In case you didn’t know, Fekety is Hungarian. Steve was so excited to finally visit his homeland! We were both excited to check out another new city and see first-hand how the versions of Hungarian food Steve grew up with compared to the real deal. Budapest is a unique city, centered on the River Danube. The river separates the city into two sides – Buda, and Pest. We explored both sides to see what they had to offer, and found them to be very different! Buda is mountainous and is centered around Castle Hill, which includes museums, churches, and great views, but the restaurant options and nightlife are lacking. Pest is the opposite – there are endless cafes, restaurants and bars, but it is flat and there are fewer things to see.
Our first day was spent exploring Buda. We climbed up Castle Hill for some amazing views over the river and the city.
We also went to the nearby Fisherman’s Bastion and Matthias Church.
After a morning of walking, we headed over to Gellert Baths. Budapest sits on top of thermal spring waters, so there are several bath houses where you can relax in the warm medicinal waters. Gellert has 12 pools with varying temperatures (from the mid-50s to 110 degrees – we preferred the higher temps!). These pictures are the two largest, intended for swimming, while the others are smaller, hotter, and meant for relaxation.
At night, we went back up to the Castle Hill area for dinner and to see the city lit up. There was soft lighting over Matthias Church, Fisherman’s Bastion and Parliament – it looked beautiful!
On our second day, we explored the Pest side. We started with a boat tour on the river, and then walked over to St. Stephen’s Cathedral.
Next, we took a tour of the Parliament building. Parliament is arguably the most recognizable building in Budapest, and is gorgeous on the inside as well.
At night, we went to one of the city’s many “ruin bars,” which is essentially a bar built into the remains of an old, abandoned building. Unfortunately none of our pictures turned out because it was so dark, but it was a cool atmosphere!
On our last day, we had only a small amount of time in the morning, so we went for a walk to a nearby park to check out Heroes’ Square and Vajdahunyad Castle.
Throughout the weekend, we saw the word ‘Fekete’ scattered around (this was the original spelling of our last name!), so we felt at home. We also tried so much of the food – chicken paprikash, goulash soup, Hungarian beef stew, stuffed cabbage, apple strudel – it was all amazing! Yep – even the cabbage was delicious. Definitely a successful weekend!
The Great Fekspedition 