Budapest

Budapest wasn't originally in the plan, but after some pondering of what we wanted to do and seeing Budapest featured in a stop of the Amazing Race, we quickly decided to figure out how to incorporate it into our trip. We had a couple options on getting there, an 8-hour train - not the most efficient use of our short time, or a 1-hour flight back to Warsaw and then another 1 hour 15 min flight to Budapest. So plane it was. Our flight into Budapest landed later afternoon, which turned out to be great as there was an international delegation that arrived in the morning that shut down the airport and several metro lines for a few hours. Thankfully we missed all that and landed with no issues. And because we were flying within Europe didn't have to clear immigration. We made our way to the airport/city bus station and managed to just catch the bus that was leaving. The Budapest Go app we discovered gave us access to buses and the metro and using this method of transport was cheaper than using a cab or Uber. The airport/city bus took us directly to the metro line which would stop a short walk from our hotel. 

We stayed at the Dorothea Hotel situated a couple blocks from the Danube River and in a vibrant part of downtown Budapest. We found the location to be perfect for our few days in Budapest because we could walk to many of the sites such as St. Stephen's Basilica and the Parliament buildings. There were plenty of restaurant options and shopping close by, along with easy access to the metro. The hotel was fairly recently renovated and provided a very contemporary, yet elegant atmosphere. We had a very nicely appointed, large modern room with a seating area that was elevated behind the sleeping area accessible by a couple of stairs. We had a lovely stay here, with an expansive buffet breakfast included each morning. The hotel also had a great spa with a swimming pool, sauna and steam rooms, along with an impressively well equipped gym.

Our time in Budapest was short, only three days, so we packed as much as we could in that time. We ended up doing two different walking tours; one on the Pest side and one on the Buda side. Both were very informative on Budapest's history, including stories about WWII and the Cold War, everyday current life, the current political state - particularly given the pending election, and the general economic condition of the country. We discovered that Hungary has a fairly large wine industry, but that they do not export their products so we decided to do an evening wine tasting at the Tasting Table, a quaint wine shop. We learned about the 22 diverse wine regions and got to taste seven different wines and snack on some locally produced cheeses and charcuterie. We found that, similar to Polish wines, we really enjoyed Hungarian wines as well; really wished they exported. We had a lovely experience and afterwards made our way to Szimpla Kert Ruin Bar a short walk away. Visiting Budapest's ruin bars is an experience in itself. The concept of ruin bars is that these bars take over buildings falling in ruin, decorate them with found eclectic items, artwork and spray paint and turn them into a gathering place operating as a bar. Given the state of the buildings, it's best to do research on the safety before visiting a particular ruin bar. Szimpla is one of the original ruin bars in Budapest and also the most touristy. It used to be an apartment building and comprises of two floors. Each room has a unique theme and it's fascinating walking throughout the building to see the eclectic decor. We found live music in one packed room so we stood just outside the doorway enjoying the tunes. The walls were all graffitied with people leaving their mark to commemorate their visit. So we added our names to the wall marking the date of our visit. Perhaps one day we'll go back to see if it's still there and we can find our marking. On a different evening we enjoyed a cruise down the Danube and enjoyed seeing the lights of the city's buildings. 

Budapest is known as the spa capital of the world. While we originally weren't sure whether we'd have time to fit in a visit to the spa, we ended up booking a 4-hour visit at the iconic Szechenyi Thermal Bath - one of the largest spas in Europe with 15 indoor baths, saunas and steam rooms, and 3 large outdoor pools. Our visit was right at opening so the pools were not that busy to begin, but got busy quickly as the morning progressed. Our visit included a private room where we could change and relax along with a 30 minute massage. It made for a very relaxing start to the day and was definitely worth the experience. 

One of the other highlights of our visit was the Parliament tour we did. We did have to reschedule our tour due to that international delegation that we did not know at the time of booking would be there. Thankfully it all worked out, however we had to pay a change fee so that was a bit annoying given the reason for the change was outside our control. The parliament building is an impressive building located on the Danube River. The interior is equally impressive with intricate and ornate finishings, frescoes on the ceiling, and a grand ornamental stairway. It remains an active government building though the presidential palace, Sandor Palace is actually located on the Buda side of the Danube located by the Buda Castle in the ancient castle district - this area was covered on one of our walking tours. Thankfully parliament was not in session during our visit seeing as the election was to be held 2 days later, and so we were able to view the parliamentary chambers. 

We found Budapest to be a lovely city, fairly walkable in the downtown centre and with good public transportation options for further away sites like the general market where we bought a few different types of paprika. The vibe of the city was lively with a optimism in the air. We enjoyed the really great food scene in the city as well. Our visit was well worth rejigging our itinerary on this trip so we could make this visit happen. I think it's safe to say that if we can, we'll be back one day. 

From Budapest we flew back to Warsaw as we came to an end of our Central Europe adventure.

