i have endeavored to ride as many forms of public transportation as possible here in budapest.
i began yesterday. without the benefit of this handy map.
not one to let small details like this obstruct my plans, i used my tried and true hop-on-hop-off method. this generally works well.
better if your logic & reasoning skills are in alignment with the system as a whole.
best if you speak the language, or can use context clues to scrabble your way through.
and if all of the above fail, it is at least nice if the marked metro stops correspond with the actual posted stops on the actual train.
naturally, at the end of the day when i really felt i needed to get home quickly and collapse.
naturally that is when my metro stop disappeared.
this is the public library. grand inside and out. with reading rooms you need a special card to enter.
i've been studying the locals. people here seem to take inordinate pleasure in reading. on benches, at restaurants, walking with a book in hand.
there are many green squares with shaded benches. i stopped at many and looked about. budapest is a city of trees.
for lunch i went to don leone's as recommended in the vast menu of apartment information. i ordered the goulash soup with homemade noodles, a few small hunks of meat, root vegetables. i dunked my bread in the hot soup and got to work. everything was delish including the potato croquettes. fortunately, i didn't get a single drop on my white blouse.
i lapped up my bowl of red soup. occasionally pausing to glance out at the square.
there is a dizzying combination of architectural styles throughout the city. ornamental doorways with detailed lacy ironwork. faded evidence of grander times. it's all here.
the tall ceilings of overlapping leafy boughs make it easy to avoid walking in the hot sun.
i stopped at nandori csukraszda (pastry shop) on my trek home. put the nespresso machine in the apartment to work and settled in for a first rate sugar coma.
it didn't disappoint.
Thanks for taking us along on your journey. I feel like I am right by your side. Very inspirational!!
Oh dear me…even with this colorful map I would not do well with the metro. I have no idea how directions or routes or colored trails work. I need to follow. Love the sugar pastry. Happy trails my dear…
Thanks so much for answering my questions. You’re a love. I can’t wait to hear/see all the festivities through your eyes/camera for St. Stephen’s Day. This all sounds so exotic and old world…like a step back in time…love the history, the architecture, the signage, the street lamps…the “foreigness” of the place.
hmmmmmm. s i g h, s m i l e. Donna
I love when you travel and are able to blog about it. The pictures are wonderful and I just dream of what you are experiencing but so happy for you. Have fun which it looks like you are and very soon double trouble will be arriving.
MaryAnn
I so enjoy your travels, you capture the most wonderful details in your photos. But truly I love your words and wit. You bring a smile to my face and make me yearn to wander these beautiful streets.
Thank you for sharing your journey with us.
Catherine
I love the beatiful pictures, thanks for taking us along. The desserts look oh so wonderful! Enjoy!
Loving it – thank you so much for bringing us along with you in your brave girl back pocket 🙂
That map is dizzing…. I don’t think I could make heads or tails out of it… looks very complicated. The food looks wonderful!
Thanks for sharing, Emie
Oh, that soup! That glorious soup! And all the trees and the decorated doorways, corbols, pediments, cornices and all those other architectural words that I am (slightly) unsure of and get mixed up all the time—-but they make a goulash of sorts, too, don’t they? Your photos are yummy and I feel just like I am there with you. Bless your heart for taking me along with you!
joan the metro stop closest to me isnt listed on the train, but is on the map. i got off at the one right before mine and walked. i checked out the missing metro stop today and it exists! will take a metro from it and see whats what. i also take trams or busses home. i bought a week transportation pass good on everything. super easy to use you just climb aboard!
i LOVE maps and have a city map that keeps me oriented in budapest. i have run into NO other english speaking tourists though im certain they are out there. probably in the more concentrated tourist centers. i am in a lovely neighborhood. i have seen no one w/ cameras/maps here. just hungarians. which is perfect because i love feeling surrounded by all the foreignness. the menus ARE in english/hungarian so far at places i’ve been. some places have 2 different menus in english or hungarian. also waiters understood enough english to answer questions.
the weather is like california with some humidity so doesnt feel as cool at night. so far i have not turned on the a/c i sleep with fan only. most people from u.s. who come from hot places in the summer would think it is cooler here.
