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We had a bit of a lie-in today due to the travelling catching up with us yesterday. It wasn’t until about 11am that we were ready to find a breakfast/brunch place to fill our boots.
Thankfully Budapest’s Jewish Quarter has plenty of eateries. We walked through the streets close by to the hotel, taking in a few sights along the way. We soon found a place called The Blue Bird Cafe in Gozsdu Udvar. This cafe sold Mediterranean and Israeli breakfasts of eggs cooked in a skillet with chopped tomatoes, tzatziki, salad, olives and pita bread. It was nice but our bill was higher than expected because of very expensive orange juice.
Once we’d paid, we then decided to cross the River Danube over to the castle in Buda. On the way we took in some nice scenery in the autumn sunshine. We found the Paloma Fashion and Art courtyard with old stonework and balustrades. This area offers private accommodation as well as independent shops.
http://palomabudapest.hu/en/home/
Next we passed the beautiful Párisi Udvar, another spectacular Hungarian building which has undergone recent renovations to a high standard. There is a beautiful high domed ceiling made of glass in a courtyard area that was once home to the Downtown Savings Bank. Today it is a hotel and high end cafe.
Next we crossed over Erzsébet híd, or Elisabeth Bridge. This is the third newest bridge of Budapest, connecting Buda and Pest across the River Danube. It is situated at the narrowest part of the Danube in the Budapest area, spanning only 290 m. It is the busiest bridge in Budapest, carrying the largest amount of traffic. It was named after popular Habsburg queen Elisabeth.
Once we had crossed over into Buda, we headed straight for the castle. It is at the top of a large hill and is accessible by walking up, or using the funicular. We walked up, probably taking fifteen minutes in total. We have visited here on two previous occasions but was a little disappointed to see that most of the buildings are undergoing major renovation work, so there is not a great deal to see at the time of writing. However there are incredible views over the Danube towards Pest, Parliament and other nice buildings.
https://budacastlebudapest.com/buda-castle-tour-funicular-ride-river-cruise/
Even after walking back down we came across Széchenyi Lánchíd (Chain Bridge) which is currently closed to pedestrians and traffic. This is another bridge which is usually bestowed with statues and is a pleasant walk across the river. If this had been my first visit I would have been disappointed but thankfully have done this walk before.
https://m.budapestinfo.hu/chain-bridge
After walking along the Buda side of the river, back to Elisabeth Bridge, we walked back into Pest and headed to Szimpla Kert. It was quieter than our previous visit and allowed us to have a drink and a photo opportunity in one of the baths there. This was something I haven’t been able to do before as it’s always been too busy, so another box ticked.
https://welovebudapest.com/en/article/2015/4/24/budapest-s-most-famous-ruin-pub-szimpla-kert
Once we’d had another of this famous ruin bar’s Cherry beers, we headed next door to a street food provider called Karaván. Here you will find outdoor vendors selling typical Hungarian food, from chimney cakes to goulash, vegan dishes to lángos burgers. We opted for the latter to try this alternative Hungarian burger. Whilst the meat is similar to any normal burger, be it beef, lamb or chicken, the dough is unique. It is fried bread dough flatbread, which has the consistency similar to a doughnut. Inside the burger is a meat patty, salad, peppers and sour cream. Everything tasted ok but the dough got a bit heavy towards the end.
https://welovebudapest.com/en/venue/karavan-1
https://m.facebook.com/langosburger
After a quick change at the hotel, we picked up a taxi to take us to Papp László Budapest Sportaréna, named after a Hungarian boxer. This was the venue of our second gig of the holiday, this time to see The Cure. The arena itself was built after the original sports arena burned to the ground in December 1999. It has hosted many big names in the entertainment world with a capacity of 12500 people.
https://www.budapestarena.hu/arena
First to entertain us was support band The Twilight Sad. This band hail from Scotland and have, to date, released five studio albums. I must say I enjoyed this band far more than I expected as I’d not heard any of their material before. The lead singer reminded me of a young Jaz Coleman with lots of energy as well as the trademark dungarees.
A quick half hour interval and it was soon the turn of The Cure. Our priority order standing tickets gave us an up close and personal view of the stage and we had a brilliant view. Robert Smith and Co were absolutely amazing, giving the excited international audience a real flavour of classic The Cure music. They did two encores and Robert even managed to annoy his keyboard player by running over time, stating “the price we have to pay for happiness “. The band were enjoying this gig and gave two and a half hours of solid music entertainment. This will be a gig I will never forget.
https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-cure/2022/papp-laszlo-sportarena-budapest-hungary-23be9047.html
Even at 11pm it was easy to pick up a taxi from the venue and we arrived back in the Jewish Quarter in no time. We decided on visiting Spíler for a drink but the service was non-existent. We won’t return there! We found a lovely little wine bar nearby called Dobló which gave wonderful service, served delicious Hungarian wine and lovely cheese platters. We went for a small platter just to satisfy the hunger pangs. This consisted of cheese with fenugreek, honey and feta, tomatoes and bread.
https://www.offbeatbudapest.com/places/doblo-wine-bar/
The bar stayed open until 1am and was still busy when we left. Another great end to a perfect day.
jctraveller 
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