Budapest

Hello Everyone!

Mom and I successfully made it to Budapest and pretty much crashed as soon as we made it to our hotel. However, we made up for it the next morning by having breakfast in the famous New York Cafe. Back in 1894 the New York Life Insurance company built this Italian Renaissance styled wonder because they wanted to include a coffee house inside their European headquarters. While it might have an American name, the menu actually has a lot of Hungarian dishes. The most American thing you can get is pancakes for breakfast and even those aren't popular here because the locals find them too sweet. Our waiter told us that when you have dessert in Hungary, the best compliment you can give is saying that it wasn't too sweet. I think the lack of sugar in most pastries and jams is why there were so many options available at breakfast. You can give whatever reason you want, but if it means I get to eat pistachio eclairs and cherry pies for breakfast then I'm in! (After having a hearty helping of protein and veggies of course). They also played live music during breakfast, so we got to listen to a pianist playing a mix of Hungarian compositions and old crooners jazz, before a small string quartet took over and stole the show! Mom and I enjoyed ourselves so much we sat there for two hours chatting away and were reluctant to leave, but I'm glad we did because Budapest did not disappoint!  

We made our way to the Hungarian State Opera House built in 1875. This is the second largest opera house in Hungary. These buildings and their architecture are amazing on their own, but I've quickly come to learn that all these places are even more opulent on the inside. Back then buildings truly were a work of art, I had a really hard time narrowing down the photos for you all. 

We then made our way to St. Stephen's Basilica, built in the late 1890s, the church was dedicated to the first Hungarian King Saint Stephen who ruled from 997 to 1038. The work inside the basilica was made only by Hungarian sculptures and painters. The organ and alter were impressive, and they had a rather macabre relic in one of the alcoves, Saint Stephan's hand. Yup, you read that right, there's a right hand, in a glass case, in it's own very special box, fully on display with special track lighting and all. Not only is it proudly displayed here at the basilica, but historically it was guarded and protected by other countries, like Romania, during the various wars before it came it it's final resting place here. This guy must have made a lasting impression for his hand to be respected and treasured throughout all these years! 

One of my favorite things about being in Europe is having coffee and cake as a literal meal of the day. However it was wildly hot so I wanted just a lemonade to enjoy with my dobos torta (a traditional Hungarian sponge cake layered with buttercream and topped with caramel). The waiter asked if we'd like a cappuccino with our cake, to which mom replied sure but I said no thank you. He made a face, walked away, and then returned asking if I had said yes to the cappuccino because he couldn't remember, but he thought I said I wanted coffee with my cake. I finally caught on and agreed to have a cappuccino, and I hate to admit that he was right, the cake tasted the best with coffee! It was hilarious how many times he asked leading questions until I gave him the answer he wanted. Apparently in Hungary, you simply cannot have cake and lemonade, cake must be enjoyed with espresso. Oops! Either way I very much enjoyed our afternoon respite. 

We then made our way to the parliament building. At this point we had walked quite far, so mom and I took a rest in the plaza and played lots of brain games. Highly recommend worldle and statele if you haven't played it yet. Thank you Jes for our new breaktime game! The 

We decided to take the scenic route home along the Danube river. Did you know that Budapest originally wanted their Grand Boulevard to be a canal like Venice? But it was going to cost 15 million HUF in the 19th century, so they decided against the plans. At least they still have this river that separates Buda and Pest, so there's some water to enjoy, plus the city is probably much more efficient with cars than it would've been with canals. Mom and I really enjoyed all the various boats and river cruises we passed by, this one was our favortie!

By the time mom and I made it back we were too tired to even think about going out again for dinner so we ordered room service and had a quiet night in. Is this what getting older is like? Twenty-year-old me would have never spent a night in while traveling a new city! Times have definitely changed but I can't even complain because our food was delicious and the best part was getting to eat dinner in pjs lol. 

Anyways, can't wait to update you all tomorrow. 

Love, 
Carolyn