Wednesday Write-Up: And It always Come Back to One Thing

Food. That’s right, I love food. While we have been traveling if I do not find some good cuisine, my desire to be in that place lessens. I am all about food. Although I would not call myself a foodie, as I do not need to have the most gourmet or delicately prepared fare. If it happens that the food I get is tasty, fresh, and keeps me going back for more, that is enough for me.

Budapest was difficult for me at first. The good food was not so easy to find. But sometimes the trouble and adventure of finding good food makes it all the more special when you do find it.

There were a few places that I wanted to recommend to you, and although they are not all classified as Hungarian food, they are places that I think you should try.

 ARRIBA TAQUERIA

Photo Courtesy of Arriba Taqueria Website

I love mexican food, in fact in one of my earlier posts I talked about how I would miss my family and friends, but leaving Mexican food behind while we traveled, well that was too painful to think about. It sounds a little callous now as I look back, but for those of you that have had authentic California Mexican food, you understand, right?

Well, imagine my surprise, excitement, and trepidation when we found a flyer for Arriba Taqueria in our place after we got settled that first night. It was like it was meant to be, for us to find and have mexican food again. After three long months of being burrito-free, I could lavish my palate again with yummy Mexican goodness.

They offered free delivery, from either of their locations (one on the Buda side by us, and the other on the Pest side), and also had online ordering. The online ordering was the so helpful! It was our first night in Hungary, we knew none of the language and we were both a bit daunted at trying to communicate over the phone at that moment. We placed our order and 20 minutes later, a gentleman on a scooter delivered the most authentic, fresh tasting mexican food we had had in months. The flavors were excellent and tasted just like the mexican food back home. Chad and I decided that the owner must be from California, because the food was spot on.

We went back to Arriba’s three or 4 more times before we left Budapest. Each time the food was spectacular, the service was wonderful (everyone that worked there spoke english!) and I left feeling happy and satisfied. I am so happy that we found this restaurant, because that was probably our last chance for Mexican food until we visit back home. Thank you Arriba!

RING CAFE

This photo of Ring Cafe and Burger Bar is courtesy of TripAdvisor

A good hamburger is not hard to find while traveling, but the hamburgers at Ring Cafe, were simply amazing! I had just a normal burger and was taking the tiniest bites to make the burger last longer, it was that good. The hamburger meat was seasoned and cooked perfectly, the home-made ciabatta buns were soft and flavorful, and the lettuce and tomatoes were fresh and crisp. If you are looking for a hamburger that will leave you wanting for more, try out the Ring Cafe on the Pest side of the city.

TRÓFEA GRILL

This photo of Trofea Grill Etterem is courtesy of TripAdvisor
We found out about this buffet from one of those books that every city has, you know, the ones where restaurants pay to advertise to tourists (and most of them are a little iffy or over-priced). Chad noticed this buffet because it had an international fare, and also because it was all you can drink wine and beer (as well as the normal non-alcoholic beverages as well). The price was really reasonable for all they offered so we decided to check it out.

We arrived at one of the Trófea Grill locations (the one on the Buda side near the Margaret Bridge) and I was impressed with the cleanliness and design of the restaurant. I immediately went to load up my plate with what the buffet had to offer. The food was lovely and fresh, unlike many buffets I have been to. They had many choices of stews (which seem to be Hungary’s specialty), delicious side dishes, meats and seafood that they would grill up for you, and yummy deserts. Oh they also had salads, but I decided not to waste space on that stuff. The wine was pretty good as well. This restaurant’s food was very good. Also, for all you parents out there, it was a fantastic place to take a toddler. Zoë had a great time eating from her own plate, with food that we got that we knew that she would love. Toddlers want variety, too. She was great the whole time.

All-in-all this buffet was great. They did end up overcharging us somehow (I didn’t look closely enough at the tag and realized it a bit later that it just didn’t add up), but it was worth the extra for good food and relaxing times.

We ended up craving the buffet pretty much the rest of our time in Budapest, so on our last night in the city, we went to another one of their locations. The location we went to was out of the tourist area and was cheaper. Their service was excellent and the food was even more delicious than the other location. I even got to eat Foie Gras for the first time ever (it was wonderful, I can see why people rave about it). I honestly do not remember the address of the more “local” buffet, but it was about a 25 minute walk from the Széchenyi Thermal Bath and City Park.

Both times and locations, I was impressed with the food, the cleanliness and the service at Trófea Grill. I would definitely eat there again if we end up back in Budapest.

EDENI VEGAN RESTAURANT

This photo of Edeni Vegan Etterem is courtesy of TripAdvisor

Obviously, you can tell that I am not a vegetarian or vegan of any sort. I enjoy the freedom to eat animal products when I want to. I have found that much of the vegan and/or vegetartian food offered in restaurants tastes like cardboard, or a poor interpretation of food containing animal products. I enjoy vegan/vegetarian food that is so tasty that it makes you feel as though you are eating real food, not an imitation of something else.

