Ryanair produces quite a few "good deals." In fact, they create deals that are so tempting people lose a bit of their sanity in pursuit of said deals. And this is exactly what happened with the trip to Budapest. Worried about finances and academic pursuits the scheduling of a massive summer trip was put on hold. Once it was decided that a trip, of some form, needed to be taken some of Ryanair's fabulous deals had been snatched away by other budget travellers. Somehow, don't ask me how, it was uncovered that it was possible to fly from Manchester to Budpast for a mere £ 12.99... never mind that one had to travel from Glasgow to Manchester... this deal was simply too good to pass up!
Our Eastern European travel began with a Megabus ride down the country into Manchester. A tram and train ride later we arrived at the airport. Making our way to the Ryanair check-in station we were met by an insanely long line of holidayers antsy to board a flight to...well anywhere. Having spent quite a fair chunk of time in airports this year I have begun to take notice of travelling trends. Yes, just like any sector there are fads in travelling that include must have luggage, must see destinations and much desired travelling luxuries (stuffed neck pillows, travel blankets etc). This summer's must have travel accessory is for the kids. Standing in line children whipped around the corners, flew across the tiles and crashed into the back of their parents legs on rideable luggage.
If you are a child and you travel you MUST get one of these, they are all the rage. They are also very useful when crashing into a Ryanair sign making the entire airport jump. After proceeding to security we waited in yet another massively long line. Upon our arrival at the head of the line we asked the head of security if Manchester airport was normally so busy. "Always is this time of day" he replied as a child whizzed past on their ever so trendy luggage.
I will spend a bit more time focusing on all the beauty that is Ryanair later on in this entry when I talk about the epic journey back to Glasgow (I was planning on doing so but the entry became so long! If you want to hear the ridiculous story of our Ryanair flight home I will be happy to share!). However, I will admit that something was missing from our flight to Budapest. Something that all this European travel has made me come to love about Ryanair, the ever so tacky on-time celebration music. In his book "Ruinair" Paul Kilduff chronicles his journeys with the airline and discusses this on flight trait.
"Shortly after we land, a loud trumpet fanfare is broadcast through the cabin, followed by a 'Congratulations, you've arrived at your destination ahead of schedule!' I look at the crew members in disbelief and they are evidently mortified at having to play such a tacky announcement but it's company policy".... Apparently, the Budapest cabin and crew was so embarassed by this Ryanair tradition that they rejected it all together opting not to play out the trumpet fanfare even though our flight had arrived early. It also left Richard and I perched on the edge of our seats awaiting our opportunity to celebrate the Ryanair way. Sad over the lack of trumpets we disembarked and my passport, as per usual, was scrutinized as Richard breezed through customs. I think we should check passports at state lines just so EU members can understand the pain of being examined while their travelling companion receives a warm welcome embrace into the country.
Arriving at the airport quite late we arranged for an airport shuttle and were dropped right at the doors to our hotel...so much luxury! Having snagged an amazing deal we were staying four nights for the price of two, bargain hunting at its finest!
Budapest Day One:
After a quick breakfast it was time to leave Pest and explore Buda. Before merging into Hungary's capital the city was actually two distinct cities, Buda and Pest. The hilly Buda is on the west side of the Danube and the flat Pest on the east. The Danube is spanned by a number of beautiful bridges and provide fantastic views of both Buda and Pest.
Upon spotting the Danube we also realized that it was actually quite warm and shockingly sunny. Living in Glasgow we were unprepared for any sort of warmth so we begun to peel off our layers as we hunted for sunscreen and sunglasses. The average summer temperatures of Kansas City and Durban are quite high. Therefore, one would be believe the two travellers could handle the heat. However, Glasgow seems to have broken us and the heat was a bit of shock and a desperate search for liquids ensued. But before partaking in a cappy juice we decided to climb a hill and were rewarded with stunning views.
At the top of the hill...both of us with the beginnings of a sunburn.
Richard took the ever practical advice of my brother Michael slightly too far... "Suns out Guns out!"
We wound our way to Budapest's Castle and I slowly began to realize that something was missing from Budapest. There was not a single Starbucks in sight. I once heard a comedian talking about the differences between British imperialism and American imperialism. He stated that while the British were very forward and simply seized places, Americans slowly addict the population of a particular place using skinny vanilla lattes. I find this statement to be true. But in Budapest swap the latte for a whopper... there were literally Burger Kings on every single corner!
After touring the castle it was time for a lunch break. I was pleasantly surprised by how welcoming and kind the people of Hungary were throughout our stay. Having been fortunate enough to visit a few Eastern European countries before, I had always found the people to be a bit reserved. Some countries in the East believe that a smile is an intimate gesture and not to be shared with strangers on the street. As a girl from Kansas where strangers randomly approach you to give you compliments, I found the extremely reserved nature a bit unsettling. The people were lovely once you got to know them but of course that took time. However, Hungary was very different and we were greeted very warmly each and every place we visited. The Hungarians English was also extremely impressive. I always have great respect for bilinguals and know how fortunate it is that so many speak English. While Richard and I are truly in awe of this multilingual ability we did get a bit of a laugh from the menu offering us "Chicken Stripes and Mushed Potatoes."
