Last October, we took our first trip as empty nesters with the ultimate goal of reaching one of our chicks who was studying in Prague, Czech Republic for the fall semester.  I mentioned our trip in my post, In the Bag.  You might recall that I was masquerading as a lifestyle blogger in that post!  As it turns out, several of you did take my advice and purchased those comfy metro slouch pants from Athleta I mentioned.

I also mentioned the trip in my post Chicken Paprikash when I was preparing the dish in anticipation of our first stop in Budapest, Hungary.

In any case, a friend recently got in touch for hotel and restaurant recommendations for Prague and it reminded me that I should blog about the trip which included stops in Budapest (3 nights), Vienna (3 nights) and Prague (4 nights).  I can’t fit everything into one post, so this week I am just focusing on our time in Budapest.  Long on my bucket list to visit, the city did not disappoint.

We flew from Boston to Budapest via Zurich on Swiss Air, arriving at our hotel mid-afternoon.  This is a picture of the lobby which I took mostly because of the gorgeous chandelier…

Budapest is separated into two sections, Buda and Pest with the River Danube running in between. Our hotel was situated on the Pest side of the river, in front of the Chain bridge and within walking distance to many of the city’s highlights.  In fact, we only took public transportation once when we wanted to make sure to arrive somewhere before closing.  We felt the city was very manageable by foot…

When we find ourselves in a new city, we always set out with a map and good shoes to get a lay of the land.  We also find that walking on day one is a good way to keep ourselves going until absolutely dropping after dinner and hopefully getting a good night’s sleep!  We took in the St. Stephen’s Basilica that was near the hotel…

And we took this picture from the Buda side of the river.  The dome in the distance is the famous Parliament building that you will recognize if you’ve ever seen the Viking River Cruise commercials!

There are a pair of magnificent lions protecting the Chain bridge on both sides of the river…

We decided to eat at the restaurant in the hotel, Kollazs on our first night to keep things easy.  In addition to sampling some of the delicious Hungarian wine produced in the Tokaj region of the country, we enjoyed some lovely food including this Tagliatelle with Forest Mushrooms…

and for dessert, this French toast with strawberry ice cream, macadamia nuts and macerated strawberries…

They also brought us a spread called Korozott, a mixture of cottage cheese that has been drained and dried out (like yogurt), paprika and onion that was so tasty.  We were told it is sometimes made with other flavorings such as cuminseed and even mixed with goat cheese.

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On our first full day, we spent half with a guide who showed us many of the city’s highlights, again on foot.  The weather was spectacular for late October so we were very lucky.  This is a view of Buda Castle Hill and the St. Matthias church taken from the Pest side of the river…

These iron shoes collectively serve as a memorial to Holocaust atrocities that occurred at the river’s edge in 1944…

And are located very close to the famous Parliament building, one side of which is shown below…

And the front of the building…

The picture below is a memorial to honor the students who were shot upon during the beginning of the Hungarian Revolution in 1956 in the Parliament’s shadow…

Walking away from the Parliament building we came across a statue of President Reagan which was unveiled in 2011 and serves to honor the former President for his role in “bringing the Cold War to a conclusion, and for the fact that Hungary regained its sovereignty in the process”…

And then we stopped at First Strudel House of Pest for their homemade confections and a latte.  I had this apricot version and my husband had a raspberry cream.  Scrumptious!

After touring around the Pest side of the city, we went across the river to Buda, location of Matthias Church which is a must see…

The Buda side of the city is more quaint and residential in contrast to the more urban Pest side.  From there, we visited one of the buildings that houses Budapest’s famous thermal baths, but we did not partake!

At this point, we parted ways with our tour guide back and took a spin through the Central Market Hall which is the largest and oldest indoor market in Budapest which was really fun…

The rest of the day, we enjoyed lunch at a restaurant called Central that we just happened upon, and went for a leisurely walk through the Jewish Quarter and on one of the main shopping streets, Andrassy.

Dinner that night involved a return to the Buda side of the city to one of the oldest restaurants in Budapest named Pest-Buda Bistro.  The restaurant prepares homestyle Hungarian dishes like a grandmother might make and serves only Hungarian wines.  Our meal included these crepes with minced chicken that was served in a paprika sauce…

This pork and dill stuffed cabbage were served on a bed of sauerkraut…

And this Wild Boar Stew with Forest Mushrooms that was served with Potato “doughnuts”.  There wasn’t a bad dish in the bunch.  Great, homestyle cooking that we really enjoyed.  The wines were from the vineyard Sauska.  My husband had a Cabernet and I enjoyed a white made with the Furmint grape that resembled a chardonnay.

After a leisurely walk back to the hotel, we decided to follow up on a recommendation made by our tour guide and try the Hungarian produced Palinka, a fruit spirit that has a rather high alcohol content.  It came in lots of varieties and we chose to try the plum and pear flavors.  Woo-hoo!  You can only sip about 1/8 teaspoon at a time, but it is tasty and will definitely warm you through!!!

We got a bonus hour of rest because our trip overlapped with daylight savings.  We used our extra energy to climb up Gellert Hill to the Liberation Monument which is a symbol of the country’s liberation.  The hike afforded us beautiful views of the city…

And then we shifted gears and walked to Hero’s Square, passing by a Herend store with this fabulous lion in the window!  Herend is manufactured in Hungary and had time permitted, we would have loved to have visited the factory which is outside of the city…

This is my pano of Hero’s Square.  Beyond the square is a beautiful park, great for walks and picnics…

We returned to the Jewish Quarter to visit the Great Synagogue, the largest operating synagogue in Europe…

Dinner that evening was relatively close to our hotel at a lovely restaurant called Rezkakas (Rooster) Bistro.  Reminds me a little bit of France…

We had a starter that was called a taste of the Hungarian countryside with various charcuterie, cheese and pate…

And this dish was very memorable.   It was an elegant beef tenderloin goulash.  Clever and delicious.  Served with some crepes that were filled with zucchini and egg barley with mashed potatoes on the side…

On our last morning, we took one last walk around.  In addition to picking up many packages of paprika to bring back for friends, and a Herend vase for my mother-in-law, we stopped at two cute bakeries.  Jacques Liszt Bakery is a teeny place close to our hotel where we shared an apricot croissant and Artizan Budapest was another little shop where we found sandwiches to take on the train.  Thankfully it was also close to the Parliament building so we could take one final peek and picture before heading to the train station…

We absolutely loved our time in Budapest.  The people were incredibly friendly, warm and welcoming everywhere we went.  The city was rich in history and the food was wonderful.  Hungary’s currency is the forint as it has not yet adopted the Euro.  We found pricing around the city to be very reasonable.

Happy Valentine’s Day and here are some links to previous February posts that may serve you well this weekend!  Until next week…

One Year Ago:  Easy Roast Chicken

Two Years Ago:  Glazed Chocolate Cake

Two Years and 3 Days Ago:  Espresso Chocolate Mousse Cups