Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest

28 July 2016, Vienna
We took morning flight from Amsterdam to Vienna. We departed at 07.00 am and arrived at Schwechat Vienna Airport 08.40 am. From airport we took train (we bought train ticket at the airport for EUR 3.9 per person) and stopped at Praterstern. From there we walked to our hotel, Ibis Hotel.
When we reached Ibis Hotel, we just knew that there was a metro station near Ibis Hotel, Vorgartenstasse Metro Station. It less than 5 minutes walking, so it was very convenient for us to use the metro services.




 

First, we bought 2 day pass for EUR 13.30 per person at the ticket machine in the metro station, and since it was school holiday time, children can travel free, so we don’t need to buy ticket for Kaeo. We decided to start our walking tour at Stadpark. We stopped at Stadpark Metro Station. It was a nice park with small lake and some statues. The must visit statue is Johan Strauss. It was a golden statue of Johan Strauss holding a violin. Near the statue we can see the beautiful building of Kursalon with its beautiful garden in front of it.



Then we walked to St Stephen’s Cathedral.The most and must visit sight in Vienna. From outside, we can easily spot the unique roof of the Cathedral. It has beautiful pattern and color. Also, we can not miss its tall tower that reached up to 136 metres. The Cathedral is located at Stephansplatz, the most important square in Vienna and become the center of Vienna since it has an easy access with metro stop and spot for metro changing line. It has numerous shops with all international brands that can be found here. And in this square, we can find lots of vendors offering music concert or ballet performance tickets. It was interesting to see, as the vendors dressed in period costume. We also found one small resto that sell Chinese food. We had our lunch in that resto.
From Stephansplatz we walked to Staatsoper (Vienna State Opera) and like its name, it is an opera house. It was built in 18^th century. It is one of the most important opera in the world where we can watch the world class concert and performance. 

Then we took tram to Karlsplatz, a big square surrounded by lovely buildings. The most important one is the Karlskirche. This Baroque church was built in 17^th century. In front of the church, there is a pond with a modern statue inside the pond. Just across the church, there is a playground. We bought ice cream from the ice cream van vendor and spent some time here. Kaeo was so happy playing in this playground. Another beautiful buildings are Musikverein, a place where we can watch music concert and Kunstlerhaus, an art exhibition place.



From here, we took metro to go to Mueseum quartier, like its name, this area are full of museums. We went to Zoom kindermuseum, an educational museum for children. At that time, they put a giant water filled mattress covered with grass texture in front of the museum. It was a very interesting and fun thing to walk, jump, roll or just laying on it. Children were all excited with this thing. Kaeo need quite some time before he finally agreed to continue the tour. Some other museums in this area are Leopold Museum (for modern art Austrian collection), MUMOK (for modern and contemporary art collection) and Architekturzentrum Wien (for architecture related exhibition).

Not far from here, we can visit Maria Theresien Platz, another beautiful square in Vienna. In the middle of the square, there is Maria Theresa Monument, a bronze statue of her surrounded by four horsemen statues. Maria Theresa was an important figure for Austrian. She was the only female ruler of the Habsburg Dynasty from 1740 to 1780. She was also the mother of the famous French queen Marie Antoinette. Besides her statue, the two identical building in this square that facing each other, are also as beautiful as the monument. At one side, there is the Museum of Natural History (Naturhistoriche) and the other side is the Art History Museum (Kunt historische Museum).

We crossed the street and we are in Heldenplatz. Heldenplatz, also known as Heroes’ Square is a square in front of Hofburg Palace. Its huge scale matches with the grand size of the Palace that surrounded this square. There are two statues in this square, the statue of Archduke Charles of Austria and the statue of Prince Eugene of Savoy. Heldenplatz is also a good place to start tour in Vienna, since from there, many historical buildings are within walking distance, such as, Spanish Riding School, Silberkammer, Sisi Museum and Imperial Apartments. From the Square we passed through the Hofburg Passage, where we can find the Spanish Riding School. The passage will lead us to Michaelerplatz, where we can find lots of horse carriages were waiting for its passanger.