From Krakow to Budapest to Warsaw

We decided to spend a week over Easter exploring Krakow, Budapest, and Warsaw; places neither of us had been before. After an overnight flight to Warsaw, and after about an hour queue at immigration, we made our way to the train station via the metro to catch a 3 hour train to Krakow. One joke we heard in Krakow was "what is the best thing to do in Warsaw? Take the train to Krakow", so it would seem we covered that off without even realizing it! We grabbed some takeaway salads at the train station so we wouldn't be super hungry when we arrived. We had reserved seating and found our seats in a 6 seater compartment which wasn't quite what the seating map looked like when we booked... what can you do? The trip took us through the countryside with not too much interesting to look at. We arrive in Krakow around 6:30pm local time. The train station was a short walk to our hotel and which took us through a nice park area. We stayed at the Garmond, a boutique hotel situated on a quiet street away from all the hustle and bustle of the main tourist areas. This hotel has a unique history, dating back to 1938 that once housed the editorial offices of one of Poland's most popular daily newspapers. The decor around the hotel is inspired by its history, like typewriters hanging on the wall by the entrance and an old style telephone by reception. Our room was a lovely, decently sized room for Europe. We had a corner room with lots of windows that opened with views of the surrounding nearby park. It was nicely decorated in an art-deco style with a "king" sized bed that was actually two doubles pushed together (typical for Europe). At checkin we were told the restaurant had live jazz music that evening so after we settled in, we decided to check it out as we were somewhat tired and thought a relaxing light dinner with some live music was in order. The musicians were amazing; a pianist and a singer. It was a wonderful way to start our adventure in Krakow, on Good Friday of the Easter weekend. Being a fairly religious country we were intrigued to learn how big Easter is in Poland and had heard that Krakow was the place to be... thus our decision to head here first. 

We spent the next four days exploring the sights and food of Krakow. Over the Easter weekend we made sure to visit the Easter market located at the historic Main Market Square, which, similar to an European Christmas market, had countless festive stalls selling trinkets, souvenirs, art, ceramics, and wooden made crafts including hand-painted ornately decorated Easter eggs, call pisanki. There were plenty of local delicacies to try as well. We learned that on the Saturday, locals bring a small wicker basket lined with lace clothes and filled with foods - such as decorated eggs, bread, sausage, and salt - to their local church to be blessed by a priest. Krakow is home to over 120 Roman Catholic churches; fun fact you'll find a church every 200-300 metres and government taxes help to fund the ongoing operations. On Easter Sunday we decided to check out mass at St. Mary's Basilicia - a Gothic style cathedral located prominently in the Main Square. We didn't understand a single word, but enjoyed the experience nonetheless. 

We took two different walking tours while in Krakow which gave us a very good overview of the history of the city, the country's forced involvement in WWII, and the atrocities that came with its occupation. Additionally, we learned that Poland's history is full of various invasions and occupations including a period of time when Poland effectively ceased to exist for 120 years. Despite a history of invasions and upheaval Poland has established itself as a strong, sovereign democratic republic since the end of the Cold War. During Poland's history as a monarchy, which lasted up until the end of the 18th century, kings were elected by the country's nobles. Walking through the city, you see the different influences left behind by the many occupations in the architecture and even the organization of the buildings in the main square. 

Given our time there was over the Easter weekend, we discovered that many of the museums were closed. We did find out though that the Schindler's Factory museum was open on Easter Monday and that admission was free that day, opening at 10am. We got there at just before 9am and joined the already very long queue of people who had the same idea as us. It took us a good 2 hours waiting in line before we were able to get in. The museum was nicely organized with artifacts and exhibits and personal stories of the people, bringing that part of history alive. It was very informative and sombering at the same time, and gave us a good sense of what happened during that period of history and how Oskar Schindler used his factory to save the Jewish labourers whom he employed. 

On the morning of our last day before flying to Budapest, we toured the grounds of Wawal Castle, a historic and culturally important site in Poland, along with the 1st floor interior of the castle which is adorned with furniture and tapestries from all over the world along magnificent artwork. This castle is where Poland's kings resided for centuries. 

The food scene is heavily influenced by different ethnicities' occupation... with a prominent German influence present. We really enjoyed the food, but did find it a bit "heavy" and usually felt like needing a nap about an hour after eating. We had the best pierogies at a small, cozy cafe off the beaten track, called Pieromir pierogi & tosty. We both tried a variety of the different fillings and thoroughly enjoyed our meals and found the overall cost fairly inexpensive. The desserts and pastries were all very tempting and delicious as were the Obwarzanek Krakowski - a common street food Polish pretzel bagel. We also found enjoyed a couple other ethnic dinners dining at a Lebanese restaurant one evening and an Indian on another. Turns out, Polish wines are also quite good and we really enjoyed tasting several different varieties during our time there.