It's all started with my hobby to look for cheap plane tickets, and I found a really cheap deal 70euro return flight from Amsterdam-Budapest and Budapest-Eindhoven. But here's the catch, the flight is early flight (07.20am) on Friday, and our flight back to NL is around 10.00am the next morning. So, with my crazy backpacker mentality we (me and my partner in crime, this time is sisca and michelle) decided to sleep at the airport.
We meet up at Schiphol airport around midnight, too bad the boarding area is already close by then so we have to wait until it opens again at 3am. So we decided to go to the 2nd floor and we found a little corner to sleep.
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| Sleeping in Airport |
It took around 2 hours with the plane from Amsterdam to Budapest. We arrived at 9ish. Don't worry if you don't have a map or anything, you can take a map at the airport, and it's handy if you have your atm card, so you can go to the ATM to take your HUF, it's cheaper than going to money exchange office. First stop is the post office that located on the 2nd floor, because we need to buy the transportation ticket to go to city center. If you travel in group it's cheaper to buy the 24hour group card, can be used up to 5 person (3300HUF), because 24hour ticket for 1 person cost 1500HUF. You can use it for tram bus or metro.
So we arrived sleepily in Budapest, our goal for today is just sight seeing. Like Prague, Budapest is also full of buildings with gothic architecture. This city used to be Buda and Pest which divided by danube river. But since 1837 they were united and became Budapest.
We start our journey by visiting citadel. Citadella is the Hungarian word for Citadel, a kind of fortress. The word Citadella is exclusively used by other languages to address the Citadel located upon the top of the strategic Gellért Hill in Budapest. To go there we have to cross the river and go to Buda area, and climb Gellert Hill. It was quite an effort to get there but the view from up there was so stunning and breath taking. You can see the whole Budapest from up there.
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| Green Bridge |
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| Danube River |
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| Citadel |
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| View From Citadel |
From citadel we continued our journey to see Buda Castle. Buda Castle is the historical castle and palace complex of the Hungarian kings in Budapest, and was first completed in 1265. In the past, it has been called Royal Palace and Royal Castle.
Buda Castle was built on the southern tip of Castle Hill, bounded on the north by what is known as the Castle District (Várnegyed), which is famous for its Medieval, Baroque, and 19th-century houses, churches, and public buildings. It is linked to Clark Ádám Square and the Széchenyi Chain Bridge by the Castle Hill Funicular.
The castle is a part of the Budapest World Heritage Site, which was declared a Heritage Site in 1987. Like every castle I've visited, they located mostly uphill. But don't worry, you can just take a tram to go up there, but yes you have to pay extra. 1000 HUF if I'm not mistaken, but yeah the weather was cold and windy so we didn't have any energy to hike for the second time.
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| Train to go Upthere |
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| Buda Castle |
Located in the same area we also visited Matthias Church. This church has an unique colorful rooftop. It was originally built in Romanesque style in 1015. The current building was constructed in the florid late Gothic style in the second half of the 14th century and was extensively restored in the late 19th century. It was the second largest church of medieval Buda and the seventh largest church of medieval Hungarian Kingdom. Next to the church there's Fisherman's Bastion. The Bastion takes its name from the guild of fishermen that was responsible for defending this stretch of the city walls in the Middle Ages. It is a viewing terrace, with many stairs and walking paths.
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| Matthias Church |
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| Stephen 1 of Hungary & Fisherman's Bastion |
The weather was really cold and windy, we ran out of energy, so we made a pit-stop at one of the famous fast food restaurant K*C, and apparently the soft drink there was free flow, so we sit there, try to warm up and enjoy "free" drinks. After we recharge our energy we walk our way along the river bank, to see the "Shoes on the Danube Promenade". It's a memorial place to honors the Jews who were killed during world war II.
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| Shoes on the Danube Promenade |
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| Chain Bridge |
We closed our journey that day with St Stephen's Basilica. A roman catholic church build in 1905 and named after Stephen, the first king of Hungary. It is the third largest church building in Hungary. The conclusion is Budapest was quite fun, with cheap accommodation. But the weather during the winter can be pretty challenging, with strong cold wind. As an Indonesian, I always get sick when there's a strong wind (what so called "Masuk Angin"). As I said before, we didn't book any hotel, so after we finished walking around, we went back to the airport, and found some arm-less bench where we can lay down and recharge our energy.
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| Night in Budapest |
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| St Stephen's Basilica |
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| Partner in Crime |
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| Budapest |