Budapest

Went to Budapest for a couple of days in early mid July this year. Stating the obvious... Budapest is the capital of Hungary. Was there at the same time with Sara's family and the both of us kept complaining of how hot the weather was via text, lol. It's actually the first time I've visited an Eastern European city. My second city was Bratislava in Slovakia, but we shall leave that for the next entry.

Decided to take our own sweet time, so it was pretty chill (except for the constant sweating) and we went to places at our own pace. 

The only place I liked most was the Parliament Building tour. The entrance fee for students are 1260HUF, and 2520HUF for adults. We queued for an hour in total under the hot sun and it wasn't pleasant at all. While queueing, I was actually thinking, man, this tour better be worth it!

Here are some photos of the Parliament Building (exterior view):

The Hungarian Parliament Building. We were told by the tour guide that in summer, most of the Hungarian parliament members are on a break because the weather just is too hot to do anything. True enough! I second that!

The interior view of the Dome.

Around the grand stairwell area

Assembly hall of the House of Representatives.

We were recommended by our hotel receptionist to visit the Great Market Hall for food, besides restaurants and cafes. Photos are taken with my dad's camera.

Main entrance of the Great Market Hall

 Spicy, spicy!

 Indonesia Fair

As you can see, Hungarian food are mostly meaty and pretty much spicy. There are almost no vegetables. I use the term almost because vegetables are pretty much insignificant in their dishes. A conversation with the cab driver, we were told that they love and mainly consume red meat, less white meat, fish and vegetables.

In the museum opposite the Parliament Building

At the museum opposite the Parliament Building, taken with dad's camera.

On a sunny and hot day at 36 degrees Celcius, we took a cab from the Parliament building to the Heroes' Square. It's known as Hösök tere in Hungarian, and it's one of the main squares in Budapest.

Overview of the figures

The column. The top column represents the Archangel of Gabriel, who holds the Hungarian Holy Crown and the apostolic double cross on his hands. The basement column statues depict the 7 Hungarian chieftains led by Prince Árpád. 

The main entrance of the Museum of Fine Arts on the left

Close up

Museum of Fine Arts

City Park Pond

In a nutshell, Budapest is too hot for me in summer. The sights are not bad, and food wise... you'll have a hard time if you are a vegetarian. But I'm pretty sure they have vegetarian restaurants around as well. As the food are mainly of meat and spicy, quipped with the very hot weather in summer, it's essential to have a bottle of water at any time of the day!