Here are some final thoughts on Budapest, that would not fit in the previous articles.
Budapest Sightseeing
Normally were are not ones for taking sightseeing ventures of most any kind, unless it is very personal and involves a tour guide with a smaller group. However, sometimes you feel you have to try something new, oh well.
Legenda River Cruise
We took this river cruise on other recommendations but were a bit disappointed. Here’s why we would not recommend them:
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- We felt that though the cruise did show you the city at night, the tour was essentially something you could watch at home on TV, in fact, you actually do watch it on TV on the boat as it cruises, while listening in your headset.
- The video and tour were often out of sync, so you could not actually see what they were talking about, boring and unprofessional.
- The front is rather closed in and uncomfortable. In the summer the boat has to be adapted to warmer weather, like the rear of the boat.
- The waitress tries to remember your free-drink offer and terribly forgets. Multiple times. I wouldn’t mind so much, but some of us didn’t even receive our drinks. So don’t buy the “free drinks” bullshit line!
Aside from the above, here are some photographs.
The Metro
Budapest has a pretty good metro. Though not terribly extensive, it does not go to the airport, it does however cover a pretty good portion of the city. Each entry point is marked with a stylized ‘M’ and you will have to pay attention to the direction of travel, the end-point or terminal station. Direction of travel on most signs is noted, as well as all of the stops made by the line.
The M1 Metro Line
Clearly the oldest and the noisiest for sure. Luckily this line runs up the old Andrássy ut avenue and fairly close to where our hotel was situated; so we were able to take this line a number of times.
The Remainder of Budapest
Here are some left over photographs from our visit to Budapest.
Restaurants
Here are numerous restaurants, most of which we really liked.
Spinoza Cafe
The Spinoza Cafe was a lark, since we were just walking away from the Jewish quarter back to the hotel. It has a viable menu with very good service.
It was a bit warm outside, but we ordered something light and made the best of it.
Bestia Restaurant
A fairly good restaurant downtown that has plenty of outside seating. We did make reservations for this one, but not sure they were actually needed. However, making them ahead of time will never hurt.
Mazel Tov Restaurant
I have to say I was very surprised and delighted with Mazel Tov. Not only do they have a very good venue, restaurant saying, they also have very good food.
I ordered the soup and pastrami sandwich and was pleasantly surprised by the taste and texture, they really know how to slice pastrami, nano-thin.
Mystery Hotel Restaurant
The Mystery Hotel has a very good view of Budapest, for those wishing such a thing. We availed ourselves of an evening of drinks here, after a long day of sightseeing and museum visiting. Unfortunately while we were there, they had a music mixer that was definitely one-dimensional, playing the same bum-bum-bum crap that belongs more in a club venue, than a restaurant.