Following a delicious and stripey meal we made our way back to the castle taking in some more impressive views before heading underground into the Castle's Labyrinth.
The Labyrinth is said to have been the dungeon for Dracula and the rooms classified as the dungeon were quite eerie. While the dark, damp maze like structure was creepy it was a great escape from the heat and we spent quite a bit of time exploring with the aid of a cellphone flashlight.
Budapest isn't a top tourist destination, which was really to our benefit. However, tourism is becoming quite a budding industry and there were many a tourist to be found. As per usual we were able to delight in the ever so entertaining American tourist banter. Throughout this post I will share a few of the gems heard throughout Budapest.
Comment Number One: After emerging from the labyrinth the castle had a working water fountain. Many tourists were gleefully filling up their water bottles with the fountained water the Hungarians had been drinking for years. While filling up my bottle one American woman stated loudly to the other...
"Do you really think that these people should be drinking from this THING. I don't think it's safe... it's just not safe! You could get a disease!"
While bringing my bottle to my lips Richard grabs my arm yanking the bottle from my mouth shouting "Did you not hear them! You might get cholera and die!" Fortunately, I drank the whole bottle and am cholera free (to date). Although Budapest's water will forevermore be known as cholera water.
The rest of the day was spent trying to find a place to have some dinner. As simple as this task may sound it was actually quite a feat. As mentioned tourism is becoming quite a booming industry and the Hungarians would like to keep it this way. For this reason they do everything in their power to attract tourists. While walking down a fairly busy street we were attacked by restaurant hosts and hostesses begging us to look at their menus. This tactic seemed to have the opposite of the desired effect, as both Richard and myself became so overwhelmed with the throng of restaurateurs that we had to take a break to recollect ourselves and make a strategic plan for selecting a place to dine. Once seated at our restaurant of choice we noticed a violinist and guitarist making their rounds to the various tables. Having read the guidebook we knew we did not want these musicians stopping at our table. The only way to make them leave? Pay them. Although I have terribly fair skin my dark hair helps me blend ever so slightly more into various cultures than Richard. The violinist strolled past our table looked at me and kept walking. However, Richard caught his eye and we were immediately deemed tourists and the violin playing started and of course did not end until we produced some cash.
Budapest Day Two:
Day two was spent exploring the Pest side of the river. The morning began with a visit to the House of the Terror. This building was the occupational headquarters of first the Nazis and then the Soviet forces. As we wandered through the museum we witnessed the horrors that occurred during these occupied sections of Hungary's history. It is unbelievable that the country was oppressed for so long by two such extreme regimes and that the end of this occupation occurred in my lifetime.
Following the House of Terror we made our way to Hero's Square and the surrounding areas.
Close to Hero's Square is Vajdahunyad Castle. This area was designed to high-light the four distinct architectural styles of Budapest: Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque. Vajdahynyad Castle was originally built for the Millennial Exhibition and was made from cardboard and wood. The model was so popular that the actual building was built as public interest soared.
Anonymous Statue-- The first full documentation of Hungary's history was penned by an anonymous author. This famous statue is in homage to the author and his work.
Hungary is famous for it's baths and spas. This building houses one of the historic baths that still functions today. Fortunately for the Hungarians but unfortunately for us the baths are still in full use and not open to tourists.
After a brief stop at the Museum of Fine Arts it was on to satisfy yet another cultural pursuit, opera. Budapest's opera house was built with the funding of the Austrian King. He allocated funds to the Budapestians with one stipulation, the opera house must not exceed Vienna's in size. While Budapest's opera house may be smaller in size many Hungarians argue that it is much more beautiful... of course. While I can't compare the two, I can say that Budapest's opera house was beautiful.
We have no photographs of the Opera House's interior due to our lack of a "photo pass." Yes, Budapest has really capitalized on their infantile tourist industry. In the other European cities we have visited a select number of places would sell "photo passes" generally churches or other locations that were free to enter. But Budapest decided to employ the photopass in each and every tourist venue. Most shocking of all? The number of people who actually purchased these passes at each and every location.
The Opera House gave us some more time to interact with my countrymen who had an absolutely impossible time figuring out why our tour guide referred to the opera house as having three tiers when it really had four. The tour guide tried explaining to these tourists that the first floor is not referred to as the "first floor" but rather the "ground floor." After a lot of pointing and counting the American tourists finally settled on the fact that it REALLY had four floors but three upper levels. These same tourists then asked our tour guide where she was from because she "really didn't sound Hungarian at all." After the girl explained that she had an American instructor and studied abroad the Americans decided to offer their assistance in her language training "Well your English is amazing! But you say opera and ballet wrong." While I literally melted to the ground in embarrassment, Richard stood by shaking his head and murmuring "oh your countrymen"....I would have loved for some horrific South Africans to pop up on the tour. No such luck.
