Simon suggests we should begin our first full day with
champagne breakfast at the New York Café. It seems rude to argue. Legend has it
that when it opened, one of the well-known artists of the time threw the key
into the Danube so it could never close. The breakfast buffet is impressive and
so is the opulent rococo décor. We eat and drink our fill and set off on foot
for Oktogon, where we buy a 72 hour Budapest card and catch the M1 metro.
This
is the oldest Metro line and the tiny carriages are quaint, as are the
stations. It runs in a straight line just below street level and you have to go
back up to the street to change direction. It ends at the Danube, where we
switch to line 2 to cross under it and emerge at St Ana’s Basilica. The square
is flanked by clock towers, and I’m so busy looking at those, Simon has to
point out the spectacular parliament building just across the river.
We stroll along the river to the bottom of the funicular
railway, which we take up to the palace area, within the old city walls. The
palace is massive and the architecture impressive – more so when you realise
how extensively it was damaged during WW2. It’s now a museum. Alongside are the
foundations of much earlier fortifications, and the current presidential
palace.
We begin to walk around the top of the city walls, along an avenue of
blossom trees. There are great views of the distant Buda hills and the closer
rooftops of building from various periods. We notice a couple of ancient
rooftops that have miraculously survived centuries of neglect, as well as a
more modern but fascinatingly undulating roof that we decide to check out
later.
Arriving at the centre of the old town, we can’t miss the
hideous Hilton Hotel which jars horribly with the native architecture. They are
relaying the cobbles here and we’re happy to move swiftly on to St Stephen’s
church and the Fishermen’s Bastion. The bastion is Disneyesque, reminiscent of
the medieval style castles in animated movies and, although it pre-dates them
it’s much more modern than it looks. It gives great views of both the Pest area
across the river and the lower parts of Buda, though.
We’re ready for a rest
and a drink now and stop at the first appealing bar, called Sörözö Knajpa, which
turns out to be tiny – the entire bar area is no bigger than our dining room,
with just two small round tables and a two-seater bench opposite. Luckily it’s
warm enough to sit outside, where we’re amused to feature in the photos of
other tourists.
Leaving the walled city we walk down into central Buda in
the direction of the crazy undulating roof. It’s disappointing to find it sits
above a disastrous piece of architecture and is apparently an apartment and
office complex. We can sort of see what the designer had in mind but didn’t
quite carry it off. I’m still without glasses so we go into the Mammoth
shopping centre, which is as giant as it sounds, and find some.
Crossing back to Pest we make our way to heroes square, a
large plaza with a column at the centre, flanked by colonnades bearing statues
of rulers and statesmen from Hungary’s history. Beyond the square, we enter
City Park, a pleasant green space with some romantic buildings. The first looks
like a medieval castle flanked by a lake, part of which is a skating rink in
winter. It houses the Agricultural Museum.
City Park is the location of the Széchenyi Baths, one of the many thermal baths fed from natural hot springs. There’s also the Palace of Art, a
Zoo, a circus and numerous statues. I’m particularly amused by the travelling
bar, which drinkers power by pedalling.
We make our way back along the length of Andrassy Ut, the smartest
street in Budapest, which houses many of the grandest buildings although many
are in a poor state of repair. There are mansions, theatres and the notorious
House of Terror, the former HQ of the secret police reputedly constructed with walls of
double thickness to muffle the screams of those it interrogated. Arriving back
in our quarter Simon takes me to see the Spar supermarket which is housed in a
building that seems to have been perhaps a factory in a previous life – it’s a
cavernous space with high ceilings and metal gantries, really quite bizarre.
Opposite, and equally bizarre in its own way, is Fogas Ház ruin bar. These bars
spring up in abandoned buildings and are furnished with found objects – this
one has a pleasant open courtyard and beyond it a tented space like a mini
big-top. We enjoy a drink there before dinner, then we eat at Klassz on Andrassy Ut, a wine bar with excellent
food. My cauliflower risotto is amazing and Simon orders the local Mangalita
pork – actually wild boar - which is delicious. The wine is fantastic, too.
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