Who’s Hungary after Christmas?

I’ve come to realize that the day after Christmas is kind of like a hangover.  Usually the whole day is spent recovering from the previous day’s gluttony and realizing that normal days are kind of boring.  But this year we definitely avoided the December 26^th hangover when we set off with the family for Budapest.  Our stay was only 3 short days but we had an incredible time enjoying life along the Danube.

After checking into our centrally located hotel we caught a quick meal at one of those touristy Hungarian-Italian places.  Some had their favorite meal here, but unfortunately my lasagna wasn’t one of them. 

The chicken paprikash on the right was one of the 'favorites'

The daylight disappeared so quickly that our first walk around the city was in the dark.  But we quickly realized the charm of Budapest is at night when the whole city lights up (at least around Christmas time, which is the extent of our exposure).  Unlike Munich, Budapest continues the Christmas markets and light displays after Christmas.  Additionally, just about every beautiful building is illuminated at night in a dramatic golden yellow light. 

Please note that Julie handles all blog photos... hence the inclusion of the misspelled 'foot massage' sign

After some crappy souvenir shopping, our group of 7 split up and Julie and I headed for the river to get in some nighttime photography.  We saw the famous bridges and buildings along the Danube before the rain pushed us back to the hotel earlier than we wanted. 

We dried off and regrouped for our late night stop at the brilliant New York Café.  Trust me - these photographs don’t even do this place justice.  This is an absolute must-see in Budapest. 

We started the next day with a tour of Europe’s largest synagogue – the Dohány Street Synagogue.  Actually this is the only active Synagogue we have toured in Europe because the rest of them are either closed to visitors or were closed because of opening hours.  It was particularly interesting to learn about the controversial organ piano which can only be played by a Christian as not to violate the Shabbat rules (although the Orthodox Jews have other reasons to disagree). 

I bought the dreidel at the gift shop

Me and Seth (grammar be damned - that is the order of us in the photo)

After a disappointing falafel lunch (note to self, cheap eats don’t translate to good eats) we split ways with Gary and Sandy (who set off after the HoHo bus).  We took a stroll through the Jewish quarter and down to the big Central Market.  The market and its low quality souvenirs were a bit disappointing to us, but perhaps we have been spoiled by the lavish markets of Istanbul (I know….we are huge travel snobs now).  

At this point our feet hurt.  So we went back to the hotel, caught a cab, and went for a dip in the famous Gellert baths. 

For dinner we went out for some amazing Italian food at the Trattoria Toscana.  Julie’s calzone came out puffed up with hot air, the size of a basketball, and caught the entire restaurant’s attention.  And my Mom’s tomato soup….well she claimed this was one of the best meals of her life.  Seth ordered lobster fresh out of the fish tank, but then dodged a bullet when after hearing him say that the lobster was cheaper than the pasta, Julie informed him the price in the menu was actually the price per 100g ( he had ordered about 600g).  The waiter didn’t make it very far before Seth grabbed him to swap his lobster order for ravioli.  But still I’m proud to be the brother of a guy who almost ordered lobster.  After dinner us kids went out for drinks and closed out a bar….just before midnight! 

The next day we did some more city touring and made stops at Heroes’ Square, the Opera House and St. Stephen’s Basilica. 

Heroes' Square

Opera House, me modeling my bro belt outside the Opera House (again... Julie manages the photos)

St. Stephen's Basilica

We barely scratched the surface when it was time to play Trap!  Although not something that screams typical Budapest, this game was a major highlight for us kids who put together an awesome, almost record breaking team.  Basically, you are locked into a room and have to figure your way out.  I don’t want to write any spoilers, but let’s just say I would not recommend going to Budapest without playing this game.  Seth was the brains.   Julie was the orchestrator.   Marty was slapping sense into us when we would get side tracked (like me constantly turning off the lights) and she was also good at keeping the scene sanitized (after watching me stick my hand down dark rat holes and Seth climbing on top of dirty barrels).  My strength was eliminating the false clues by doing all of the wrong things.  We had so much fun and a big laugh when it was all over. 

Our final dinner was traditional Hungarian food, but unfortunately the excessively big proportions made the bland/greasy food that much worse tasting.  I’ll let the photo do the talking on this one: 

We finished the night with a quick stop over at the Parliament building- probably the most dramatic building illumination we have seen in Europe. 

The life winners (my mom, Julie, and I) got up early on our final morning to take in the ‘sunrise’ view from Castle hill.  We were greeted instead by an inescapable fog which put a pretty cool twist on our photography.  Although the views were bad, the damp and foggy weather gave us a very private look at Buda Castle and Fisherman’s Bastion.  It’s all about making lemonade from those life lemons. 

Chain Bridge

Also the Chain Bridge

Buda Castle

Fisherman's Bastion

We really enjoyed both Buda and Pest, and I would say the city definitely exceeded my expectations.  It was a great place to visit this time of year, though we might have to go back to check out Budapest in a warmer season.  Good thing we have some more time here in Europe!