Edeni Vegan Restaurant does just that. The flavors and spices in their food were perfect and left me so full, but craving more. The restaurant is set up cafeteria style, where you choose your dishes and they serve you massive portions of their savory fare. If they had not told me that their dishes were vegan, I would have never thought that they were. I really cannot express enough how good the food was. The restaurant was close to the river on the Buda side of Budapest, with lovely indoor and outdoor seating areas. The service was excellent and they spoke enough english to explain the dishes and serve us perfectly. We went twice and both times were extremely happy with our meals. Whether you consider yourself herbivores or carnivores, try the food at Edeni’s.

BAMBI PRESSZÓ

Breakfast is important in our family. Well, not to Chad really, but it is to me. I am one of those people that has to eat pretty soon after I get up, otherwise my blood sugar plummets and I turn into a raving lunatic I can be a little cranky. Zoë seems to take after me and needs to eat pretty much as soon as she gets out of bed. Her first words in the morning are often “ice mean” (yogurt), “nana” (banana) or “baby cracker” (crackers). Poor Chad always has to appease the hungry women in his life and get up and going early if there is no food in the apartment.

Bambi Pressźo was a great option for breakfast, about a 10 minute walk from our apartment on the Buda side. The breakfasts were basic but good, the espresso was strong, and the prices were inexpensive.

The cafe had a spacious outdoor eating area and was very kid and dog friendly. There were kids and dogs walking around freely, having fun exploring. This made it a nice relaxing place for us. We could eat our breakfast while letting Z play. It was exactly the kind of cafe I imagined going to when we decided to travel in Europe. A relaxing place where we could start out our day slowly.

We would have gone there everyday probably, but with Chad working, we usually ended up eating breakfast at home. It was a great place though. I would highly recommend you try it out.

I wish I would have had more time and energy to try out more restaurants in Budapest. Seven days was just not enough to fully grasp and enjoy the varied cuisine on both sides of the Danube River. Are there other places that you would recommend it Budapest? I would love to hear all about them so I could try them next time we venture to this beautiful city.

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Beautiful Budapest

Budapest, Hungary is an intensely beautiful and interesting city. The city consists of two sides of the Danube River, Buda and Pest, that are connected with eight very distinct bridges. We stayed in an apartment we found on airbnb.com on the Buda side. Buda is a more quiet and less touristy than the Pest side. Pest has streets lined with restaurants, shops, and museums. Buda is more suburban feeling, but does have some little aggregations of tourist restaurants by the river. Both sides are great, and have government buildings, castles, churches, and apartment buildings that are amazing architecturally.

Unfortunately, jet lag caught up with us when we arrived so we spent the first three days we were there resting and getting acclimated. It is really odd that we were so affected, as there was only an hour difference between Budapest and Lisbon, where we had been for the past month and a half. Our bodies thought we needed a break I guess.

Anyways, we were left with four days to see and do everything we wanted to. We started with our old stand-by, a sightseeing bus. This time we took the green sightseeing bus that included a guided bus tour of both sides of the city, a panoramic pink bus (we didn’t take that one, so I am not sure what it would have shown us) and a river boat trip to Margaret Island in the middle of the Danube River. The ticket was a 48 hour ticket, so we took the bus one day and then the boat trip the next day.

We somehow planned it just right , Z was happy the whole time, and we were able to ride the bus from the first stop to the very last. It was fascinating to see all the different architectural styles and monuments and especially the views from the Citadel on the top of the hill in Buda. It was well worth the 18 euros each that we paid for it all.

View of Budapest from the Citadel

The next day we took the river boat trip to Margaret Island (which can also be reached by the bridge on the far left side of Buda, aptly named the Margaret Bridge). The island is one huge park, filled with playgrounds, eateries, a hostel or two, a water park, and a couple of baths. There are also ruins of some sort on the island but we didn’t get the time to go check them out. Margaret Island was one of Zoë’s favorite places for sure. I never see her so excited and happy as when she gets to play at parks.

 

Cotton Candy on Margaret Island

One of the stops on the bus tour was the Szechenyi Baths and the adjacent City Park, Budapest Zoo, amusement park, and circus. We decided to visit the zoo the day after we went on the river cruise.

The Budapest Zoo was a ton of fun. It was our first time taking Zoë to a zoo and I am glad that this was her first one. The zoo is laid out by continent and has all the normal zoo animals, but has many different species in a habitat together. For example, the giraffes also had gazelles, a couple of different types of birds and some gnu’s (at least I think thats what they were, I didn’t see the sign on that pen). It made it feel more real and also that the animals might be happier as they are surrounded by animals they would be near in the wild.

