Budapest : Along the Danube

Ganges may be one of the great rivers in Asia, Danube is one great river in Europe. The Danube river originates from the Black Forest in Germany, runs through the south of the country including Regensburg (where I'm currently staying), down to Eastern Europe, through Austria,  Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Moldova, Ukraine and Romania. It eventually discharges at the Black Sea, nearby Turkey.

The Danube is a big part of Budapest, which is in Hungary. Budapest is known as one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. And indeed it is amazingly beautiful. Lets get out from the London, Paris, New York idea shall we? There are many other places in the world much better then these.

Buda on the right, Pest on the left, saperated by the Danube

Budapest is made out of two parts. The Buda side and the Pest side. The Danube river saperates these two parts of the city. The city is connected by a number of great bridges which one of them is the Szechenyi chain Bridge, right in front of the Buda Castle which is on the Buda side of the city.

A view of the Pest side taken from the grounds of Buda Castle

Pest side

The lady who ate watermelon. Made us crave for it for a week.

During the summer, I got on a night train alone from Munich at almost midnight. Train I travelled in was a sleeper coach. It was quite comfortable to sleep in and was reasonably priced. It had bunk beds, fresh sheets, blankets and pillows. My 3 bedded private coach was equipped with a face towel and a sink. I only shared it wth a lady. So there were two of us in the cabin. It was my first experice riding in a night coach. The journey was roughly 8 hours, and I reached Budapest around 7am. Before arrival, sandwiches and a hot baverage was served.

The appartment where we stayed

Budapest is a great place to go if you love walking around aimlessley because you'd be sure to find something fascinating. After I found my appartment for my stay, I walked around alone while waiting for Delia to reach from the UK. She arrived roughly around 3pm. Before that, I strolled around the Danube river, read history about the city and had a peek at town (and look for a reasonably priced Currency Exchange). In the summer, lots of restaurants have their tables out on the streets and gelato stands seems to be everywhere.

Riverside Promenade on the Pest side

The Buda side, which is on the west bank, generally holds the elite community. Proudly stands above the whole city on the Buda side is the Buda Castle. The Buda Castle was once the Royal Palace of the Hugarian Kings. Most would not know much about the castle but I'm sure you have seen it if you're a mainstream music fan. The Castle grounds are frequently used for music videos including Selena Gomez; Round and Round and Katy Perry; Firework MV (and they do have amazing firworks here!!) Mind blowing I must say.

Fishermens Bastion on the Buda side

To cure our aching feet.

Coffee Heaven :: beats Starbucks anytime.

I will write more on the Castle on another post. We were there during the St Stephens Festival and they had a Folks fest up in the castle where people would sell local produce and dress up as if it was the mid century.