#Köbanya-Kispest

[greenbagjosh]

Thursday 3 January 2002 - Train to Budapest - spot the Little Princess - Metro Museum visit - Buda Castle and view of the Danube

Hi everyone!  Grüezi mitenand!   Hallo allerseits!   Üdv mindenkinek!   Ahoj všetci!

Twenty years ago today I visited Budapest for the first time during the winter.  I previously visited Budapest in the summer of 1998.  I wanted to visit a few places that I had not already been.

I woke up about 6 AM, and had a bath, as my bathroom at the Klastrom did not have a shower.  Then I went downstairs to eat breakfast from the breakfast buffet.  They had scrambled eggs, fried sausage, vegetables, fruits, coffee, fresh bread rolls, and orange juice.  It was included in the overnight stay.  

I walked to the rail station to catch the 8 AM train from Györ to Budapest Déli Pályaudvár.  It went from Györ through Tata, Tatabánya, Budaörs and stopped at Budapest Kelenföldi before ending at Déli.  Along the way, the train passed close to the Slovak border, so when I brought my radio with me, I could receive stations from Slovakia.  At Déli there was a metro connection, so I had to buy a day ticket, or a "napijegy".  In 1998 I had trouble pronouncing that word, but in 2002 I had practiced it enough to be understood.  The napijegy cost 750 Forint and was valid for the entire day.  I took the M2 to Déak Tér and changed to the M1 to Vörösmarty Tér.  At Vörösmarty Tér was the northern end of the pedestrian street Váci utca.  Also the location of where I bought some CDs was there but the record shop had closed down.  I walked down Váci utca to Vigadó tér where there was the Little Princess Statue and a nice view across the Danube of the Buda castle.  

I walked along Váci ut, and saw an ad for the herbal digestive liquor Unicum.  I had seen a similar ad in August 1998 when I last visited.  I turned left on Kossuth Lajos utca, past Ferenciek Tere to Astoria.  At Astoria, the Synagogue was under construction, and was not opened for tours until mid-January 2002.  I returned February 2006 and went on a tour.  I took the metro M2 to Déak Tér, and at the top of the escalator was the metro museum.  It was located in the former location of the metro stop of the 1896-built M1.  The other two lines at the time, M2 and M3 were built during the communist era and thus had subway cars that were from the USSR, the same as those used in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Prague, Warsaw, and Sofia.  

After that, I took the M2 to Keleti Pályaudvár to inquire about a return train to Györ, picked one for about 5 PM, returned to Déak Tér and I took the M3 train up to Újpest-Központ, which was the northern end.  In August 1998 I had been to the southern end at Köbánya-Kispest.  Újpest did not have much interesting to see, but at least I was able to go as far north on the metro.  

I took the metro M3 to Déak Tér and changed to M1 and went to Oktogon and changed to a tram to Margit Híd.  Then I transferred to the HÉV line to Batthyány tér.  I took M2 to Déli Pályaudvár and ordered a salami sandwich at one of the food vendors.  I had a local beer with that.  I took the M2 to Batthyány tér and then a tram to Clark Ádám tér where the cable car to the Buda castle was located.  My napijegy was not accepted so I had to pay an extra 250 Forint for the upwards journey.  I think it was about 3 PM and there was not much sunlight left.  I went on the south side first, making sure that I saw the dozens of Hungarian flags flying, as well as the eagle statue.  I walked to the fisherman's bastion next to the Matthias Church.  I had a nice view of the Danube, but it was getting dark, so I had to find a way back to Keleti.

I took a minibus from the Matthias Church, to the station Széll Kálmán tér and then the M2 to Keleti.  It was about 4:30 PM when the sky went black.  There was a train to Györ that left about 5 PM and would arrive about 6:30 PM, just in time for me to have supper at the Klastrom restaurant.  When it was time to board the train, I found a seat in first class.  The train seemed to be from the 1980s, when communism was still part of Hungary.  Its heat was okay, was not air conditioned and the toilet was an open system.  Once the train left Budapest, I took out my radio, tuned in some music, and one song that I recorded to blank tape was "Könnyek a szemedben" by Fehér Csoki.  I thought this was by the band Manhattan, as I have the 1997 CD "Ugyanaz a tüz" and one of the voices was familiar.  Csoki went solo sometime after 2000, and he was a member of Manhattan from the early 1990s.  

The train arrived in Györ about 6:30 PM.  It was a cold walk to the hotel, but at least it was not snowing.  I was able to eat supper as they were still serving.  I ordered the beef goulash and a beer.  It was very good.  Then I went up to my room and watched more videos before going to sleep.          

Tomorrow, I take the train from Györ to Vienna, step down with full luggage to the track floor, buy a 72 hour ticket in Euro, take the Lokalbahn from Meidling to Karlsplatz, buy a round trip ticket from Vienna Südbahnhof to Bratislava Hlavni Stanica, and enjoy some roasted chestnuts and potato pancakes.  

Hope you will join in tomorrow’s adventure!

Ich hoffe, Ihr nehmt am morgigen Abenteuer teil!

Remélem, csatlakozol a holnapi kalandhoz!

Dúfam, že sa zapojíte do zajtrajšieho dobrodružstva!