Writing and travel broaden your ass if not your mind and I like to write standing up. – Earnest Hemingway
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
Day Three
The Ultimate Cure for a Hangover
So over a week of indulging heavy food, drinking, celebrating and traveling…my body was coming undone. My third day in Budapest started a bit rough. A hangover set in quickly and combined with the fact that I’m no morning person it was a less than a vibrant start of the morning for me. However, unknown to me at the time, our plans for the day would just be the cure I needed.
We started the day with a rush to find an open post office. We had several bottles of wine in tow and no room in our suitcases. After roaming around for over an hour, we finally found one open on a Saturday…and with a little sneakiness on our part we mailed our ‘books’ home and began to look for a hearty lunch to get us through the rest of the afternoon.
Our plan for the day was to start off with a relaxing day at the famous Turkish baths, Széchenyi fürdő. We headed in that direction and found a nearby restaurant to fill up beforehand.
Lunchtime!
Paprika Étterem…authentic, hearty hungarian food and pints of beer…feeling better already! This restaurant was so close to the tourist areas (zoo, park, baths and circus) that I had little hope that we would find a good meal, even with the high ratings online. To my surprise, I had one of my favorite meals in Hungary. I ate so much that I felt ill (although less hungover)…Jonathan even tried to pull my plate away when he saw my eyes bulging and my body sink into my chair. I’m forever a member of the clean plate club and just couldn’t stop! That’s how good it was!
Lunch at Paprika – yes, I ate of all this…
…and all of this too
hangover beers
…Bathtime!
Ummm, what was I thinking! Who wants to be in a bikini after a huge meal and several bloating pints later? I blame it on my foggy thinking. But alas, we made it to our destination with a few extra undigested pounds on us. Széchenyi fürdő was our first experience with thermal baths. I’m still not sure how I feel about this place. After a confusing entry process, we entered the baths. I was taken by surprise…the smell was horrific! Sulfur, like I just walked into a hard-boiled egg factory. Up until this point my hangover was dissipating but the odor brought it back to life quickly.
I immediately regretted our decision to come here but Jonathan urged me on and convinced me it was worth a stay if we opted for massages. My feet were killing me so I agreed to give it a try. I held my breath and hopped in a few baths trying to find the one that was just right…temperature and odor taken into consideration. Next up, foot massage…or so I thought. Apparently, that was lost in translation. A few minutes into the ‘foot’ massage I realized I was getting a full body massage. It was just what I needed and how can you complain – I thought it was a fine deal!
Fully relaxed and ready to try out the rest of Széchenyi fürdő , we headed outside to the open air baths. Totally worth the experience. We found ourselves amongst people from all over the world. I live in NYC and am used to being surrounded by multiple languages spoken at once – but this was unlike anything before. A lovely experience. Miraculously, I began to feel cured! No hangover, stomach calm, and head clear. Finally ready for the day…albeit 4pm.
So my lesson of the day – cure a hangover with the following; long walk, beer, heavy food, turkish bath and a massage. You will be as good as new!
Széchenyi Fürdő – outdoor area
Beer:30
So what do you do on your last full day in Budapest? Buy more wine to take home…and then head to a pub! It’s quite strange to be asked to leave a bar because you are carrying four bottles of wine with you…but understandable. I buried them in my purse and we entered Alcatraz Pub shamelessly. Yes, my purse is that big for good reason! Hungarians are very kind. The bartenders smiled at my actions and offered us some beers.
We had tickets to take an evening cruise on the Danube but with several hours to spare we hung out here for awhile before getting ourselves ready. This place is absolutely adorable. It’s all outdoors with a good mix of locals and travelers. Alcatraz was just across from our hotel, Continental Hotel Zara. If you stay there you must unwind at this pub.
Alcatraz Pub…apparently this is my theme pose on this trip, always toasting the camera with a pint
Evening Cruise on the Danube
I was a bit skeptical about taking a boat tour on the Danube simply because it is mostly if not all tourist and the selections available to us appeared a bit gimmicky. This was our last night in Budapest and from everything we read we were not supposed to miss the Danube. With most things other than bars and restaurants closing down for the evening we decided to go for it and give it a try. So glad we did!
The boat tour consists of indoor and outdoor seating and headphones attached to each seat for the audio portion. It was a misty, cool evening and blankets were provided for those who chose to sit outside – I recommend this. The views from outside the boat aren’t obstructed and when taking pictures your flash doesn’t reflect off the glass. If you’re in Budapest you should take the time to see the city in this manner but only at night as the views in the daytime aren’t as spectacular…the pictures say enough!
View of Castle Hill from the boat
Parliament
Last Hungarian Dinner
Jonathan and I both fell in love with Hungarian food and wine so no matter how excited we were to move on to the next country we knew we would be leaving behind a culture and cuisine that we fell in love with in just a few days…
Just after we got off the Danube cruise we headed up the street to Borkonyha WineKitchen. Luckily, we got a table without a reservation, mainly due to the fact that we were just going to dinner at 10 pm. From what I gather this is a place for trendy locals and foodies…and for good reason! It was delicious!!! Amazing contemporary hungarian dishes with a wide selection of wines at great prices. Go here! http://borkonyha.hu/
Marinated salmon with quail egg, courgette and lemon grass coriander sauce
Soft mush with fried mushrooms, parmesan and chervil
Jonathan ordered one of the daily specials…wish we could remember what everything was on this plate because it was a hit!
Jonathan’s dessert…Raspberry cottage cheese mousse with almond crunchy and raspberry sorbet
My dessert…as ususal, if there’s a cheese plate on the dessert menu you better believe that’s what I’m ordering!
Final thoughts on Hungary
Our last day and we were excited to move on to Croatia but both of us agreed, we just didn’t get enough time in Budapest. We had four nights and three full days and still didn’t get to everything we wanted to do or see. We look forward to returning one day and checking off a few other things in the city and doing a road trip into the countryside to visit some vineyards as well as learn more about the Hungarian culture outside of one of the greatest cities we have visited so far.
Here’s our top favorites from Budapest:
- Faust Wine Cellar
- Central Market
- Danube evening Cruise
- Onyx – restaurant
- Costes – restaurant
- Borkonyha WineKitchen – restaurant
- Paprika – restaurant
- Szimpla Kert – ruin pub
- Covinteto – ruin pub
- Fungarian – crash course on language and culture
Verdict ~ Book your trip to Hungary now. You won’t be disappointed…and bring your fat jeans, you will need them because with food this good you won’t want to miss out!
Traveling on an Empty Stomach 