A Tale Of Two Cities

Thursday, it was Valentines Day. I was to be picked up by a taxi at 9:30 AM to be taken to the place that provides the tours. I got ready and went downstairs to wait for the taxi. About 10 minutes passed and the taxi arrived. I had my backpack with me because I didn’t want to leave the laptop in the hotel room.  It was 2 degrees celcius and raining so it wasn’t an ideal day for a walking tour, but rain has never really bothered me before.  I got in the taxi and we drove to the place. I was taking in the surroundings as we drove.  If I haven’t mentioned this before, Budapest is a beautiful city.

The taxi dropped me off at the tour centre which is behind the opera house in Budapest. Hungary was part of the former region known as Yugoslavia. I am not sure when Communism ended here in Hungary, but they seem to be about 30 or 40 years ahead of Romania in terms of progress. As with most of Eastern Europe though, it has plenty of problems with organised crime.

I entered the office of the tour company ‘Budapest Discovery Tours’. The girl at the reception desk greets me and I look around. There are some post cards and all around the entire office are bookshelves filled with books. The tour didn’t start until 10:00 AM. After a few minutes, a girl arrived. She worked there because she knew everybody in the office. She introduced herself to me. “I am Petra and I will be your guide today”, she said. I said “I am Kevin and I will be your customer today”. She laughed.

After about 5 minutes 2 elderly British couples entered the office. They looked around and Petra introduced herself to them.  They introduced themselves to me and one of the guys started a conversation about cricket with me. Obviously the ‘Ashes’ series is to commence soon and he wanted to let me know all about the fact that England will probably win it. For those of you who don’t know cricket, the Ashes is a test series that is played between England and Australia every 2 years I think. They play for a trophy which is an urn that contains the ashes of the bails that were burned after the very first cricket test match between Australia and England.

So off we went on our tour, Petra took particular interest in me and made a lot of conversation. We talked a lot while we walked. She told us all the facts about each place she took us and showed us. She knew the city well and all the historical information. I am surprised that the majority of these buildings are still intact after World War 2.

We started with the Opera House and across the street is the Ballet School. Both buildings were classic style and very nice. We then went on the underground. The underground in Budapest is nice. I was expecting it to be packed, but there was only a handful of people on the platform. The stations are nice and clean. The platforms are short and that is because the trains are only a few cars long. A train was leaving as we arrived. There is a train every 5 minutes so we didn’t have to wait long for another.

We got on the train and rode it for 3 stops. The train was not overcrowded. There are not many seats and we had to stand, but it was not bad. The trains are clean too. Once we got off the train Petra told us that we had just gone from one end of the street to the other on the subway. It was the longest road in Budapest. At this end is the Hero Square. A monument to remember the kings and other important people in Hungary’s history. It was very cold by now and the rain had started falling again.

After that we walked around to Szechenyi Baths, which is a big complex that houses natural thermal springs. It is like a public pool but with hot water. The Hungarians believe it improves their health. There are many interesting statues and figures scattered throughout the city. Petra then showed us a small castle in a park in the middle of Budapest and then we got on the subway again to get to St Stephens Basillica. Before we reached the Basillica we stopped at a place called the Strudel House for 2 strudels and a drink which was included in the price of the tour.

After seeing the Basillica we walked to the Chain Bridge and over to the other city. After we crossed the chain bridge we walked up a steep staircase across that leads up to Castle Hill and Budapest Castle. Then Petra left us there to fend for ourselves. I walked around a little and took some photos and bought some souveneirs. Then I found a taxi and went back to the hotel. The taxi cost me 5000 Forints ($22.00 AUD).

I got back to the hotel and chatted with with Miss C online for awhile. I bought some beers and then just relaxed. The next day I will leave for Prague at 11:15 AM. The train trip from Budapest to Prague takes 6 hours. I am travelling through the day so no sleeper required this time. Budapest is an amazing city and very laidback and peaceful. I could definitely feel comfortable living here.