Budapest

We crossed the border into Hungary and arrived in its capital city, Budapest. Budapest is bisected into Buda and Pest by the River Danube. Our initial accommodation was in the Buda side but we had a slight issue with the host double-booking us so we had to move to another one of his apartments on the Pest side of the city. Despite the inconvenience and losing a few hours in the day, we were pleased that this apartment turned out to be a huge upgrade. We were in the heart of Pest and within walking distance to everything we wanted to see.

First, let me tell you a little bit about this city’s amazing history. Towards the end of WWII in December 1944, the Red Army launched a siege against the German-held Budapest, known as the Siege of Budapest. The Red Army sent more than one million soldiers to cut off Budapest from the rest of the German and Hungarian forces. What ensued was one of the bloodiest campaigns of WWII.

With the Red Army encircling Budapest, tens of thousands of soldiers from the German and Hungarian army, as well as more than 800,000 civilians, were trapped within the city. Adolf Hitler decreed that Budapest was a fortress city and was to be defended to the last man. Food shortages were common and the extreme cold froze the Danube, effectively ending the covert delivery of supplies via barges at night. As a result of this 108-day siege, 320,000 Red Army soldiers, 125,000 German-Hungarian soldiers and 105,000 civilians died.

Afterwards, Budapest lay in ruins, with more than 80% of its buildings destroyed or damaged. All seven bridges spanning the Danube were destroyed. Walking through the Old Town, you would never guess that this city endured such atrocities. Now rebuilt, the buildings are simply astounding. We were flabbergasted when we saw the city and even more so when we explored it.

The architecture, trams and general vibe of the city reminded us so much of Melbourne. We started with the Market Hall right by the Danube. Its sheer size was impressive. Inside, vendors sold everything from vegetables and meat to souvenirs and clothes. Everything was priced just so for us tourists. Being the tight arses that we are, we weren’t interested in getting ripped off so we walked around once and left.

We soon discovered that the food in other parts of the city was a great bargain (Flora does a happy dance). We gathered that the Hungarian diet included lots of meat and, boy, did they look delicious. Food was the cheapest we had seen in Europe so far and they definitely don’t skimp on the portions here! We had one of the best dinners here for a steal, right in the heart of the touristy area. We also caught up with Aunty Tina and Uncle Rob in Budapest. What were the chances of bumping into family on the other side of the world!

After walking aimlessly through the beautiful buildings in Old Town, we went for a walk along the Danube. Just before we got to the Parliament House, we came across a moving sculpture in memory of the Jews that were killed in the Danube. 60 pairs of cast iron period-appropriate shoes were fixed onto the Pest side of the Danube banks. Under the Nazis, a number of Budapest Jews were forced to take off their shoes along the Danube banks before being shot into the Danube.

Only a short distance away, the Parliament House that had been destroyed during the Siege of Budapest had been rebuilt. It is absolutely the most beautiful Parliament House we have ever seen anywhere in Australia or Europe. Budapest also offered free walking tours of the city but we sadly missed out as we found out about it too late. We explored the Jewish Quarter on our own but it would have been so much better having a local explain its history. We ended up in a Jewish food market, keen to taste their delicious looking burgers and hot dogs. Unfortunately, the photos on their menu looked a whole lot better than they tasted, which was not too different from cardboard.

On our last night in Budapest, we decided to go back to the Danube to take some night shots of the bridges. For our first time doing night photography, I think the photos turned out better than expected.Read more