"I'm grateful for all the travels included in my life and the person
who have been part of them. It's good for the soul."
who have been part of them. It's good for the soul."
This trip was supposed to be CANCELLED because of certain unforseen events BUT finally, the stars aligned, and this dream has pushed through. We love going to Europe and we always miss traveling there. After our Scandinavia, Russia and Iceland trip in 2012, we said to ourselves, that the Balkans should be the next on our list and some parts of Eastern Europe that we haven't been.
Budapest is our point of entry to start our Balkan road trip. I have never been to Budapest and Brock has been there once, when he backpacked Europe several years back, I have heard so many good things about Budapest, mainly because Brock's dad is best friends with a guy from Hungary. So it was an easy choice for us, to start our Balkan adventure here and it's the easiest country that we can fly into from South Korea. Also, it's about time for me to discover and meander around this charming city.
Budapest is our point of entry to start our Balkan road trip. I have never been to Budapest and Brock has been there once, when he backpacked Europe several years back, I have heard so many good things about Budapest, mainly because Brock's dad is best friends with a guy from Hungary. So it was an easy choice for us, to start our Balkan adventure here and it's the easiest country that we can fly into from South Korea. Also, it's about time for me to discover and meander around this charming city.
We booked our hotel around Castle Hill area mainly because we wanted to get a picturesque view of the Danube River from morning till night. And that was a great move for us, we definitely saw the sun from dusk till dawn. We saw the sky enveloped the Danube River with awesome colors and boy it was a magnificent view, considering it's just from our hotel window!
The best way to explore this city is on foot. Matthias Church and Fisherman's Bastion was just near our hotel and it was our first stop. Walking around the cobbled streets of Castle Hill, you can see the Royal Palace and charming buildings. Down the hilly side, we took a Hop On- Hop Off Bus (HOHO) to explore the other part of the city so we can reach areas that is quite far from our hotel.
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Then we walked through the Old Chain Bridge to get a closer look of the iconic Parliament Building. This bridge connects Buda and Pest. And from this angle, you can see the most impressive view of the city, in our opinion.
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Heroes' Square is built to commemorate the 1,000 year old history of the Magyars.
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The picture at the top is the Central Market Hall area, sadly, it was Sunday when we tried to go and it was so close. We had our lunch in a restaurant called Apostolok Etterem, recommended to us by our family friend and we had an amazing meal.
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The magic hour overlooking the Danube River and the Hungarian Parliament Building.
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We ended our night by having another excellent meal at 21 Hungarian Kitchen.
And yes, time and time again, Europe finds a way to steal our hearts. Budapest has truly been breathtaking. We hope one day that we can live in Europe, any country would do. One could wish right?
We went to bed with the view of the iconic symbol of Hungary all lit up. The next day we picked up our car at the airport and started our Balkan road trip from Budapest to Belgrade. We planned to circle around from Budapest and to drop-off our rental car from our starting point, to avoid an astronomical drop-off fee when you drop it off in a different location. Of course, the minute we picked up our rental car, the rental car company said that we cannot pass by Bosnia and Herzegovina. I am going to explain this issue extensively on a different post, when I finally discuss and review how the "road trip" side of this trip was. Budapest is 4.5 hours to the capital of Serbia.
We went to bed with the view of the iconic symbol of Hungary all lit up. The next day we picked up our car at the airport and started our Balkan road trip from Budapest to Belgrade. We planned to circle around from Budapest and to drop-off our rental car from our starting point, to avoid an astronomical drop-off fee when you drop it off in a different location. Of course, the minute we picked up our rental car, the rental car company said that we cannot pass by Bosnia and Herzegovina. I am going to explain this issue extensively on a different post, when I finally discuss and review how the "road trip" side of this trip was. Budapest is 4.5 hours to the capital of Serbia.
