Budapest Day 1: Appetite, Architecture, and the Arts
It was 10p local time when I arrived in Budapest. Passport control and luggage retrieval went smoothly and I was picked up by a driver arranged by my hotel. We arrived at Hotel Oktogon, a boutique hotel near Oktogon Square. The hotel was originally a palace built in the 1880s for Henrik Haggenmacher, a wealthy brewer. It still looked a bit like a palace on the inside.
I had reserved a room on the top floor.
I realized pretty quickly that I would need to open a window in order to sleep at night. I'd heard that European hotels keep the heat pretty high but I wasn't prepared for the reality. I did have a thermostat but wasn't able to adjust it. Thankfully I was on the 5th floor so I felt safe opening the window to sleep.
I snuggled into bed with my London Scotch egg from The Ginger Pig.
I slept surprisingly well given my nap in the lounge earlier in the day and was up early to get cash and figure out the metro before my 10a food tour. I had some technical difficulties buying the online metro pass but finally was successful connecting with my debit card. Just outside my hotel on the square were several ATMs at local banks which was convenient to get Hungarian forint.
Also conveniently right outside my hotel was the Oktogon metro stop. 
The metro system in Budapest is the oldest in continental Europe (with London's being the oldest in all of Europe). London's underground has been modernized/upgraded. Budapest's still looked original.
I rode the metro to the Opera stop (only one stop away) and met the guide and other people on the tour. Outside of a large family, there was a couple from Lubbock (we talked football) and a single American woman in Budapest on business. Since we met in front of the opera house, the guide let us walk in to see the inside. I would be coming back that night for a show but just walking in to take a peak took my breath away.
It was also packed with tour groups so we didn't stay long, walked around the outside, and headed to our first food stop.
View of St. Stephen's Basilica thru the buildings.
Our guide Zorro with the group
First stop was Strudel Garden
Strudel is very popular in Budapest and we were given a selection of several flavors to choose from.
I tried the poppyseed (most popular) and the apple. I thought the poppyseed was dry but I enjoyed the apple. I had some amazing WHITE hot chocolate to go with it.
We needed to be at our next stop by 11a sharp since the guide couldn't make a reservation. We arrived at Retro Langos right on time.
We tried the classic langos which is a fried dough covered in sour cream and cheese. The dough was kind of like a pizza crust and it was brushed with butter and garlic. I was skeptical of this dish at first but it was amazing. It was so garlicky and good. 
From there it was on to a family-run restaurant to try goulash.
The goulash was very tasty and not thick like I was expecting. The guide told us to add some of the spicy paprika paste.
Our last stop of the day was a speakeasy-type place with an unmarked door. 
Here we learned how to make our own carbonated soda which is a surprising piece of Hungarian history. Apparently in the 1800s, city water wasn't healthy so a local scientist developed a way to carbonate it. This helped spark a soda industry and carbonating your own soda became a part of Hungarian culture.
We were served some local meats and cheeses to go with our soda, including Hungarian paprika sausage and various deer sausages. 
We also got a taste of the local hooch. Palinka is a fruit brandy with no sugar added. It's 40-50% alcohol and tastes like it.
And tried some local wines.
We spent a considerable amount of time at this stop and once again, I was hot. Above our table was the heater and I realized why I was so hot inside everywhere.
30 degrees celsius = 86 degrees fahrenheit!
Our last snack of the day was a Hungarian childhood favorite. It's a sweet curd cheese covered in chocolate. I was expecting more of a marshmallow flavor but it definitely wasn't that. 
This was the first time I've ever done a food tour like this and I really enjoyed it, especially on the first day of the trip. Zorro gave us lots of recommendations and pointers and I was able to try lots of different Hungarian foods without ordering full servings at various restaurants.
I had a little over an hour until my next timed event which was a tour of Parliament. I walked down towards the riverfront. On the way, I passed thru Liberty Square.
