Budapest

Friday 10th January 2000.

First trip of the year and one where Ian went solo.

The flight was from Birmingham with Wizz Air for 3 nights.

The flight  W6 2218 was scheduled for 17.45pm but had a slight delay so I didn't get to Budapest Airport till just before 10pm. Luckily for me there was a bus (100E) waiting to leave for the city.
The bus was cheap, just 900HUF (£2.25) and took around 30 mins to get to Kalvin Ter, which was nearest Metro to where I was staying.

I stayed at Play apartments with 3 nights costing 100 Euros, I met the landlord Dennis at the property and then took a quick shower before heading out for a beer.

First stop was Hops Beer Bar which was a quirky little bar selling good Craft beers from mainly Scandinavia and Estonia.

Hops Beer Bar

Next I moved on to Brewdog where I was actually disappointed, not with the staff or place but with how quiet it was. I had a nice Stout and then visited Szimpla Kert on way back.

Szimpla Kert is a wonderful Ruin Bar, a place I have visited before with Kate and Ben. I had one drink of First IPA which was average and then called it a night.

Szimpla Kert

Saturday 11th January 2020

I had a bit of a lie in today due to a late night but was still out by 9am. I took a nearby bus to Margaret Island which was a lovely location away from hustle and bustle. I completed a wherigo there and enjoyed views down the Danube river.

Looking down Danube

Margaret Island

NLC # Deluxe - TB Hotel

Next I walked back over the Danube to look for a geocache which was in top ten of most fave points within the city. It was in a Jazz club so I ordered myself a cappuchino and asked for the geocache.

It was a field puzzle but the instructions helped to get it open.

TB Hotel

I carried on walking as next I wanted to visit Tommy Ramones birthplace. I have always liked the Ramones so didn't want to miss this opportunity as we have already visited Johnny Ramones grave near New York.

Vig Theatre

At birthplace of Tommy Ramone

National Bank of Hungary

After reading the plaque at his birthplace I checked to see what caches were close by and I was 100ft from a reverse wherigo..... how about that for luck.

I crossed over road and made a quick find.

Next up I wanted to visit the Shoes on the Danube memorial so headed that way taking in a couple of caches on route.

Virulj Monument

Hungarian Parliament  

Shoes on the Danube

Shoes on the Danube

Chain bridge

The Shoes on the Danube is a memorial to the jews who were shot into the Danube  during World War 2.

After reflecting on such a terrible act I found the geocache and then moved on to another one with high Fave points.

GBGA-05 - Hungarian Academy of Sciences

This was brilliantly done as it was in plain sight once at the right location.

I finished off the walk with a pic at the Hard Rock cafe and then a Virtual geocache.

Monument with the hidden geocache

At Hard Rock Cafe, Budapest

I then headed back to apartment for a relax and shower before heading out for dinner.

View from apartment

The apartment was basic but good for what I wanted and was located next to Budapest Museum. The location was perfect really as it was in between Kalvin Ter and Astoria Metro stations.

After freshening up I took the metro to a Belgian beer bar I had spotted earlier in the day. It was more of a restaurant but I did enjoy having a Chimay Blue there.

Mosselen Belgian beer bar 

Beer menu

One of my faves

I decided to move on as I was getting hungry and there was a great looking place not far away.

Hedon Bazilika Taproom is a Beer Hall and had over 30 beers available. The concept is to obtain a card on entrance and then it gets charged as you pour beer and then you settle up at end of night.It is a great idea as you can just have a taste of a beer and choose the one you like the most.

I also had a fantastic beef steak sandwich here.

I enjoyed my time at this bar but decided to head into the Jewish Quarter as it was nearer to my apartment. I had a quick drink there before retiring to bed.

Sunday 12th January 2020

Today my target was to find 3 old Virtual caches. When we were last here in February 2017 we didn't have enough time to find them.

Wekerle apartment park
This is an April 2002 Virtual in the suburbs of Pest. Set on a lovely estate, there are 3 locations you have to visit.

Guardtower
A watchtower put in place in 1844 to stop thieving from the vineyards.

Guardtower

Small Svábhill (Kis Svábhegy)
This had a physical container to it and some fab views.

Lovely views

I used buses and trams to get to all 3 caches without any problems at all. My fave cache of the 3 was the last one. It was an easy hill to climb with some great views.

I returned to apartment after for a shower and change of clothes and then went to a nearby Irish bar to watch Aston Villa take on Manchester City in Premier league.... I left just before half time when Manchester City were winning 3-0. I thought there are better things to do in Budapest sitting in a crappy Irish bar watching my team get hammered haha. Final score was 6-1.

I moved on to a nearby Craft beer bar called Beer Brothers. The beers were great but only disappointment was that the first 2 beers of my choice had just finished.

Finally and to top off the night I went to First Local Craft Beer and Kitchen which was great however most people in there were couples so nobody to chat to.

Beer Brothers

First Craft beer bar and kitchen

There are some really nice craft beer bars in Budapest and unfortunately this was last one of trip as the flight home was tomorrow.

Monday 13th January 2020

I had to check out at Noon so decided on a bit of a lie in and then a bus across city to get one last Virtual Reward.

Neumann János

A statue of a great Mathematician.

To log the cache you had to take a pic in front of the statue.

That was the last of things to do in Budapest as it was time to check out and take bus back to airport.

The Wizz Air flight  W6 2217 to Birmingham left at 15:25 and I landed 30 mins ahead of schedule.