JFitzpatrick Travel LLC

“I don’t get no respect” was the tagline of Rodney Dangerfield and I liken the city of Budapest to this quote.    I imagine that if I asked 20 people to name a major, wonderful city in central Europe, most would say Prague or Vienna or someplace in Germany. I don’t imagine that I’d hear Budapest!

In fact, we just returned from a Tauck “Blue Danube” riverboat trip and our major reason for going to Budapest was because it was the starting point for the trip.  The city “STARS” that we looked forward to visiting were Vienna, Salzburg (remember the “Sound of Music”?) and Prague —-places to be covered in future blogs.  Back to Budapest, boy, were we wrong!  Did we have the “surprise” of our lives in discovering this charming, amazing city!  So, what was so amazing?

 As the capital and largest city of Hungary, Budapest is also one of the largest cities in the European Union with more people than better known cities such as Barcelona, Amsterdam, Athens, Prague….you get my drift.  It’s set on both sides of the Danube River and consists of the merger of three towns, the former “Buda, Old Buda and Pest”.  It has over 3 million people in its metro area and is home to many geothermal springs, 18 universities and has over 4 million visitors a year.

So, just because the city is large with lots of people doesn’t make it amazing, right?  Amazing comes from the combination of beautiful scenery, fascinating (sometimes painful) history, old-world architecture, great food and charming people….all things which contributed to us having a great visit.

So, let’s look at these piece parts:

1. Beautiful Scenery:

What’s more to say after looking at these pictures!

Hungary (Budapest) was occupied by numerous groups including the Celts, Romans, Turks, Germans and Soviets.  Though the ancient Roman ruins and Turkish baths are still evident and visited, the 20th century history of Budapest is the most heavily covered subject of modern tourism. World War ll with Nazi control and the subsequent Soviet military occupation forever changed the face of this nation.

We all know of the atrocities committed during the holocaust and Hungary, unfortunately, played its own ugly part.  Between 20-40% of Budapest’s Jewish inhabitants died during the German occupation between 1944 and 1945.  In their honor, a memorial, “Shoes on the Danube Bank” was created in 2005.  This depicted the Jews who were ordered to take off their shoes, tied together in groups of 4 and shot at the water’s edge so their bodies fell into the river and were carried away.  The picture below conveys more than a thousand words….

Following the liberation of Hungary by the Soviets, a military regime began.  40 years of communism ensued and it was only in 1989 that Hungary became a democratic country.  Since then, Budapest has blossomed into a vibrant city with all the statutes depicting its former communist rule removed from public places and repositioned into one designated place, Memento Park.  One major statue, Liberty Statue, which was originally erected as  a representation of the Soviet liberation of Hungary, was redesigned to commemorate those who sacrificed their lives for Hungarian independence. Perched atop the highest peak in Budapest, Gellert Hill, this revered statue is visible both day and night.

 

 Liberty Statue

 A reason  I love Europe, in general, its old world architecture.  Budapest adds to this love in spades offering beautiful buildings everywhere.  From the House of Parliament to the churches to the opera house to the market hall, there’s charm enough for everyone.  See some of my favorites below:

 

 We started off our trip with a private guide, Richard Bogdan, owner of Zoom Hungary (richard.bogdan@zoomhungary.com).  Our objective was to have a bit of a local experience prior to the beginning of our riverboat journey and Richard set up a great itinerary.  From dinner at a local Hungarian restaurant to a private tour of the works of a local artist (Molnar-C Pal) and a visit to a charming artisans town, Szentendre, located about 15 miles from Budapest, we saw lots.  With Richard, we encountered the charming grandson and his wife who currently run Pal’s studio-museum, the local restauranteur in Szentendre who served us homemade traditional Hungarian crepes (and tried to share the recipe) and one of the oldest bistros in Hungary (Pest-Buda Bistro), where we had the best mushroom soup ever.  Good, hearty food and warm, memorable people!

 Hanging out with RIchard on top of Gellert Hill!

Our Tauck riverboat trip began after this and after more touring in Budapest, we were fortunate enough to have a Tauck private reception and dinner at the gorgeous Akademia

Club in the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.  Music, great company, great food—-all wrapped up in a splendid, magical evening.

 Don’t you just LOVE foie gras?

 TAUCK Always Does It In Style!

I could go on and about how great Budapest is but I mainly wanted to share OUR wonderful impressions with you and to convey that this is definitely a city worth visiting.  Unlike Rodney Dangerfield, “Budapest” should really “GET A LOT OF RESPECT”!  Check it out for yourself.  You’re sure to enjoy it!