Michaelerplatz is one of the famous squares in Vienna. It has many beautiful buildings around it, especially the beautiful Michaelertor (Michael’s Gate), the entrance gate to Hofburg Palace. It’s very impressive with its huge scale and detailed ornaments. The other building is Michaelerkirche, one of the oldest churches in Vienna. Also, there is an important building in this square, the Looshaus. Looshaus is the first modern building in Vienna. Its minimalist style is quite contrast with the surroundings. We can also see some ruins of Romans in this square.  



From Michaelerplatz we walked back through the Hofburg Passage and went to Volksgarten. Volksgarten is public garden, and just like the other gardens in Vienna, Volksgarten is also well maintain and has a very pretty design. On one side of the garden, there is a statue of Empress Elizabeth (or Sisi for her nickname), the beloved empress of Austria. And the other side, we can find statue of Franz Grillparzer, a famous Austrian writer. The other interesting thing in this park is the rose garden. There were many varieties of roses that we can find in here. Most of the roses were named. This park is also a great place to relax, we can sit on the bench while enjoying the roses.

From Volksgarten, we walked to Parliament. It is an impressive building, it has a huge size and the stairs to reach the building add its grand scale. It was built in neoclassical style on 18^th century. In front of the building, there is The Athena Fountain. In the middle of the fountain, we can see The Goddes Athena holds in her right hand The Nike (the goddess of victory) and in her left hand a spear. There was guided tour to see inside the Parliament.




Then, we continued walking to Rathausplatz. Rathausplatz is a city hall square, where the town hall of Vienna is located. It is a place where usually festival and celebration take place. At that time, there was an international food festival. There were so many food stalls offering foods from other countries. They set up an open air food court, so people can eat conviently. Beside the food festival, there was also an open air music concert. They provided the stage and concert seat. It was free, so everybody can sit and enjoy the afternoon while listening to the classical piece of music.



As it was getting dark, we decided to back to Stephanplatz as we had our music concert at St Anna Church (its location is in Stephanplatz area). We took metro to get there. Befor the concert, we stopped at one of the chocolate shop. We bought one and it taste good. Then, wee ate at one of the resto near St. Anna Church. It served classical Vienna food. We ordered the must try: Wienerschnitzel. The portion was so big, which was good after all the walks today.

 
In Vienna, music concerts are everywhere. Beside in the concert building, they also play in the church, as church usually has a good acoustic. The price usually cheaper and some of the money from the ticket will be donated to the church. We chose St Anna Church because we read good reviews about the concert there. We already bought the tickets in the church when we arrived at the Stephanplatz earlier today. But we can also buy the ticket just before the concert. As there was no seat number in the ticket, we decided to arrive earlier so we can pick the best seat. The concert started at 20.30 pm and the church opened 30 minutes before. Exactly at 08.30, the musicians appeared. They were consisting of three violinist and 1 cello player.They played four pieces of Mozart and four pieces from Beethoven. We never knew that only with violins and cello could make a very fantastic result. It was truly beautiful. We were all enjoying the music. One hour has passed, and we even did not realize it. It was a very great experience and should do it again if we have a chance to visit Vienna again someday.

It was night time and all the shops in Stephanplatz were all closed. There were some street musicians playing in the square. We walked to the nearest metro station and went back to the hotel. 

29 July 2016, Vienna
Today we went to the most visited places in Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace. We stopped at Schönbrunn Metro Station, then continued walk to the palace. Schönbrunn Palace has many options of tickets. After consulted with the ticket officer, we decided to buy the family pass for € 46.20. It includes Schönbrunn Palace, Schönbrunn Children’s Museum and Hof Palace in the Marchfeld.



To enter the Palace, there was a specific time for each group. As we still had time before our turn, we went to Schönbrunn Children’s Museum first. The most fun things to do in here is to dressed up like royals. They provided some clothes complete with the accessories for children (and also adults) to try. They even provided the setting, with royal chair and background. Beside the dressed up, we can explore the other rooms that has interesting display. One room is decorated like royal child bedroom. The other room is displaying the clothes and the toys. With this display, we can get some ideas about daily life of the imperial children.

