Budapest 2014

So, our time in Budapest has not been exactly as we would have liked it - but it is what it is. 

We arrived at midnight on July 12 (Budapest time) after 11.5 hours of flight time, and 6 hours spent at Heathrow.  Like you do.  The good thing was that we had plenty of time for customs and changing from terminal 5 to terminal 3, which anyone who's gone through Heathrow knows is a bitch. But anyway, we got here and went straight to the Airport Hotel and went to sleep.

Next morning we had our complimentary breakfast, then packed and took the shuttle to the airport train station.  However, since we don't speak Magyar and the shuttle bus driver didn't speak English - we wound up at a railway stop and had no clue if we were headed in the right direction.  As it turns out - we were. We made it to the City Centre and our apartment (love you booking.com). Cute studio with everything you could need.  After settling in, we headed downstairs to find a restaurant - there were several - and a place to watch the final World Cup game. Big screen TVs were everywhere. That was our night.

We panicked a bit about not having our train tickets to Prague, so early the next morning we went to the main train station (the one with international trains) waited 2 hours to get tickets - and still didn't have them.  Finally we found out that the young woman was moving people up who wanted tickets then and she said it would probably be ANOTHER two hours for us.  But - we could go to any other train station to buy the tickets..so we did just that and had our tickets about an hour later - including travel time.  So it was time for lunch - like 2 pm time for lunch. Had an interesting lunch and a couple of beers (as in "my husband ordered us each a liter"). After that, the jet lag set in and we were done.  Went back to the apartment to take naps at 5 pm and never left. 

So, today - our last day in Budapest, we decided to do the "Hop on, hop off" bus tour. This way, we could see everything we wanted to see but hadn't because of issues.  We started at 10 am and got back at 6 pm. We did get off and walk across the Chain Bridge and took the funicular up to the castle.  It was a great panoramic view of the entire city - and some pretty spectacular sights within the castle itself.  We got to watch the changing of the guards - not quite on par with Buckingham Palace, but then what is? Took several pictures that I am still in the process of sorting (I will post some here when finished). Just got back from a delicious meal at one of the little restaurants down below us - the 20 & 30 something nightlife is beginning now (it's 9 pm). Overall, would have liked a bit more time, or at least efficient use of the time we had.  All things being equal - this will have to do.  At least I got my 'Hard Rock Budapest' pin. 

Next stop - Prague.