There were a few neat things that were great for young’uns (or grown up young’uns). There was a petting zoo, which was about 30 goats of all sizes that you could feed, pet, and hang out in their pen with them. You could feed the camels and pet them, and you could also pet the prairies dogs and sloths. It was awesome to interact with these animals up close. They zoo was very clean and safe (all the dangerous animals were locked up in habitats behind thick glass and fences, etc.) and fun for all ages.

Feeding the Camels
(c) andthreetogo

Meeting a Sloth
(c) andthreetogo

We wanted to go to one of the famous Budapest baths the next day, but upon further research we realized that the baths are off limits to little ones under the age of 14. And the regular heated pools that some of the baths have especially for children are only for potty-trained kids. Yes, Zoë is two years old and still in diapers. (She doesn’t seem interested in changing that and neither do I at this point. Diapers are just too easy while traveling). So, anyways, no baths for us. We will have to return to Budapest for those when Z is diaper free.

We spent the following day at City Park  on the Pest side since we could not visit the baths. The park is immaculate and is a huge 1 kilometer square. It houses a man-made lake that in the winter is an ice rink. In the summer, they rent out boats so you can paddle around and enjoy the nature (or restaurants really) surrounding it. The lake is also bordered by The Vajdahunyad Castle, that was built in the late 1800’s and is made up of “castles” of many different architectural styles throughout it, such as renaissance, turkish, etc. After we paddled a canoe around the lake for a half hour, we headed to the castle to check it out.

 

Zoë’s Favorite Thing To Do, Play in the Sand at the Park
(c) andthreetogo

 

Now, honestly, after seeing a few castles, they start to mold together in ones mind. Not that I do not appreciate the beauty and wonder of any specific castle, but I feel like I have seen a lot in the last three months. It was nice to see many different types of castle all in one place.

The park is massive and has many restaurants and playgrounds and kiosks selling everything from toys to bathing suits. It was a great last day in Budapest.

I know that I told you in my previous post that I would let you know about my favorite places to eat in Budapest (just one small hint, they include a mexican restaurant!), but it would just make this post too long. I will tell you all about them in my Wednesday Write-Up. It will be a food filled post! Until then my hungry friends (no pun intended, I promise!)…szia!

Wednesday Write-Up: So the Days Float Through My Eyes

Well, here it’s Wednesday again, and we are leaving for another country tomorrow. The last 8 days felt slow, but went so fast. I am just starting to acclimate and love the amazing city of Budapest, Hungary.

It is interesting that none of us three had been affected by the time changes very much or culture changes either for that matter until we arrived here. We had very few issues in Lisbon, a bit more in Disneyland Paris, and many more here in Budapest it felt like. It felt like a daunting task to be here and now I am sad to leave as it feels as though I have just let the realness of the city in.

There were a couple of reasons that it was hard to get used to being here. The first was the jet lag. For some reason, all of a sudden, the time changes caught up with all of us and the hour difference in time from Lisbon, set us back a couple of days. All three of us struggled with exhaustion, crankiness and headaches the first three days we were here. It was really a bummer, we thought that our mutant powers made us invincible to jet lag.

Secondly, it was the language. Hungarian is…well…a really foreign language. There is no connection to any other words that I know unless they are words that we all have transferred from another culture, such as buffet or manicure. But it took me this whole week just to master saying köszönöm, which means thank you. Its a tough language to understand and speak, I wish I had had more time to practice.

Third, the food here was just okay. We did find some great restaurants, such as a bavarian place, a vegan place, and a buffet that were really good. But these were all not really hungarian places and I am not much of a soup person so I didn’t even venture to try the Hungarian Goulash (I know…shame on me). I will write more in my Friday post about the wonderful restaurants that we did find and love.

Fourth, and last, the prices here are much higher than we expected. Mind you we have been blinded by the wonderful cost of living in Portugal, so it is probably not as bad as say, Paris or London, but it was a bit more expensive for the things we love than we had planned. For example, in Lisbon I paid 20 Euros for an exciting new haircut and here I just had to pay 32 Euros for a trim. (I chopped off all my hair and now sport a pixie cut..who would have thought I could have pulled it off?! But I love it!). Also the food costs her are significantly more than I am used to, about 30-40 euros a meal. It really isn’t that bad, I know, but my stupid expectations get me every time.

My New Haircut and Zoë on the Chain Bridge in Budapest

Now, after I have said all these things, I want to tell you that I love Budapest, I love the architecture, the weather has actually been sunny for 4 out of 8 days we have been here, and the people are very helpful and friendly. I want to come back and experience some more. Until next time Budapest… viszontlátásra (good-bye)!