After that we went to the Palace. We got an audio guide in English before we started our tour. With this ticket we can explore 22 rooms in the Schönbrunn Palace. It was a very organized tour. We went browsing room by room in single direction. We can see rooms which were used by Emperor Franz Joseph and his wife Elisabeth. We also visited the ball room. It’s a beautiful room with golden ornaments and fresco on the ceiling. The Blue Salon was also interesting for us. The walls are decorated with Chinese paper wall and it has blue color which gave the room its name. 

After finished with the 40 minutes tour, we went to the café in the ticket office, to take some rest and had snack time. Though we can also visit Hof Palace in the Marchfeld (included in the ticket), we decided not to take it. Because to go there, we still need to take shuttle bus from Schönbrunn Palace. We decided to use our limited time to explore another places.

From Schönbrunn Metro Station, we backed to Schwedenplatz metro station and took tram to Hundertwasserhaus, an apartment building with its unique façade. To get there, we stopped at Hetzgasse tram stop. From there we just 3 minutes walk. What makes Hundertwasserhaus special is there is no straight line and the use of many colors. The house was designed by Friedensreich Hundertwasser. Opposite the Hundertwasserhaus, is Hundertwasser Village which was designed with Hundertwasser’s Style. Inside, there were stores which sell souvenirs and arts items. From the Hundertwasser Village, we walked to Kunst Haus Wien. This building was also designed by Friedensreich Hundertwasser. Too bad, the building was under renovation at the time we visited.

As we must take our bus to Bratislava at 19.25 pm, we backed to our hotel to take our luggage and then took bus from Student Agency to Bus Terminal Stadion Center. The bus was already there and departed on time. The bus was good, every seat had TV. Also we can get free hot drink. They also sell some snacks in the bus. It took 1.5 hours to Bratislava. Usually it takes only 1 hour, but since we had a traffic jam, so the bus was arrived 30 minutes late. We arrived at Bratislava bus terminal AS Mlynske Nivy. From there we walked to our hotel, Blue Garni.

30 July 2016, Bratislava
After having breakfast at the hotel, we asked the hotel some information about the city. They gave us a clear explanation so we got some ideas how to explore the city. From the hotel, we just need to get to the central area as all the attractions were in the central and can be reached by foot. To get to the central, we need to take bus. We bought the bus ticket from the hotel. (we can also buy the ticket in the bus stop. There was a ticket machine in every bus stop, the ticket price was Eur 0.70 for adults & 0.35 for children, that we can use for 15 minutes ride – if our destination more than 15 minutes, we must buy 1 hour ride for Eur 0.90). Because it was only take around 10 minutes from the hotel to the central, so we just need Eur 0.70 ticket. The bus stop was very close to the hotel. We took bus no 70 and stopped at Novy Most bus terminal. Then, we’d already at the central area. From bus terminal, there were clear signs to the attractions.


The closest was St. Martins’s Cathedral. It is the biggest Gothic church in Bratislava, and also one of the oldest churches in Bratislava. In there, Queen Maria Theresa was crowned. The church is located at Rudnay Square.

Then walking on narrow coble stone lane, with lots of small shops and cafes on its left and right side, we walked to Michael’s Gate. It is the only one left of four gates which have been a part of the city fortification that circled the city. The gate named after St. Michael. We can see on top of the tower, a statue of Archangel Mchael slaying a dragon.

From Michael’s Gate we walked to Grassalkovich Palace. The palace was built in 1760. It is named after Anton Grassalkovich, the chair of Hungarian Imperial Chamber. Now, it is an official residence for Slovak President. In front of the palace there is a big fountain in the shape of Earth which symbolizes freedom.

