Budapest

I had long yearned to visit the capital of Hungary, yet there always used to be some obstacles on my way. In early October my girlfriend urged me to take a short foray abroad before the end of 2022. I had to forego my reluctance to support in any way the authoritarian regime of Mr Orban (just as in 2019 I renounced my resolution to never invest in government bonds – this has paid me off well, with superior coupons on inflation-linked gilts).

The cost of cheap airline tickets (return ticket with no small hand baggage for mere PLN 130 – such expense does not discourage from flying) and accommodation (PLN 128 per person per night) were actually the only outlays which did not hit the wallet. Maybe except for public transport tickets which were reasonably cheap.

Inflation in Hungary exceeded 20% and this is felt, even after the Hungarian forint depreciated against the Polish currency. Especially the entry tickets to sights had steep prices, but if one wants to get to know the city, such expenses must be borne.

The weather in early days of November was quite nice, with temperature in between +10C and +15C most of the time and hitting +20C in the afternoon on 2 November. If I was to pick one word to describe Budapest, I would choose “drab”. Drabness of the Hungarian capital, nearly everywhere, except for most splendid tourist destinations, is eye-popping. But while taking pics, I attempted to catch the more pleasurable atmosphere of the city.

To the right – a view at Danube river and the edifice of parliament in the distance, as seen from the ascent to the Gellert Hill. The pic taken around an hour before sunset.

The beautifully illuminated parliament building is the iconic landmark of Budapest, looking much better in the darkness that during daylight.

Inside, the building is decorated in typical Austro-Hungarian lavish style, with lots of gold and paintings. The lavishness is actually overwhelming.

The basilica in Budapest, built in the middle of the nineteenth century, also had its wall, ceiling and domes splendidly adorned. This time round I took some effort to tweak with settings of my camera, which had a visible positive impact on the quality of shots.

The basilica has a viewing terrace which overlooks the city which lacks skyscrapers. Here, a view on the Fishermen’s Bastion, the pic taken with > 10x optimal zoom, hence the blob (I lack time to process snaps in the photoshop).

Andrassy Street is definitely the high street of Budapest. The view in which all lines converged towards the horizon took my fancy, hence I bothered to snap the alley…

…From the Victory Square which, like many spots in the Hungarian capital commemorates year 1896 when Hungary celebrated a millennium of its existence. The square brings to mind sights of Berlin…

Another lavish interior is the biggest synagogue in Europe, not destroyed during WW2. It was my first visit to a Jewish temple, set me back nearly the equivalent of PLN 100, but given the expense was one-off, it was worth it!

I also thoroughly recommended the thermal baths in Budapest, yet for obvious reasons, I did not take any photographs there.

Now time to focus on Szlachetna Paczka – less than 4 weeks left before the final weekend and lot of hard work to be put in ahead of my team and me.