Tellulah – the white creamy desert had small bits of apricot throughout. the cream part is thick, but melts in your mouth. imagine a combination of cream and meringue – heavier on the cream side. the top is sort of textured w/ almost cottage cheesey bits of cream. the taste is sublime, mild, not super sweet. very thin layer of cake on the very bottom. if you love milk/cream you would dig it!
Sister! glad to see you made me a cup of coffee too. I like the red cup please. I have brushed up on hungarian metro sign reading and took my internal radar in for a complete overhaul. See you on Sunday. Keep the flag up in the balcony for me please.
Oh and can you do that YOO HOO SISTER greeting that you did when I got to San Miguel? Yes, the one in that loud, quavery, high-pitched voice that had all the people on the bus with me from the airport wondering who could possible by making that noise. Thats the very one!
Thank you for taking us on your journey to Hungry, sharing the sights and sounds and taste.
I look forward to each posting and feel as if I’m on the trip with you.
More food please. Some chocolate maybe — do they do chocolate in Hungry? What a perfect name for a country! Does “Ah-mer-ik-ca” mean “gurgling empty stomach” in Hungarian? Have you had to use sign language? What shoes are you traipsing around in across the generations of stone? Always love to see your shoe pics — bet they would love to pose on the balcony in a scene:)
Looks delicious! And oh so beuatiful.
Ah, the fun begins! That Metro Map looks like at least one lost stop waiting to happen. But who cares? Your day was a feast for the eyes and a bite of heaven. I’d say ENJOY – but I’m talking to you, doh! Thanks for bringing us all along.
ditto to AJ’s comments….thank you for blogging and sharing Mary Ann 🙂
Please, let us know in very description terms, what that white fluffy thing tasted like! 🙂 Is that…caramel…I see there at the bottom?
This is such fun to follow, thanks for blogging and photographing your trips!
Keep wandering around snapping gorgeous pictures…lovely city. How did you manage to make it back to your apartment if the map doesn’t follow the metro stops? Have you run into anyone who speaks English? Are the menus in English along with Hungarian? Will you re-visit some of these places when sister gets over there?
The weather looks like it’s very nice…sunny and bright. Is the climate similar to CA? Geez, I’m bombarding you with a zillion questions.
Wonderful pix! Gorgeous buildings! Yummy treats. Alas, I am not a fearless traveler, but I deeply admire those who are! Loving this vicarious trip to Budapest. 🙂
This is so much fun, thank you for bringing all of us with you. Wow, the sugary treats made my day.
MaryAnn, I recall trying to read the metro name in my head and nearly missing the stop because my brain had such a hard time wrapping itself around Hungarian. Fortunately, dh and I agreed that together we make about a whole rational person. About…
Love your door picture. My new FTB journal is filling up with door pictures from Crete. It’s a little thing of mine….
Looks like Heaven! On all fronts 😉 Have a fabulous time!
It’s astonishing to me that you would/could travel halfway around the world (with all the planning, packing, and navigating the airports etc. that that entails), actually FIND the place you are to stay, go out and about all by yourself in a place that seems like a dream because nothing you read makes a bit of sense, and are able to make it back to your residence in time for sugar!!! Did I mention the ALL BY YOURSELF part??!!!? I can bearly make it to the store by myself!! 🙂
HOW IN THE WORLD??? I would never have the courage or intellect to do what you do, Mary Ann! You are the INSPIRATION!! And quite the phenomenon!!
I love your beautiful new discovery of Budapest … I never even knew where Budapest WAS until your lovely and courageous journey!! THANK YOU for sharing it! … and for showing me that totally AMAZING things actually CAN be accomplished!!
How about a You Are Here on the map. Then I can go to google maps and pretend I’m site-seeing with you – a virtual vacation from this hellish heat.
What a wonderful time you’re having…
What a beautiful place. I love seeing foreign places through your eyes!
YUM!!!!!!!! be still my sugar seeking heart. As always I am lapping up every photo wanting to retrace your steps. Adore your spirit of adventure, map or no map. 🙂
I admire and envy you spending time on your own in a foreign city. Wish I had the courage to do it.
Such beauty! And you are a fabulous tour guide. Thanks for so much wonderful eye candy.
Keep those posts and photos coming, dear heart.
What a beautiful city–can’t wait to see more!! I love the pictures of the food so please keep those coming as well!!
Lovely! More please.