We got up a little later and left at 08:40, but it still seemed to be early by Budapest standards. Apart from a few joggers and cyclists, the streets were remarkably quiet.
We crossed the Chain Bridge again and followed the Danube towards the Hungarian Parliament Building. The river was extraordinarily low. Budapest’s gauge reading that day was only 22 centimetres, 70 centimetres below the Danube Commission’s low-water reference for navigation. The prolonged drought had exposed broad strips of riverbed that would normally have been underwater.
On the way we stopped at the Shoes on the Danube Bank memorial. Its 60 pairs of cast-iron shoes remember the Jewish people murdered here by Hungary’s Arrow Cross militia in 1944 and 1945. Victims were ordered to remove their shoes before being shot at the edge of the river, so that the current would carry their bodies away.
From there we continued to the Parliament Building. Designed by Imre Steindl and built between 1885 and 1902, the enormous neo-Gothic building stretches for 268 metres along the river. Its central dome rises to 96 metres, a reference to the year 896, traditionally associated with the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin.
Since we had Budapest transport passes, we took the tram for the single stop from one end of Parliament to the other. At a café we ordered the famous Dobos torte to celebrate Anja’s birthday from afar. The layered sponge cake, chocolate buttercream and crisp caramel top did the job rather well.
Afterwards we continued walking to St Stephen’s Basilica. By then Budapest was beginning to wake up and more people were appearing on the streets. We took a bus back to the Buda side and had a quick power nap.
For lunch we went to a restaurant recommended by our host. Every time we had passed it there had been a long queue outside. We were lucky: although several groups ahead of us wanted tables for four, the restaurant had space for two and waved us straight in.
Caro ordered pork stew and Hugo had chicken stew, both served with dumplings. It was simple but delicious. We sat beside the window while the people queueing outside watched for signs that a table might be opening, so we finished fairly quickly and made our escape.
After another rest, we headed out again at about 18:30 for an evening walk and a look at a rather more animated Budapest. We first stopped above the tunnel for a view over the Chain Bridge, then crossed it once more as the sunset turned the buildings orange.
Along the Danube the road became a pedestrian area full of people, bars, stalls and musicians. Budapest had definitely woken up by then.
We went looking for train snacks for the following day. Our first attempt was Lidl, but after standing in the queue for a while we abandoned it and went to Aldi instead. Our new favourite discovery was the chocolate-coated curd-cheese bar, which sounds questionable but is dangerously easy to like.
We then returned to the Jewish Quarter in search of dinner. It was much busier at night, with plenty of interesting characters around. We eventually settled on a very expensive lángos topped with beef stew, but it was nowhere near as good as the one we had eaten in Szentendre.
After that we walked home for our final night in Budapest.
Leave A Comment