Buda Exploring

We didn't have a lot of plans today in terms of sightseeing, as although there is plenty to do in the city, we mostly wanted to see what the Budapest Christmas Markets are like. This meant we could just wander through the streets and experience the city. We started from our hotel, leaving quite late to allow our muscles to recover from the day before, before eventually heading south toward the city centre. This allowed us to pass the Parliament building. We only saw it from the road, but it was a mindboggling sight nonetheless. In a few days, we would be seeing it from the river, and this only made the building more spectacular and shocking. The photos from the road don't do it much justice as you can't capture the whole building. Its large spires, many levels, old windows, and balconies make it really unique. After some more wandering and picture taking of a beautiful city, we arrived at the local Christmas markets that are situated at the feet of the local church, St. Stephen's Basilica. Interestingly, Puscas, a legendary footballer who is Hungarian, apparently, is buried here. The best goal of the year, awarded by eufa, is named in his honour. The entrance fee to the church was far more than I was willing to commit to the church, however, so we figured we would skip it. There are plenty of free basilicas all over Europe that would likely be just as nice. But we heavily enjoyed the Christmas markets. There was a plethora of food, sweets, little trinkets, and plenty of Gluhwein. As such, we strolled through and started to build up a hunger before continuing south. This would allow us to quickly pass through the more famous Christmas markets of Budapest on our way to lunch / dinner. We didn't spend a lot of time at the markets as we were quite hungry, but we continued to a restaurant recommended by Melissa and enjoyed a feed. By this point, we had quite a long day of walking and decided to head home, enjoying the scenery as we went. The lights of the city are really beautiful at night and we are keen to see it, and more of the attractions over the next week or so.Read more