Today is our last full day in Budapest. Although we are now flagging a little in the continuous plus 30 degree heat, it is a brilliant city and we’ll leave with things still to discover so it could warrant another visit in years to come.
Our first aim of the day was very touristy but it had to be done - a visit to the famous New York Cafe, just a ten minute walk from our apartment. I knew it would not be cheap but would probably be very busy but in the event we were lucky and managed to get in after only a few minutes queuing inside. We were given a table in a great area of the cafe and a bit quieter as it was not the through route for visitors! I went for a New York Latte macchiato with 24 carat gold, Colin a standard latte and we shared an apple pie with both a cream and mousse - all delicious and beautifully served. After a chat with the waiter, although we didn’t really need to use the restroom, we walked all the way through the cafe just to have a good ogle and get some pics on the phone!
Afterwards we headed to the second place that i had made of note of before our vista to Hungary - Memento Park. It was a bit more of a challenge to get to and involved travelling to the end of a Metro line on Buda and then taking a bus out into the countryside - thank goodness for the various travel apps on my phone.
The bus dropped us seemingly in the middle of nowhere but the passengers kindly pointed us in the right direction and when we spotted a pair of massive bronze boots we knew we were going in the right direction! The park was overseen by a very enthusiastic chap who sold us a guide book which was well worth the money to interpret the various soviet and cold war sculptures from across Hungary which had been removed once the country moved from Communism to a democracy in 1989. With no sympathy at all for the politics, I do have a fascination for the dramatic statuary and as we are highly unlikely to be able to visit Russia in the near future, the sis the next best thing. Fantastic sculptures and very well laid out across the park. There were only a few other people there including a British couple so we could take out time to explore and also visit the little museum with a old black and white film about cold war spy craft! The journey back to the city was straight forward and it was well worth the effort to get out to the park.
When we arrived back we walked back up to our apartment via the Gozsdu food court which was recently refurbed and then we stopped for one of the lovely tall fruit lemonades that seem to be a speciality of the city along with an ice cream - amazing salted pistachio and salted caramel. Our final stop of the day before we went back was to revisit the ruin bar we had popped in last night. This time it was almost deserted and so we could easily explore all the rooms and get a real sense of the place without the crowds and noise.
Finally it was back to the apartment for a rest before heading out for the last time in Budapest for an evening meal at a restaurant we had seen some time ago on a Gregg Wallace travel program about Budapest. Back on the metro and then a tram on the Buda side to Kéhli - one of the oldest restaurants in the city. It rather felt like we had got the wrong place and I did start to doubt my directions as we walked through housing estates and past locals sitting in the evening heat with their dogs. However, a few turns and we started the recognise the area from the program.
The food was excellent and as promised, there was live music mist of the night even if it was a little invasive at time - it was atmospheric. We were seated outside which was really nice but still so hot. It was a very good last meal - could have been a little hotter though.
We walked back through the housing estate to the tram enjoying the last views of the Danube in Budapest - a great first stage for our eastern Europe trip.
