We managed to get up a bit earlier today as we had unpacked and got our rucksacks ready unlike yesterday morning. We decided to copy Gregg Wallace and walk to the Central Market as I really enjoy markets abroad. It was a bit of a walk but worth it to see more of the city. However, I have to say I was quite disappointed when we arrived - I had expected something along the lines of the excellent market in Valencia which we visited in February. However, in-between the many paprika stalls for the tourists and a few vegetables stalls there was not much else. We went upstairs which turned out to be full of ‘tat’ shops of souvenirs. What a shame, we were not inclined to stay long or to have a coffee and snack as I had hoped.
Back out in the scorching heat and we were right by the river now so I had a chance to walk to the middle of the bridge to get a proper view of the Danube. It was very wide. Our next plan for the day was to catch the number 2 tram which is known as the sightseeing tram and runs along the river. It took a little while to find the tram stop which was actually underneath where we had been looking and we thought it easier to get it a few stops to the end of the line and stay on to travel the entire distance back up again. It was at this stage that our mobile tickets which had worked excellently up to this point, for some reason refused to scan the QR codes. Although we have the tickets, they are only valid when they are activated on entry and exit from whatever transport you take. Despite our worries we travelled the entire distance and both of us had to admit that it really wasn’t as impressive as tram trips that we have taken in other cities.
We hopped off by the parliament building as we had done yesterday and decided to return to the cafe we had visited yesterday for another superb fruit lemonade, this time with brunch. I had an avocado cream poached egg Benedict and Colin went for a traditional Hungarian cooked breakfast - both delicious. There were a couple on a private tour with a guide on the table next to us and they looked enviously at our food as they were given wine samples and so rather unusual so called local food!
Now refreshed we got the number 2 tram back to a bridge over the Danube and swapped transport for the 16 bus which took us across the bridge and all at the way up to the castle and Fishermans Bastion on Buda, overlooking Pest. When we eventually arrived, it was even hotter as the sun bounced off the white marble walkways. The Fishermans Bastion is very impressive and best of all are the views back across the river to the Pest side. Colin sat down for a bit whilst I wandered off with the camera and then we both walked into the Jewish quarter which was much quieter and quite atmospheric.
Finally as we were flagging a little, we caught the bus back down the hill and hopped on the metro line back up to the stop just above out accommodation which is closer than the Astoria stop which we travelled from yesterday. Tickets still weren’t working on the Metro which I was worrying about and the woman at the information desk wasn’t much help either, suggesting that despite our tickets being pre-purchased 15-day passes, they were not valid without tapping g and she couldn’t help and we’d have to go to a main station and speak to customer services. Oh dear.
Ignoring her advice we popped back into the big Spar as we had decided to eat in the apartment and so we stocked up on cheeses and meats and a lot of salad (and beer) which all went down well after a sit down.