Next, it was off to Margaret Island (You can imagine at this quick pace I was really missing Starbucks!). The Island is located between Buda and Pest. The isolated location made the perfect place for religious practice and a group of Monks established upon it. The island is now easily accessible by foot and tram. (although Richard would argue that it always was seeing as he believes he could easily swim the "shallow waters" of the Danube to reach the island. I was frequently asked "what was wrong with these people couldn't they swim" over the course of the trip when discussing how isolated the two sides of the river were.) The heat of day brought many tourists and locals to the island to enjoy lounging in the sun, drinking and walking.
Richard's insanely massive cotton candy/candy floss.
Walking back to the mainland we were once again presented with amazing views.
After some more wandering and during our dinner something amazing happened... a thunderstorm! Here in Glasgow we get rain constantly but we don't have storms. Rather it is a constant drizzle, sometimes a bit of a pour, but no lightening and no thunder. Thunderstorms are something that I actually miss greatly. We sat outside to have dinner and were able to see the storm slowly roll in over the city and finally experience the thunder, lightening and heavy rain both of us had been missing so much.
Budapest Day Three:
Instead of the quick grab and go breakfast we had become accustomed to we began this morning with an actual meal. Having researched a bit in the guide book we uncovered a cafe just down the street from our hotel. The cafe was opened in 1887 (Older than much of the US and the entire country of South Africa!) and played a significant role in the literary history of Budapest. The cafe also served amazing food and had fantastic indoor and outdoor eating areas. In fact, we loved the cafe so much we ate there once more the next morning. After our breakfast we made our way to St. Stephen's Basilica.
Following the signs we believed would take us to the actual church we found ourselves paying a sum and climbing hundreds of stairs... we had mistakenly entered the panoramic climb entrance. Fortunately, this mistake was incredibly serendipitous and our climb granted us fantastic views over all of Budapest and we exceeded our personal stair record by climbing 303!
After a brief recovery from a dizziness spell brought on by counting the number of stairs while climbing down we headed inside the Basilica. The Basilica was by far one of the most beautiful churches I have ever stepped in. So beautiful in fact that we were sidetracked on our direct route to see St. Stephen's hand. The Basilica is famous for it's relic of St. Stephen's entire hand.. This was a must see. While pushing our way into the chapel we heard yet another glorious American comment.
American Man to other American Man: "Well you've been to those big churches they have in Rome right... so you know they must have some of these things as well. Big churches like the ones in Rome have saint stuff"... These Americans also shook hands in front of the hand.
Wrong American Man. All Catholic churches have relics, just not as gory and appealing as the hand. Our excitement was cut down when it was discovered that seeing the hand was pretty difficult. The ornate box kept the hand fairly disguised. But, the Budapestians knew that they must appeal to a tourist market, so you could light up the hand by inserting some money and pressing a button... we avoided the great temptation!
As we exited the Basilica a miracle happened. To the left of the basilica was none other than a Starbucks!! We should have known to look in the city's holiest of areas. This miracle was so overwhelming that we ended up skipping out on Starbucks and rather heading on to our next destination an indoor market. The walk to the market gave us the chance to explore a different section of the city.
After a lunch stop we made our way to the Hungarian National Museum. As with each museum we visited we were wildly impressed at the extensive and elaborate collections of the museum. The exhibits were highly detailed and absolutely packed with artifacts and information all housed in an absolutely gorgeous building.
Finishing up at the museum we took a walk to Budapest's Jewish Quarter before settling down at a cafe. The cafe was in a very quaint part of the city completely surrounded by alleyways and streets and was quite a popular place for locals. We ended up talking and drinking for over three hours and I have to say it was one of if not my favorite part of the trip.
Budapest Day Four:
Our shuttle was leaving the hotel in the early hours of the afternoon which meant we had one final morning in Budapest. After a large breakfast at our new favorite restaurant we spent a few hours walking the streets of Budapest a final time.
The boy standing was the oldest of three French brothers. He decided all the brothers needed to put their hats on the lions heads. We stood and watched the older brother dictate to the younger ones for quite a while.
Crossing the Danube one last time we decided to venture down to the water's edge and get a close up look of the river and stick our hands in the water.
Our trip had come to an end but our travel had not. After a shuttle ride to the airport and a three hour flight we arrived in Manchester. After a layover we boarded the Megabus for a four hour ride into Glasgow, finally reaching the flat at a little past 3 AM.
But, the travelling was made much, much better because after months of waiting I finally received something I have been really wishing and hoping for. Yes, after months of waiting Richard finally bought me a Ryanair scratch ticket! Every single flight we are asked at least five times if we would like to support children's charities and have the chance of winning a million Euros.. this is excellent deal but I must turn it down every time. But, not this time! I got my scratch card and... did not win anything.
It is a bit sad to be ending this post as this trip was our last European trip. No more Ryanair flights or foreign cities in the immediate future. However, while we may not be tackling Europe again anytime soon we will be venturing on to America in a month!
