After a breakfast at the hotel (quite good), and channeling my internal hobbit and going for second breakfast after the man-cub awoke (also good), we set out to see how the other half lives, namely the Buda side of the Danube.
It’s on this side where the aristocracy and wealthy lived ( and still does); the Pest side was for the poor, and the ghettos. I found it mildly ironic Spencer lives in what was part of the Jewish ghetto back in the bad old days.
Since it was the weekend, the crowds were larger, and we stuck to walking around the outsides. I’ll go in for tours mid-week, later.
It’s on this side where the aristocracy and wealthy lived ( and still does); the Pest side was for the poor, and the ghettos. I found it mildly ironic Spencer lives in what was part of the Jewish ghetto back in the bad old days.
Since it was the weekend, the crowds were larger, and we stuck to walking around the outsides. I’ll go in for tours mid-week, later.
We then crossed back over the river and took tram #2 along the river up to the parliament building. Dang, it’s big!
We wandered our way back toward Spencer’s apartment, via walking and tram.
Stopped at a “traditional Hungarian fast food” place and got a spicy chicken sandwich. Turns out it was neither traditional nor spicy. Wasn’t bad though.
At the point Spencer and I made a game-time decision: Istanbul was back on, because things seem okay.
Back to the apartment for him to pack.
Since he pretty much lived out of his suitcase, that took 20 minutes. Off to to airport!
A few notable things about flying around in Europe.
1. Beer isn’t expensive.
2. Security is…casual. We scanned out boarding passes on a machine with an attendant a couple meters away. Putting my pack through the X-ray, I had to remove nothing. Shoes: on.
3. In the Budapest airport, they don’t announce gates until 25 minutes before boarding.
4. Customs and immigration are so chill as to be “Hi. Enjoy your stay.” and exit to the street.
5. Istanbul Airport is freakin’ huge! We taxied for 20 minutes to get to our gate. 25 baggage claim carousels where we were, and I’m not sure it was the only location.
After a 45 minute taxi/Uber ride at speeds up to 140 kph,(the airport is rather out of town) we arrived at our hotel in Fatih at 1:00 am. Time for bed.
1. Beer isn’t expensive.
2. Security is…casual. We scanned out boarding passes on a machine with an attendant a couple meters away. Putting my pack through the X-ray, I had to remove nothing. Shoes: on.
3. In the Budapest airport, they don’t announce gates until 25 minutes before boarding.
4. Customs and immigration are so chill as to be “Hi. Enjoy your stay.” and exit to the street.
5. Istanbul Airport is freakin’ huge! We taxied for 20 minutes to get to our gate. 25 baggage claim carousels where we were, and I’m not sure it was the only location.
After a 45 minute taxi/Uber ride at speeds up to 140 kph,(the airport is rather out of town) we arrived at our hotel in Fatih at 1:00 am. Time for bed.
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