the decor. So no stained glass here but it definitely wasn’t necessary.
After a full morning wandering, the sun was taking its toll so it was time to say goodbye to Buda and return to Pest. We carried our Spanish memories to lunch where we found a lovely cafe with paella, sangria, and misting fans! Then more wandering around this side of the city before we needed a respite from the heat and headed back to the flat to hydrate and soak up some AC.
The real attraction of the day was yet to come: a Hungarian cooking class! We would be learning how to make cold sour cherry soup, chicken paprikash and Grundel pancakes. Marti – our instructor – was amazing, and coincidentally also Coeliac so GF was not a problem. We were joined by a young couple from Perth, Australia who had other food issues so we definitely covered a great deal of the allergy spectrum!
But the experience was amazing and the food spectacular! As we chopped onions and peppers, we learned about Hungarian cooking traditions, the different types of paprika, and other interesting culinary tidbits. We flipped pancakes and melted chocolate. And made homemade spaetzle! The sour cherry soup was delicious and the chicken paprikash simply amazing. The Grundel pancakes were like crepes filled with a walnut and raisin cream then fried before being smothered in dark chocolate sauce. We got to taste palinka (sour cherry brandy) and both red and white Hungarian wines. We had fantastic conversations with our new cooking friends. By the end of the evening we practically needed to roll down the street to get home.
Data for today:
- Steps: 17,375
- Construction sites navigated: 6
- Calories consumed: definitely not even guessing
The Cannon Family's travel blog 