After that, we walked back to the old town area. This time, we went to Hlavne Namastie, a main square in Bratislava. It is a nice square to relax, since it is surrounded by some nice cafes and also shops. The most important thing in this square is the Roland Fountain. It is the most fampus fountain in Bratislava. On the top of the fountain, there is the statue of Maximilan, the king of Hungary. Besides the fountain, the Statue of Napoleonic soldier leaning on bench is one of the attractions. This statue shows visitors what kind of hat Napoleon used during his visit to Bratislava in 1805


We keep walking until we reached Slovak National Theater, one of the histrocal building in Bratislava. It has Neo Renaissance style. It functions as opera house, theater and ballet performance. After that, we had our lunch break at one of Slovak resto near the Slovak National Theater. We tried the garlic soup – served inside a bowl of bread, the bryndzove halusky – potato dumplings with a sheep’s milk cheese and fried boneless chicken with potato fries.



Then we walked back to Hlavne Namastie through Biella Street. We found one of the most famous statues, “Cumil” – a bronze statue of a man peeking out from under a manhole cover. We also found another statue near Hlavne Namastie: “Schöner Náci”, the statue is inspired by a real person in the same name, who was always greeting people on the streets of Bratislava.

From statues, we backed to buildings. Not far from the square, there is Primate’s Palace. A Neoclassical style Palace that was built in 18^th century. We just explored the outside of the Palace, it has a small courtyard with fountain and statue of St. George. On one of side of the courtyard, there is sculpture of John of Nepomuk, the Saint of Bohemia. 

 

After that, we need a bit of walking to Blue Church (Church of St. Elizabeth). True to its name, the church is all blue, from its exterior to its interior. It is not an old church, it was built in 20^th century in an art nouveau style. When we arrived, there was a wedding mass inside the church, and the bride wore blue gown too.

From Blue Church we went to Bratislava Castle through the old town. It was a must visit place in Bratislava. It lies on top of the hill, 85 metres above the level of the Danube River. From the old town, we need to take stairs to get to the castle. First, we landed on a place which from there we can choose either to take the stairs straight to the castle or walk to the garden. We chose to check the castle first. After climbing some stairs again, finally we reached the front area of the castle, which is called Yard of Honor. It was an impressive square with the castle on the background and statue of King Svatopluk I. At this level, we can also see the panoramic view which was really amazing, we can see all the city and Danube river.

We bought ticket for EUR 6 per person to get inside the castle. One of the most interesting parts of the castle was the Crown Tower. It is the tallest tower among the other three towers and for 200 years it housed the Hungary Crown Jewel. We can climb this tower and get a beautiful view of Bratislava. Besides the tower, the rooms inside the castle were also interesting to explore. Now, some of the rooms were used for exhibitions. After spent time exploring the castle, finally we arrived at the top level and we found a small café with a small playing area for children.
We spent quite some time here. Kaeo was happy playing with some toys that was provided in the playroom, while we tried the Kofola drink. After enough rest, we went to the garden. It was a nice garden and ideal for picnic.





From the castle, we crossed the SNP UFO Bridge to get some nice view of Bratislava Castle and old town. SNP UFO Bridge is the 7^th largest hanging bridge in the world. It gets its name from its UFO shaped tower. The tower is an observatory deck.




We checked the time, and it was already the time we must finish our tour. We waited for the same bus at the bus stop near the SNP UFO Bridge (not in the terminal when we arrived this morning). We stopped at the bus stop ner the hotel, got our luggage and walked to the AS Mlynske Nivy Bus Terminal. From Bratislava we continued our trip to Budapest. We took bus from Student Agency. The schedule was 19.45 pm, but the bus arrived very late because of the traffic jam. So we departed from Bratislava at 21.00 pm. It took 3 hours to Budapest. We arrived at Nepliget Budapest Bus Terminal at midnight. Since there was no metro service at that time, we took taxi to our hotel, Ibis Hotel City. We had not a chance to exchange our money, luckyly the taxi driver accepted euro. The trip to the hotel cost Eur 7.




31 July 2016, Budapest
Our hotel has a good location. It’s surrounded with all the things that we need, such as shops, resto, ATM and money changer. Burger King is just around the corner. Across the hotel, we can find a big supermarket. We bought bread and coffee at the supermarket for our breakfast. It’s also very close to Blaha Lujza tér metro station.

