And, Still More Budapest
A few places that we would have liked to visit but didn't have time:
- Statue Park. A place where the gigantic monuments from the Communist dictatorship went to die. When the Iron Curtain fell, all the political statues were removed from the streets and put in this outdoor museum.
- Actually have time to go into the museums (especially the Museum of Fine Arts) to see the varied collections.
- Go to an opera or concert.
- Take one of those famous sulphur (mineral) Turkish baths in the turn-of-the-century Gellert.
Restaurants? Hundreds of restaurants on both sides of the Danube River. Sorry, but I can't give you any recommendations. We didn't eat at Gellert or Gundel, two of the most famous ones around Vaci utca. (Expensive) Traditional Hungarian food is heavy on meat, goose liver (available to purchase in the Central/Main Market Hall), and dumplings. You'll have to find your own restaurants, easy to do since menus are always posted outside. BUT , be aware, some restaurants only take cash. Learned that after we sat down, ordered, ate and was presented with the bill while the two of us frantically tried to come up with an assortment of dollars, Euros and Hungarian Forints (182 Forints equaled $1). Hungary is a member of the European Union but does not use the Euro as its currency.
The two glorious, sunny and hot days we spent in Budapest were not enough. We are fortunate enough to have visited Prague in the past but, in our opinion, Budapest is even prettier - if that's at all possible. What a great city....beautiful...friendly...good food...
We still needed to spend another day outside Budapest, going to Szentendre...
