Budapest

November 2, 2010









Budapest

The day after Fantasy Fest was completed my life took a turn from the ridiculous to the sublime, as I left behind the craziness of Key West and boarded a plane bound for Budapest, Hungary via Atlanta & Paris. My mother Marta, was born in Hungary and has wanted me to see her homeland my entire life, but circumstances just haven’t made it happen until now.

Arriving in Budapest





In honor of my mother’s birthday, a close friend had rented Marta an apartment in Budapest for a month and as my own present to her, I decided to finally make the journey and join her for her final week in Hungary. The apartment that Marta rented is located in the heart of the Pest side of Danube and is with-in an easy walk of most of the most celebrated attractions that the beautiful city has to offer.







In all of my travels, I try to live the philosophy of a traveler rather than a tourist, meaning that I always try as much as possible to blend in to the culture of the place that I find myself. This is not always possible or practical, which is why Marta & I found ourselves aboard the Hop on/ Hop off tourist bus that makes a continuous loop around Budapest, stopping at all of the most famous sites and attractions of the city on my first day in town.







As touristy as the bus line is, it also offers a tremendous overview of the lay-out and attractions of the city and offers easy access to many of them in a short time frame. Much like the Conch Tour Train in Key West, there is no quicker, more hideously perfect way to get acclimated. We were thus able to visit both the Pest and Buda sides of the Danube including the stunning views of the river and the Pest side.





After making a complete tour, we decided to disembark and begin actually exploring the city in depth, getting off at the beautiful city park. There we looked at the statue’s at Hero’s Square where one of our distant ancestors from the Kendefy side of my mother’s family is featured in a huge statue. Arpad- the King of the Magyars.







The park is an amazing oasis in the urban landscape of Budapest that includes beautiful wooded paths, a recreated castle, a couple of museums, a circus, amusement park, an amazing bath house and of course the zoo and botanical gardens. Before exploring the park, Marta & I decided to have lunch at the one of the finest restaurants in the city, the famous Gundel’s. Marta used to come to the elegant Gundel’s for lunch on Sunday afternoons with her parents more than 60 years ago and it still maintains its reputation as one of the most splendorous restaurants in Hungary.







After lunch, we headed to the zoo and botanical gardens, to enjoy the spectacular fall weather and the wonderful collection of animals featured there. It was a great afternoon that was followed up in the evening with a nighttime boat cruise on the Danube, where we were able to enjoy the incredible cityscape all light up while cruising the river.







Our final stop of Day 1 was another of the haunts from my mother’s youth and another historic Budapest attraction the amazing Gerbeaud’s confectionary, where we enjoyed delightful coffee and pastries in a setting that has not changed much in over 100
years.







Gundel's Restaurant

Budapest Zoo