Budapest, Hungary was two cities, Pest and Buda, for centuries. On 17 November 1873 after the unification of Buda, Óbuda, and Pest, the name 'Budapest' was given to the new capital city.
This city has seen conflict from the Romans, the Mongols, the Ottomans, and the Soviets. But now it's a beautiful city that is home to many historical sites including a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It's also home to an artistic flair that's unlike anything else in Europe.
I arrived in Budapest by train from Vienna. My first impression, when I got off the train, was that Budapest was kind of run down. It's actually not that run down, every city looks shabby compared to Vienna. Beverly Hills would look run down if you were coming from Vienna. So I quickly got over that first impression and went about the business of enjoying this fantastic city.
What I immediately loved about Budapest is the style of the city. Budapest has a flair that's difficult to describe. Budapest is the Funk to Vienna's Jazz.
I don't think I've ever seen these kinds of lines in any other city. To my knowledge, it's a style unique to Budapest. This city does have many classically beautiful, historical buildings and sights. But it also has a certain funky cool style that was so much fun to explore.
When planning my trip, I made arrangements to meet up with my family members on different legs of the trip. My first meeting was with my Dad in Budapest. I arrived to the city a few days early and had lots of time to explore.
Accommodations in the city were fairly expensive. I found a bed in Avenue Hostel. It was difficult to find and the dorm rooms felt cramped, but it was cheap and the beds were clean. The people there were also pretty cool.
While wandering around Budapest, I found St. Stephen's Basilica. At the time, I wasn't overly impressed with churches and rarely went inside. I would take a few photos of the outside and move on to the next place. Something about St. Stephen's pulled at me and I had to go inside.
The interior of St. Stephen's had me cursing the poor quality of my camera. The whole building seemed to be covered in intricate gold designs and decorations. I was flabbergasted! I had never seen anything like it in my life.
My apologies for the disorienting angle of these photos. I couldn't stop taking pictures of the ceiling.
St. Stephen's Basilica also had the coolest style of stained glass windows that I'd ever seen. They looked like comic books! Is this person named Buldog Gizella? You can't tell me that's not a superhero's name!
If you visit Budapest, I would consider St. Stephen's Basilica a must-see. It has been a while since I visited, but I think there was a small fee to enter. Maybe I'm mistaken about it. Whatever the price, it's worth it.
I've got way too many photos of Budapest so I'm just posting some of my favorites.
Another attraction that's unique to Budapest, and that shouldn't be missed, are the 'ruin bars'. These are giant buildings that have been converted into bars. They're basically massive art projects that serve alcohol.
Even if you don't drink alcohol, it's probably worth it to see at least one of these places. They are huge labyrinths of quirky design and strange art.
One of the ruin bars that I went to had 5 or 6 different bars in it, and probably about 15-20 different rooms. The art and decoration alone is worth the price of admission.
When you get tired of dancing or wandering around in the bars, you just find a little room with chairs and art and hang out. While sitting in one of the rooms, these people invited me to their table for some shots.
If you're a fan of things that are weird, strange, and curious, you can't go wrong with the Ruin Bars of Budapest. There are several of them and some are better than others. Instant was my favorite. I went twice and on the second visit, I discovered 2 bars and 4 or 5 rooms that I had missed on my first visit.
I spent a few days exploring the city and waiting for my Dad's arrival. I found new accommodations for us in the city. They weren't much better than the hostel, but at least they were a private room. I was fine with sleeping in cheap rooms, but my Dad wasn't. After that first place in Budapest, my Dad took over arranging our accommodations and he was happy with paying for better rooms.
He arrived to Budapest and we had some dinner and walked around some. We turned in early because of his jet lag and because we were leaving early for the first stop on our adventure. He had booked some stops and activities for us and we had a train to catch in the morning.
Here's my Dad having some coffee while we wait for our train to the next city.