And came across a statue of George H.W. Bush. What??? Apparently he is considered instrumental in helping Hungary transition from communism to democracy in the late 1980s. Who would have thought?
The Danube riverfront was beautiful. A river cruiseship was going by as I arrived.
Unfortunately the beauty of the area is marred by what happened here at the end of WWII. Thousands of Jews were rounded up and forced to stand on the riverbank and remove their shoes. They were then shot so their bodies would fall into the river. The shoes were valuable so those were kept. Budapest erected a 60-shoe memorial along the edge of the riverbank to commemorate those who died. The memorial reflects men's, women's, and children's shoes.
Parliament was a short walk away so I made may way there to give myself enough time to find my tour. 
I had to go to the bathroom at this point and this is where I ran into my first public bathroom issue. In the US, public bathrooms are plentiful and free. Not so in much of Europe. I walked around and around trying to find a place where I could go and finally found a coffee shop across from Parliament that charged a few forint for the bathroom. That done now I needed to find my tour. I walked around and around again trying to find the entrance. I finally had to ask one of the security officers standing around and she pointed me in the right direction. In my defense, it was slightly underground which is why I couldn't find it.
Once inside, I stood in line for the 3p tour then went thru security. Although we had a "guide" on the tour, he was really just an escort and we were given audio guides for the tour itself. The Parliament building was completed in 1904 and still houses the Hungarian government today. It was modeled after London's Parliament which I visited on my 2013 trip.
The grand entrance where important persons are allowed to enter the building.
This leads into the ceremonial dome hall where the crown jewels are located.
Two armed guards walk in a circle around them at all times.
One wing of the ceremonial dome honors Hungary's economic, cultural, and societal achievements by its display of statues on the pillars representing various trades such as agriculture, law, arts, etc.
Our next stop was the chamber where Parliament government sessions are conducted.
Outside the door of the chamber are cigar holders. Previously many government members smoked cigars and would place them in these numbered trays to smoke on breaks.
Our tour ended as we walked the long hallway back to the entrance. There was a view thru the window panes of the other side of the Danube.
In addition to the metro, my ticket allowed me to ride the trams that run across the city. I caught the tram just outside and rode it all the way back to Oktogon Square. 
Just off the square was a grocery store so I stopped there to get some Cokes and water for my room. I had just enough time to rest my feet for a few minutes and change clothes before heading out for my last event of the day, the Nutcracker ballet. The square was a busy area at night.
Once again, I took the metro to the Opera stop. The Opera House was even more magnificent at night.
The opera house was built in 1884 and has capacity of about 1,200. I had tickets for one of the back rows at orchestra level and it was a perfect vantage point for the stage and to marvel at everything around me.
I went back and forth on getting tickets to the Nutcracker. On the one hand, I don't consider myself a ballet fan at all. On the other hand, I love the Nutcracker and I'd read over and over online that attending a show at the opera house was a must-do experience. I knew I would be tired on my first day and I had a lot of plans so I thought I'd go and then if I'm bored or tired, I could just leave at intermission. Well.....I was so wrong. I was enthralled. It was breathtaking and gorgeous and turned out to be my favorite activity of the entire trip.
Nutcrackers at the Nutcracker
The ballet ended about 830p and I was finally hungry after all the eating I did on the food tour earlier in the day. I walked a block or two to a cozy little restaurant called Ket Szerecsen.
They were full to the brim but made a small table for me by the door. I ordered a cuba libre which they brought with my favorite Havana Club cuban rum. For a starter, I got the pork ribs.
And for the main I ordered chicken paprikash with a side of cucumber salad.
Dinner was wonderful. The paprika sauce on the chicken was delicious. I loved the atmosphere of the place and the staff were so nice. I walked the quick few blocks back to my hotel while talking to Alex on the phone.
What an amazing day it had been and again I went to bed so excited for the next.
This featured blog entry was written by zihuatcat from the blog Escape from Reality.
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