In the metro station, we bought Budapest 24 hour group travel card. It is valid for 24 hours from the time we buy it (the date and time when we purchase the ticket was clearly printed on the ticket). It can be used up to 5 people travelling together. It cost HUF 3.300 and valid for bus, tram, metro and boat (for boat only on weekdays).

We started our tour at Vaci Utca shopping street. Vaci Utca is a famous pedestrian shopping street in Budapest. And just like any other shopping street, there were lots of store, café and resto here. We can find all major international brands. But beside all the shops, there is a square that worth a visit: the Vorosmarty Square. It was named after the Hungarian poet, Mihály Vörösmarty. In the square stands his statue surrounded by some figures, such as a student, a farmer and a worker.



From Vaci Utca, we walked along the Danube River to “Shoes on the Danube”. It is a memorial to Budapest Jews who were shot by Arrow Cross militiamen between 1944 and 1945. The victims were lined up and shot into the Danube River. They had to take their shoes off, since shoes were valuable belongings at the time. The memorial was created by Gyula Pauer, Hungarian sculptor, and his friend Can Togay in 2005. It contains 60 pairs of iron shoes, forming a row along the Danube. Each pair of shoes was modeled after an original 1940's pair. (source: visit Budapest).

Opposite the memorial, there is the Parliament, the most famous and one of the beautiful buildings in Budapest. It is one of the landmarks of Budapest. It has a beautiful design architectural. When we arrived, there was guard parade. Unlike other parade in other countries, in Budapest we can see the parade at very close distance. We can even take picture with the officer after the parade! We just need to do it quickly as so many people want to take this opportunity. Besides the building, the surrounding of the The Parliament was also great. It surrounded by large and beautiful gardens. It stands on Kossuth Square.

Kossuth Square is a square, named after Lajos Kossuth, a leader of Hungary War of Independence. We can find his statue in this large square. The square is beautifully decorated with some neat garden, make it matches with the beautiful Parliament building.

Next to Kossuth Square, we found a smaller square with an interesting pose statue, leaning on a bridge. It was Imre Nagy statue, former Prime Minister of Hungary. There is also another famous statue, the statue of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan. This bronze statue was built to honoring him for his role in helping to end communism. We can find the statue at Liberty Square.



After that we walked to St. Stephen Basilica (or Budapest Cathedral). St Stephen Basilica is named after St Stephen I, the first king of Hungary. It is the largest church in Budapest. It is another beautiful building in Budapest with Neoclassical style. We can get inside the church for free. The church’s interior is as beautiful as the façade, decorated with detailed ornaments, paintings and statues. The most important thing in this church is St Stephen’s mummified right hand. It is considered as the most sacred treasure in Hungary. We can see it, as it is put in a glass case. St. Stephen Basilica is a good place to have some rest. It has lots of nice café and restaurants around it.

Next destination was Erzsébet Square (Erzsébet tér). It is within walking distance from St. Stephen Basilica. It is named after Elisabeth, the most beloved empress of Habsburg. The square's most interesting attraction is the Danube Fountain, located in the middle of the square. Actually the square consists of two parts, the old historical one where we can find the Fountain, and the new one which was just built recently. We preferred to rest in the new one. It has a big pool in the middle, where we can dip our feet. It was nice to cool down in a quite hot weather.



After that we took metro to Astoria. It is a place where we can visit the Great Synagogue and Hungaria National Museum. As it had a long queue to enter the Synagogue, we decided we just admired the building from outside. Its Neo Moorish style give it an exotic façade, with arches and rich in ornaments. There is no space left without detailed ornaments. That make this Synagogue stands out compared with its surrounding.

Across the Synagogue, there were lots of small and cozy café. We tried one of the café and had our snack break. After that, we walked to Hungarian National Museum, an art and history museum of Hungary. A place where we can get some ideas about Hungarian culture.  From there, we continued to Kalvin Square (Kalvin tér). Kalvin square is one of the main squares in Budapest. It is named after John Calvin, one of the most important figures in reformation protestant church. It is a busy place as it serves as a meeting point of major streets, metro stations, bus and trams.

