Ok, get ready for a long read because Wow! Wow! Wow! If Budapest wasn’t at the very top of your travel list…it should be. I am blown away by the grandeur and beauty of this city and took enough pictures to make my iPhone explode!!
Niya the Great!
This may have been our first time Budapest, but it wasn’t Niya’s. Almost 6 years ago her little puppy buns hopped on a plane from Budapest to Boston and made our family complete! She was given the name “Niya” at birth, which means “a desire for something purposeful and bright” and we decided not to change it because that’s exactly what she meant to us then…and still does now.
Bringing her back here is so fun! She’s a great tour guide and couldn’t help but remind us that she’s the Queen of this castle and ours! We were even lucky enough to meet up with a handsome grey fellow, Ymir. We started following his Instagram account over 5 years ago and when his Dad saw we were here, he drove an hour to a city park so they could meet.
Buda-Pest
Once two separated cities by the Danube River, Buda and Pest are now one fantastic metropolis. In the chronological order of architectural styles, Budapest represents the entire timeline from Ancient Roman, Gothic, Baroque, and Art Nouveau. Everywhere you look is one beautiful building, bridge, or sculpture after one another. Like many other European cities, numerous wars, occupations of invaders, and superpowers have influenced the beauty.
Fisherman’s Bastion
A part of the Buda Castle, this is one of the most popular and important monuments in all of Budapest. Several historians say that in the Middle Ages this part of the castle walls was protected by the guild of fishermen (Halász), who lived under the walls.
Fishermans Bastion was also inspiration to Walt Disney when creating Magic Kingdom’s castle at Disney World.
City Park
Monuments! Castles! And even some bears – oh my! Dave and I love city parks, and I have to say that I think Budapest takes the win so far! Filled with thermal baths, castles with moats you can rowboat in, and even a zoo and ice skating rink – you can spend an entire day here and never get bored.
Home Away from Home!
I often get asked what types of places were staying in, and trust me when I tell you, our typical Airbnb’s aren’t this luxurious! However, one of the benefits of traveling right now is that inventory is greater than demand and we have gotten some amazing deals. We stayed in the center of Budapest, just blocks from the Danube and in the heart of the shopping district. It was the perfect place to rest our feet and wallets for only $38 a night.
What an amazing place! There is so more to see and do, and we’ve already said without hesitation we will come back. Now were headed upstream on the Danube to Bratislava, Slovakia.
From Abroad With Love – AG
