Flashback Friday - Budapest 2014 (part one)

October 2014 we went to the beautiful city of Budapest for a short break - Budapest is the capital of Hungary and has the river Danube running through it, splitting Buda from Pest. We stayed in the Bohem Art Hotel (behind the van with the E sign) and it was great as it was on a street between the Danube and the main street Vaci. It has art on display throughout the hotel, and whilst our room was compact it was perfect for what we needed as there was a great lounge bar downstairs which I loved sitting in as it was purple.

We arrived at our hotel early afternoon, so once we checked in we headed off to explore. Our first stop was getting something to eat and we found this lovely restaurant with a tree inside it.

This was before we became vegetarians so my meal was very interesting and Ken made a face at what I chose which was basically pigs trotters in a sauce with rice. It had a fancy Hungarian name but unfortunately I didn't write it down.

After lunch we went for a walk to explore the area around where we were staying. The architecture is beautiful and there's so much to see.

The local city bike hire scheme - nice bright green bikes. They were dotted around the city and we did see them used quite a lot.

This is Liberty Bridge which is the shortest bridge across the Danube in Budapest and was opened in 1896. As with all the other bridges in Budapest, this one was blown up by retreating German troops in the second world war, and was reopened in 1946. The bridge was called Francis Joseph Bridge but after it's reconstruction it's name was changed to Liberty.

Cruise ships on the Danube. There were lots of these moored up along the river as it's a popular stop off point.

More lovely buildings.

I love street art and this is a fabulous example on a rock wall that we walked past. It's so good how it looks like the foliage is the person's hair.

On the opposite side of the river to our hotel the banks are lined with old gatehouses as the palace is above here on the hill.

More of the lovely buildings that we spotted on our first day when we wandered around. It's easy to imagine what it was like 100 years ago as so many of the buildings have survived or been restored after the war.

There are lots of fabulous statues dotted around the city and we really liked this chappy on his scooter. Using a scooter must be good for you as he's got a very cute little bottom.

On Vaci street there was a beautiful Christmas shop which of course I had to go in and have a mooch around. This wreath was on the outside of the shop and has pretty fairy lights through it.

Another thing I absolutely love is doors (I know, it's a slightly strange thing to have a fascination with but I never said I was normal) and there are lots of really nice one's throughout the city.

I may not have shown a picture of this hobby for a while, but I still get Ken to put on silly hats so that I can take a picture of him. Call me crazy, but I think this one really suited him but he wouldn't let me buy it for him.

There are lots of rickshaws around the city trying to get tourists to use their services. They're all really interesting looking but this one wins the prize for the most unique rickshaw we've ever seen - they've cut off the back end of a car and attached a pushbike to it. I can't imagine it's a light thing to pull but add in a couple of tourists and then it must be very heavy.

Along Vaci street there are restaurants with tables outside with blankets for people to use if they get too cold. We really liked how pretty this one looked as when it got really dark you could see the colorful lanterns all down the street.

There's so much more to show you about this beautiful city so it's going to be a regular flashback for a while. Here's a couple of shots I took in our hotel in the evening - the tables are where we had breakfast each day. The breakfasts were amazing with all sorts of foods out for us to choose from and they even had bottles of champagne out if anyone wanted a glass with their breakfast (my kind of hotel).

This is one of the many works of art that are around the hotel.

We managed to see quite a lot during a few days and I would love to go back one day - if you ever get the chance do visit this lovely city.

Until next time, be good, stay safe, and hopefully you're having a really good day.

Pamela & Ken
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