Two myths and a surprise

We has crossed the Margit bridge wandering down the express flowing Danube River towards the Budapest Castle, this required climbing some elegant stairs before wandering out to the expanses of the castle.

Overlooking Budapest was amazing on this warm summer's day, the view was fantastic, Noriko was hot desiring an ice cream. As I had just been to the bank, I was in possession of large notes only, she was duly tasked with the purchase of ice creams. Now Budapest is a cheap city to visit, she unloaded two dollars (AUD) on two ice creams, excellent value, hardly worth complaining about for gelati.

We wandered over to the wall for some fantastic photo opportunities overlooking the city, excellent views, I only hope the photographs do the view justice, she wanted some more gelati.

Climbing down, Noriko noticed another gelati stall, upon inspection, her face changed as she saw this was cheaper than the last vendor. I saw the look of disappointment in her face and immediately offered to buy her an ice cream, double scoop this time to make up for the indignity of actually having to purchase something on this trip.

When I reached into my wallet and pulled out one of these new banknotes issued by the ATM, the server immediately gasped "I cannot change this." The onus now moved to Noriko, as she already had her gelati firmly in hand, there was no backing down. I was to possibly see this famed money purse I had heard about in legends. She opened her bag, carefully blowing dust off the zipper, she reached in pushing aside cobwebs and then, the moment of truth, the purse appeared. I stood there dumbfounded, I have heard of the legend of Noriko's purse, I never thought I would live to see this fabled possession in the flesh. This was an earth shattering moment.

A crowd had gathered, no doubt to witness the breaking of the seal of Noriko's now exposed purse, she slowly began to unzip her purse with trembling hands, I reached for my dark glasses as the brilliant light escaped the confines of the tightly packed purse. The moment of truth arrived, she pulled out a neatly folded 1000 HUF note (5 AUD), with a quivering lip and watering eyes, she handed the cash over, the assembled crowd gasped as she tightly held the crisp banknote, knuckles white with tension until she slowly released her grip and the currency slipped through her grasp.

I knew I had witnessed a truely memorable moment, this is the first time I had seen her pull her purse out and view its interior. I have heard the story of the pegasus, the legendary winged horse and Medusa,  the woman with snakes for hair who has the ability to turn men to stone by just looking at her image and now the legend of Noriko's purse.

Today, a myth no less conceivable than the pegasus and Medusa had be shattered.

Budapest restaurants

Noriko and I were in a local restaurant, very close to our apartment, I hadn't eaten all day and was very hungry. The exchange between myself and the waiter was comical, I struggled to keep a straight face. This was just for my order, Noriko's was yet to come, she was still undecided, this would make the process more difficult.

Me: Could I have a glass of this red wine?

Waiter: No, this is not recommended, this one is better (double the price).

Me: I will have a coke then.

Waiter: No reply.

Me: I would like this soup.

Waiter: No, the soup is no good.

Me: What about this soup?

Waiter: This soup is ok.

Me: How about this main?

Waiter: Yes, this is fine.

Cafe Jubilee

From our second night onwards in Budapest, we headed down to the delightful Cafe Jubilee, just around the corner from our apartment studio - good location, good food and good service.

Reasonably priced, the selection and quality of food is excellent; on all but one night, the service was fantastic, the waiter was run off his feet as they were under staffed, he was very apologetic, I had no issues though, it happens.

A choice of seating out the front, inside or down the side of the establishment, my choice was down the side as we could see people wandering by and trams rumbling past without being disturbed by passing traffic.

Margit Bridge

Not far from our wonderful studio apartment was the Margit Bridge, I am informed it is Margaret in English. In the evening around 10:00, we would wander down from our apartment, firstly to the Margit Bridge following the river bank to Parliament building.

The bridge lit up at night made for a very scenic stay in Budapest, generally we would then head off to Cafe Jubilee for dinner, for me, Budapest was the most scenic and beautiful of the cities we had visited so far, easily eclipsing Prague as our favourite.

Budapest - Third best bar in the world

As we were sitting in the shade, I was listening to the smooth French accent of a nearby tour guide describing the bar in the park as the third best in the world according to Lonely Planet. She told her listeners, you can come back later and find out for yourself - what great advice. 

Budapest's Erzsebet is definately saved on Google maps, will be coming back here for sure, is it the third best bar in the world? Unsure, but better find out.

Burger King - Budapest

Even Burger King is al fresco in Budapest, I must admit, I was kind of surprised, would still avoid eating there as so many good options exist.

Budapest studio apartment

Budapest is cheap by most standards, so instead of cramming into a hostel, we got ourselves a studio apartment for the week, I was happy with the deal, six nights/seven days for €117, now that is value.

First you have to negotiate the front door, a access code will get you as far as the courtyard. A corridor was extremely cool, on the warmer days, a cool breeze seemed to flow through, it was always welcoming.

Once access is gained to the courtyard, a lift can take you to each level, or the better option of stairs. I didn't find the apartment block to be as social as I would have thought, people were polite but mostly kept to themselves.

The view from our balcony, you had better have a head for heights, despite a strong railing, you wouldn't want to fall. The construction of the railing was tight, no chance of small pets fitting through and falling to their death.

The one bedroom studio apartment combined the living room with sleeping area. Above the main bed hass a wooden frame with stairs leading to a sub-level, a second bed for couples can be found there. We had a kitchen but ate our most evenings, the price was cheap enough, why not?