With an easy walk, we arrived at Great Market. But, it was closed since today was Sunday. Great Market is the largest indoor market in Budapest. It is one of a good place to find souvenir with an affordable price. The Great Market sits next to Freedom Bridge. Freedom Bridge or also known as Liberty Bridge was built over Danube River for the Millennium World Exhibition (just like Eiffel Tower). It is an impressive bridge especially at night time. It is also a place where people sit and relax. Though we can see clearly the sign that it is prohibited to climb the bridge, but it seems people ignored it and keep climbing and sitting on the metal frame structure to get a nice view of the river and the city.

The bridge led us to Gellért Square. It is a place where we can find the famous thermal bath Gellért and the unique Cave church. The church is also known as Saint Ivan’s Cave, named after a hermit who lived there. True to its name, the Church is a located inside a hill, the Gellért Hill. The interior is unique, with its natural shape rock wall. Outside the church, there is a small square with the statue of St. Stephen. From here, we can get a great panoramic view of Danube River.




From the church, we climbed the hill. Gellért Hill is named after St. Gellért, a missionary who was killed by the pagans by rolled him down from the hill in a barrel. On top of the hill, there is the Citadella, a fortress that was built by Habsburgs. Another interesting sight is the Liberty Statue. It is a statue to commermorates Hungary’s liberation from Nazi. It is a female statue holding a palm leaf, made from bronze.

From Gellért, we took metro to Hungarian State Opera House. It was built in Neo-Renaissance style building. It has lots of statues, as we can see at the top of the building. We spotted some of world famous composer, such as Mozart, Beethoven and Verdi.

Then we took metro again to Hero’s Square (Hősök tere). It is the largest square in Budapest. It is an impressive square because of its size and shape of the monument that stands on it. The two beautiful colonnades guard the tall column with the statue of Archangel Gabriel on top of it. In the colonnade, there were statues of famous and important figures, between each column. Also there were two statues on top of the left colonnade that represent war and labour & wealth. Two statues on top of the right colonnade represent peace and knowledge & glory.

Around the square, we can see the Museum of Fine Arts and the Art Gallery. Behind the square, lies the City Park. It is a very nice park, with its green grass field and a small lake. We can rent a paddle boat in this lake or we can just sit on the bench, had some picnic or just relaxing. There is also a nice restaurant near the lake. We can also find in here one of the famous thermal baths in Budapest, the Szechenyi Bath. A small zoo also makes this area fun for family with small children.
The Hero’s square was our last stop for today. We directly went to the hotel, just made a quick stop to buy Burger King for our dinner.

01 August 2016, Budapest
As we covered most of places yesterday, today we had a slower pace. From our hotel, we walked to Buda Castle, making some stop to look and buy some souvenir at Duna Utca and Vaci Utca. Taking pictures with some interesting sculpture, such as Man on Scooter and Little Boy Fountain.

In no time, we had already at Danube River Promenade. Again, we took some pictures with some sculputure, such as Girl with Her Dog and one of the famous statues, Little Princess Statue that sitting on the railing of Danube River. We also had a nice picnic for our lunch on the bench with a view of Buda Castle across the river.

We crossed the Chain Bridge to get to Buda Castle. Chain Bridge is one of icons in Budapest. It was built in 18^th century and was the first permanent bridge in Budapest. The bridge will lead us to Buda Castle. Usually there’s a funicular service to get to the hill. But today, it was out of service. So we need to climb to the top, and in fact it was not a difficult path to climb.

Like its name, Buda Castle was a castle for Hungarian Kings. It was built in 12^th century. Today The Castle is home to museums: the National Gallery and the Budapest History Museum. There was an exhibition about Picasso at that time. We did not go inside, because actually we expected it was still a castle, not an art museum. We explored the surroundings. Since it’s located on top of the hill, the view from here was amazing. We can see the city with its famous Danube River.

