Travels

Blanca & Ian's Travels

Hungary

Trip Report - 2007

Aggie-sheg-a-dra
(Or something thing that . . .)

Budapest, Eger, Győr, Sopron, Vienna (Austria)
with lunch in Warsaw

The Hilton on the left behind the
Fisherman's' Bastion

Hilton Budapest - Var District - Hess A. ter 1-3, Budapest, Hungary
Free with Hilton Honors Points

www.hilton.com

Accommodations: Very nice king-bedded room on the 3rd Floor - the Executive floor. Very nice 'American-style' room. Comfortable couch & chairs. Bathrobes & slippers. Shower stall & bathtub. The usual TV with channels from throughout Europe - (including my trusty BBC Europe), Safe, mini-bar, ice machine down the hall, in-house restaurants X 3, concierge. Very nice. The staff were excellent.

Superbly located beside the Matyas Church on the Buda Hill. The view from our room was breathtaking. We looked over the Fisherman's Bastion with the Danube River & Pest as a backdrop. Many restaurant choices were within walking distance but you have to remember what the locals say: "In Pest you will get double the portion at half the price of Buda".

The Negatives: 15 minute cab ride from Pest (1600F to near-river locations). To use public transport you must grab the bus in the square & it drops you at Ter. This is a major transit hub on the subway line. Remember if you use tickets - as opposed to a pass, you must get one stamped by the machines before every leg of a transit run.

Day 15 Thursday June 28

Back to Budapest. After one last blast of relativing & a nice lunch from Etus, we packed the car & drove out of Sopron heading east just after noon. Another easy drive although it rained for some of the way. It's two lane until Gyor, so that slowed it done since 84/85 is a busy truck route. We were warned that this road is also considered somewhat dangerous due to a high accident rate. Lights on. please! And remember to slow to 50 km/hr when you enter a town or village. We saw one major speed trap in Enese with over a dozen police in evidence on both sides of the road. We drove by legally. We reached the outskirts of Buda at around 3 PM. The Hilton on the Buda Hill was our destination again - I know, how boring! We were leaving Ferighey at 9:35 AM for Warsaw so we just needed a bed & HH Points came through again.

	Driving: Small town congestion
All was going well until the highway turned into a city street & then we came to the decision point. Up the ramp towards Erzsébet Hid or straight into city traffic. Of course, we went with the ramp & then had to exit just before the bridge but heading the wrong way. We passed the Gellért & turned around with mild difficulty. Then we found our way to the castle hill without any problem & parked the car. After check-in - we got a room 2 doors from the one we had - we walked next door the the Matyas Church since we had skipped it last time. After a brief visit, B went shopping & I wandered the Buda Hill looking for photo opps & a restaurant to book for our last Hungarian meal. Istvan's son came to get the car as arranged & I surrendered the keys to him with pleasure. For dinner, we decided on Alabárdos - Országház utca 2 - Buda see http://www.alabardos.hu/, just a block from the hotel. It was certainly upscale & turned out well. The staff was a bit stiff & pretentious & yet they shake your hand when you leave. 6900 Ft for wine & similar for food. Typical high-end food sizes too.
Colorful car		Building details - Buda
Old woman - Buda		Building detail - Buda
Day 16 Friday June 29 While waiting for B, I snap one last picture out of the window. Then we taxi'd to the airport. We paid more than Zona fare when we arrived, so we should have ordered one the night before. But we got there & checked in with LOT Airlines for our hop to Warsaw.
	Morning - Our last view