Budapest, Hungary & Bratislava, Slovakia

On Sunday July 27th we flew to Budapest, Hungary to start a 10 day trip through 4 different Eastern European countries.  The entire trip consisted of Budapest for 4 nights, then Bratislava, Slovakia for 1 night, Vienna, Austria 2 nights and final stop Prague, Czech Republic 2 nights.  We were very excited since these pretty much were all places we never would have thought we'd be traveling to had we not been living so close in London.  Once we flew to Budapest we took trains to the other locations which made the journey very easy.  We weren't sure going into the trip how easily we would find English on signs and while speaking to others in these countries however we really didn't run into many issues with that.  We found Eastern European people to be extremely friendly and helpful which was great.  Below are some pictures from our first morning in Budapest which was a bit rainy and humid but that didn't stop us from checking out the city. 

If you look closely in the pics you will see a line of people waiting to take the cable car up the steep hillside.  We got tired of waiting in line and decided just to walk it which turned out not bad at all.  

Once at the top we had great views of the Danube River and the famous Chain Bridge, further in the distance you can see the Parliament building as well.

Buda and Pest were actually separate sides of the river (here we would be standing technically on the Buda side looking across to Pest).  They became united as the city of Budapest in 1873 however you still see things saying Buda and Pest on each side.  Budapest is the largest city in Hungary and is also their capital.  The correct Hungarian way to pronounce it is actually "pesh" or "Budapesh" 

TheParliament building is in the picture above and below is looking over the hillside in the opposite direction of the river. 

We did some wandering the mid-evil looking streets at the top...

 By the time we were heading back down the rain had stopped, sun was coming out and it was hot!

Lions on the ends of Chain Bridge and below is the view while crossing the bridge.

For lunch we ate at one of the pubs on a boat along the river...

That night we enjoyed a lovely evening cruise on the Danube River which turned out to be our favorite thing we did in Budapest! It was an hour long and we were given headsets to hear history about the different buildings and sites we were passing.  One drink was included as well so we sipped on wine while we watched the sun go down and as the buildings and bridges lit up.  In the picture below is the oldest church in Budapest, on the Pest side...

As it got darker everything became so pretty!

 The beautiful Chain Bridge at night...

 Loved how the colors danced on the water.

And then there was the Parliament...Stunning! 

So glad we decided to go on the river cruise!

I mentioned in an earlier post that the hairdryers provided in hotels around Europe look more like vacuum cleaners and don't work worth a darn. Well I decided to make a very exciting travel size purchase in Budapest! Worth every penny! 

 

The next morning we visited the Central Market Hall which is the oldest and largest market in Budapest which opened way back in 1897. We had some morning sweet rolls and wandered around to see everything.

 We had to buy some Hungarian paprika to bring home since it was being sold everywhere like in the picture below.  

There also was lots of pickled items all over, check out the shapes and faces in the jars! 

We didn't buy anything else but it was sure fun to look.

That night we had a traditional Hungarian meal.  It was a sharing platter made up of roast chicken & pork, penne noodles, potatoes, pepperoni and onions in a light tomato gravy.  Also on top were some large paprika peppers which the waiter warned us were very hot, (I didn't try them).  We really liked this meal!

The next day we walked along the river...

Eventually we came upon memorial of cast iron shoes to remember Jews who were lined up and shot dead into the river during WWII.  Pretty sad...

Next we went to see the Parliament close up during the day. 

That night was our final night in Budapest.  We had a nice dinner with great views along the river and we both had another traditional Hungarian dish, chicken paprikash.  It is browned pieces of chicken in a sweet paprika sauce with sour cream on top.  The best part was the small potato dumplings on the side!

After dinner we took a walk along the river at night and one final cross of Chain Bridge.  We said goodbye to Budapest and got ready to take the train the next morning to Bratislava, Slovakia. 

The train ride to Bratislava was about 2 hours and we arrived at about 1:00 pm. We were only there one night and left the next morning.  That was plenty of time because there wasn't too much to see.  When we arrived we found a place for lunch to try out some typical Slovak cuisine.  Brian had roast duck with red cabbage and I had roast pork with sauerkraut.  Both of the dishes came with dumplings however they were different then the ones we had in Hungary.  They were called yeast dumplings and were basically pieces of bread, not quite as good.

 

After lunch we walked around the historic center which was where we were staying.

 

 The little streets were pretty cute...

 At dinner we were given HUGE pieces of bread, the waiter even laughed when he set them down because our eyes must have bugged out before we started laughing too!

By this point our 10 day trip was at the halfway point and off to a great start.  From here we traveled by train to Vienna then Prague.  Separate blog posts on both of those cities to come!