FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX: Budapest Day 2

Today was the day to the Buda side to capture some wonderful photos of Pest from across the Danube. Today was also the day that the fog set in! Argh!!! We had planned to climb to the top of the Citadel for a classic shot of all the main buildings lined up perfectly with the chain bridge, but that idea was unanimously abandoned. Instead, we made use of our 72 hour transport passes to head north along the river towards the Fisherman's Bastion. We were probably late to the party in discovering that different guilds were responsible for the defence of different parts of the city. We had seen this in Romania and we were now observing it again. The fisherman certainly had the height advantage and may have enjoyed the views if they weren't too distracted by the marauders. We saw fog, but enjoyed the buildings and vibe nonetheless. This place must be packed with tourists in the summer. Today there were a few buses that provided enough coins to keep the falconer and violonist happy enough with their busking results, but we were still able to explore relatively freely.

St Matthius' cathedral is next to the Fisherman's Bastion. It is a beautiful church from the outside, but we were too stingy and too tired after walking up the hill to go inside. There are various ways to get up the hill without walking, but we just took the old fashioned route. "Leave no man behind" has never been our motto, but we did pick up the weakest links where we left them on the way back down the hill before crossing the Chain Bridge back across to the Pest side of town.

Great Market. Quick stop before our climb up the hill!

Pickle store

Oh no. Its Aldi. We lost the olds in there...

Sustenance for our walk

Which langos to choose!!!

The lucky winner!

The fight is on!

Freedom Bridge, one of many that connects Buda to Pest

St Matthias Church

Guilds would often take up a defensive postion at strategic points of the city

Sigh...no view

Fisherman's Bastion

Lunch was an occasion that we had been preparing for. The Brutal Brutus marketing campaign had impacted our weak minds sufficiently enough that we were determined to try at least one before leaving Budapest. A picture speaks a thousand words, but to describe it simply, the Brutal Brutus is a combination of traditional burger with the addition of hash brown, onion rings, fried onion, bacon, mushroom sauce and potentially other mystery ingredients. We justified this cultural sacrilege with the knowledge that this was the first McDonald's to open behind the Iron Curtain so it should be visited. At least we ensured that we maintained a balanced diet with the addition of other items that we can't find at home - the kitkat McFlurry and CocoChoc Pies.

Worn out and carb loaded we returned to the apartment to nap and launder. Dinner was a quick affair at the local ramen joint called Ramenka. It was warm, the service was quick, the meat was generous, but it was never going to be a broth that dreams are made of.

More Christmas markets!

The first McDonald's behind the Iron Curtain

How could one resist this?!?!

The trifecta! From left to right - Brutal Brutus, Generous Jack, and Juicy Jane

The rest of the evening was somewhat classier and even saw us don our least grubby travel clothes. The famed Opera House is being refurbished, but the Franz Liszt was an incredible back up option. The building was completed in 1907. It is a beautiful, intimate venue with exceptional acoustics. All 900 seats were occupied for a Tchaikovsky Christmas recital. This was a Christmas present for ourselves and the group that surpassed our expectations. No description could do justice to the music in the gorgeous setting.

The opulence continued with drinks and dessert at New York Cafe. You get what you expect here. Yes, it is over-priced, but the venue is beautiful and the waiters wear waistcoats and starched shirts even if the service was a bit lacklustre. It was an odd mix of generous servings of high quality gelato with underpar lemonade that was certainly not homemade. The various coffee and cholate offerings were quite nice, but not exceptional. It was still a lovely way to end the day. Mal and Wayne explored a couple of ruin bars, but the rest of us were more than happy to sleep after two very full days.