From the Castle, we followed the path. The path led us to Matthias Fountain. It is the most famous fountain in Budapest and it has a beautiful story behind it. It’s a story about King Matthias who met and fell in love with peasant girl Ilonka. Near the Matthias fountain, there is the Lion’s Gate. Just like its name, there were four lion statues guarding the entrance to the Lion’s Courtyard.
From here, we continued walking to Mathias Church. Mathias Church is one of the oldest buildings in Buda. It was built in 12^th century. It is one of the most important churches in Budapest, since many of Hungary's kings were coronated in this church.

Next to the Church is a terrace that offers a fantastic panoramic view of the city. It is the famous Fisherman’s Bastion (Halaszbastya). It has stairs where we can go up higher and see the view, but we need to pay for that. But if we walk further, there is a part that allows us to go up without paying. Actually, we don’t need to go up because the viewfrom the terrace is already good enough. There is a café in the terrace with the view overlooking the city below. It served a good food and drink. Fishermen’s Bastion was built in 1895 with a very beautiful design. It looks like a fairy tale castle with its shape and its seven towers. In here, there is the statue of fishermen, who protected the city walls. It’s the reason behind the Bastion’s name. Another statue that we can see in this place is the statue of Stephen I.

From Fishermen’s Bastion, we walked down to Batthyány Square. Batthyány Square is a square which is located directly opposite of The Parliament building. That is made this square a great place to get a great view of Parliament, and with the right angel we can get the full reflection of the building on the Danube River. This square is also surrounded by many beautiful buildings, such as St. Anna’s Church. It is a Roman Catholic Church that was built in 17^th century in Baroque style. The Square was named after Lajos Batthyány, the former prime minister. The monument with his statue can find in this square.
Not far from this square, there is a pier where we can take a boat ride along the river. It is included in one day pass. We took boat ride from this pier, enjoying the scenery along the way. We got off at Freedom Bridge, because we wanted to go to Great Market to buy some souvenirs.

We arrived just in time because we still have about 30 minutes before it’s closed. On Monday the market closed one hour earlier than the other days. It closed at 5 pm on Monday. As we only had little time, we browsed quickly. On the ground floor, they sell mostly food and fresh stuff. On the first floor, we can find souvenir shops and some small resto that sell lángos , the famous Hungarian donuts. We bought the must buy souvenir in Hungary, Hungarian paprika (paprika is the most used spice in Hungary culinary) and wooden doll painted with Hungarian designs.

 
From the Great Market we decided to take a rest for a while at the hotel because we wanted to take the boat ride at night time. We took our second boat ride from pier near the Parliament building. We rode to the Freedom Bridge direction. It was a nice trip. We can see all the buildings were light up. It was quite cold and the wind blew quite strong. We got off at the Freedom Bridge. There were still lots of people outside, enjoying the night. From the boat ride, we took metro to the hotel.




02 August 2016, Budapest
Benefit from its location which has lots of thermal springs, we can find many thermal pools in Budapest. It is very common for locals to take thermal bath in regular basis. The thermal bath is believed to have good effect for health. There are so many thermal pools which make us difficult to choose which one is the right one. After reading some information through the website, we narrowed to three options, The Széchenyi Thermal Bath – big and had so many pools, The Kiraly – authentic Ottoman era bath and The Gellért Thermal Bath – beautiful pool. Finally, after considering the time (we can only do it in the morning) and also the price (it’s not worth it to pay so much for a little time-as we need to go to the airport), we decided to go to Kiraly. Kiraly was more local compare to Gellért and Széchenyi. It is not as big as the others, “only” has five pools and sauna.

After that, we went directly to Deak Ferenc Ter. We took Metro M3 to Kobanya Kespest Metro Station which was from there, we could take bus to the airport. There was a big and modern mall in this area. We had lunch at the food court. Then, it was the time for the airport bus. The bus no 200E took us to the airport. The trip was about 45 minutes with several stops along the way. We departed from Liszt Ferenc Budapest Airport at 13.55 and arrived at Amsterdam Airport at 16.05.