Discovering The Best Places to Visit in Europe
I’ve always loved gardening but figured I couldn’t do much when living in a shoebox size apartment. I do have lots of window sill space though so I started a little herb and vegetable patch in four big pots. I have room for four more but will wait and see how these go first. Here’s what I planted:
These are pics of how they look now and I’ll post more as they grow.
I failed miserably at my 30 day workout challenge, only completing 13 workouts in 30 days instead of 25. It was difficult working out while on the road, staying in hotel rooms but it was definitely doable. I’m going to start another challenge next week which will include regular HIIT workouts and no sugar.
The 600 rep workout I did today was a killer. There are 10 exercises, 60 reps for each exercise for a total of 600 reps. It took Zuzana just over 32 minutes and me about 10 minutes longer.
Results
30th March 2010: 42 minutes and 9 seconds
I saw this on TV yesterday so decided to have a go at making it. I don’t think I’ve ever made a tart before but for my first time, I think it turned out ok.
I not one for visiting churches or other places of worship. For the most part take the attitude that if you’ve seen one church you’ve seen them all. But seeing as I was walking by the St Stephen’s Basilica I figured I may as well have a quick look inside.
I’m so glad I did. This must be one of the most beautiful churches around. The interior is all marble and the ceiling and works of art are all incredible. I can’t imagine how much the church must have had to steal and manipulate to be able to afford to build that.
As I’ve already said, I love chicken paprika, a typical Hungarian dish which can be found on pretty much every menu in Budapest. There are plenty of other tempting dishes, spicy goulash being one of them but without the beef for me.
On the sweeter side of things, you have many, many cakes to choose from. I tried a number of them (for research purposes) but didn’t find anything which I really loved. I will keep looking though.
The most fascinating items are the pastries with unpronounceable names which you see the locals indulging in every morning with their coffee. I tried a couple and can’t really say I liked them but they might be more of an acquired taste. A lot of the pastries have poppy seed fillings or walnuts and other strange (for me) ingredients. Interesting. More research is needed here 
Hungarian cuisine consists mainly of beef and pork dishes so at most meals I chose either a vegetarian soup or chicken paprika, which I love!
Chicken paprika is usually the leg and thigh part of the chicken (at least in my limited experience), which I don’t really like, but on my last day there I found it with the chicken breast and it was perfect. I love the paprika sauce with cream which is delicious with the potato dumplings it always comes with. In fact, I would probably prefer the chicken paprika without the chicken and just have the sauce and dumplings!
I’m going to find the recipe for this dish when I get home. It shouldn’t be too hard to make but who knows if it will taste the same as how they make it in Hungary, probably not.
I first planned to travel to Budapest in 1999. I was doing a quick European tour with some friends from my French class (I was living in Paris) which included Brussels, Amsterdam, Prague Vienna, and Budapest. At the time, Australians still needed tourist visits for a number of European countries including Czech Republic and Hungary. Having left my travel plans to the last minute, I only had time to get the Czech visa. So I wasn’t able to visit Budapest and it was 10 years before I finally made the journey.
My first impression of Budapest was what a beautiful city it is. Impressive Habsburg era buildings everywhere, beautiful squares, clean streets, and the gorgeous Hungarian Parliament.
I was staying in Pest, at the foot of the Chain Bridge. Everything was in walking distance and you can see most of the sites within a couple of days. We spent 5 days there, which meant we could see everything at a leisurely pace.
One of the reasons for my trip was to see if I wouldn’t mind living in either Budapest, Vienna or Prague. At first I thought I would love to live in Budapest but as the days went on, I decided against it. Sometimes I felt like when the locals look at you they see nothing but dollar signs and they would do anything to get money out of you. Not that I was ever ripped off, not at all, they just seemed desperate for money. Not that we don’t all do things for money, it might just be that others are more subtle about their desperation! I don’t know, I didn’t feel totally comfortable, that’s all. Maybe that would change if I spent more time there.
On to the good things! Budapest is cheap! That’s a nice change from Paris. Eating out has little impact on your wallet which is great because the food is amazing. I don’t think I had a bad meal. Breakfast usually consisted of some unusual Hungarian pastry, lunch was almost always chicken paprika with dumplings, and then afternoon coffee and cake 
Bliss!
There is a great indoor market at the end of Vati Utca, the main shopping street. We bought our supplies from there which included fresh fruit, sweet and hot paprika, and what I thought was cheese but turned out to be margarine. I tried a few of the different breads but most of them are very heavy bread which I like to call peasant bread. I think I’ll stick to baguettes.
The castle district in Buda is the most touristy part of Budapest. It’s a great place to wander around for a few hours or more and has fantastic views of Pest and especially of the parliament.
Pest is more business like and is a great place to admire the local architecture, visit the incredible St Stephen’s Basilica, Opera House, and Hungarian Parliament, or go shopping on Vati Utca. I loved this part of town.
I had really wanted to go to one of the thermal baths but didn’t get around to it. I’ll definitely have to do that next trip. I’d also like to go back and see the statue park which has all the communist era statues. That would be interesting for sure.
Overall, I loved Budapest. I don’t think I want to live there but am definitely looking forward to going back soon.
Wenceslas Square is named after ‘Good King Wenceslas’, even though it turns out he was only a Prince. This square has changed a lot since my last visit in 2000. It’s much more commercial than I remember but that’s not really surprising.
The gorgeous National Museum sits at the top of the hill but I didn’t have time to go in. I read a funny story about this building which said that when the Soviet forces moved into Prague in 1968 they attacked the National Museum thinking it was the Czech parliament because it’s such a grand building. Oops! I don’t know if that’s true though.
The area in and around Wenceslas Square is Prague’s main shopping district but there are plenty of hotels and places to eat too. Â I had lunch at the Hotel Jalta and it was one of the best meals I had in the Czech Republic. They do modern Czech and Mediterranean cuisine and while it’s not the cheapest place to eat in Prague it was totally worthwhile.
Prague’s main square in the old town would have to be one of the most beautiful squares in Europe. I love the varied architecture and the fun atmosphere.
I’m always drawn to Tyn Church which dominates the square. Every building is of interest though with most of them being pure works of art. The astronomical clock is a bit overrated, I think, but plenty of tourists hang around on the hour to check it out, just watch out for pickpockets if you choose to watch.
From the main square you can easily get to the Jewish quarter and Charles Bridge.
Prague is incredibly crowded in the summer months so I recommend visiting off season if possible.
