Please watch the video below for more pictures ⬇️⬇️⬇️
Thursday was all about having no plan except to go to a couple of pre booked eateries for lunch and dinner. So the rest of the day we did plenty of walking and catching a few sights along the way.
We started off with a short walk in a different direction from the hotel, to see what we could find. We found a mural showing a red and white checked hot air balloon, which was the same as the actual one I’d seen close to the Parliament buildings when at Buda Castle the day before. After a bit of research I found out that this balloon was inspired by a famous painting by Hungarian artist Pál Szinyei Merse, called The balloon, dated 1878. This new balloon is to enable people to get to see views of the city from 150 metres up.
https://dailynewshungary.com/budapest-from-150m-height-balloon-viewpoint-to-open-in-may/
On the move again in the Jewish Quarter, we found another mural. This even had a QR code in it so I used my phone to find out more. It turns out that this mural is part of a series called Converse Allstar Murals which are found all over the world. They focus on community based issues and raise awareness through these artistic representations.
https://converseallstarmurals.com/city-forests/budapest-2/
https://converseallstarmurals.com
The artist Lászlo Brunszkó created the mural, and his thinking is based around challenges that people face, and striving to be who you want to be.
https://www.instagram.com/nkn_one/?hl=en
Further down the road we were asked by a woman to cross a road, which left us feeling a little puzzled. She didn’t say why but we obliged anyway. We realised then that we were heading towards a film set, as we saw people with cameras and other technical equipment. We just walked past but I later found out that this was filming for Dune Part 2. One of the actors in the film, and currently in Budapest, is Austin Butler, star of the hit film “Elvis”. Maybe we could have caught a glimpse if we’d hung around but we had a lunch booking at 12pm.
https://dailynewshungary.com/film-stars-flood-budapest-dune-is-shooting/
We’d already seen how busy the restaurant Dobrumba can be, as we’d passed by it numerous times. We thought it was worth investigating and even found it as a recommendation on the World Jewish Travel website. We arrived at just after 12pm, which is when it opens. There were only a couple of tables actually occupied but it soon filled up. The menu is predominantly Middle Eastern, with Israeli and Mediterranean dishes being available, as well as vegan options. You could opt for cold and hot mezze dishes such as hummus, falafel, baba ganoush and labneh. Mains included soups, shakshuka, tagine and shawarma. Service was fairly quick and the food was good. We saw many people getting turned away by the time it was 1pm, so it seemed like making a booking was a good call.
We decided to walk off lunch by heading to a Central Market Hall to pick up some paprika. This is a huge place close to Szabadság híd (Liberty Bridge) on Vámház Körútx. Vendors sell many different food items such as raw meat, sausage, spices and cheeses. The food section is based on the ground floor, whereas upstairs we found more souvenir and clothing type stalls. There were plenty of stalls selling paprika with different levels of heat, but we opted for csípős, a hot variety, and also the more well known édes, which is sweet.
https://piaconline.hu/en/central-market-hall/
After leaving the market hall we crossed the road to the riverside and headed north towards the Parliament buildings. This was a steady half hour walk from our starting point at the market. We saw a few Trabant cars as we headed towards The Danube. These retro East German cars can be hired as part of a tour of Budapest. It looked like great fun driving one of these cars. However, it is the worst car for contributing to environmental pollution as it gives off four times more emissions than most European cars of today. We could smell the fumes in the air as they drove past us!!
http://rentatrabantbudapest.com
https://fee.org/articles/the-worst-car-ever-a-brief-history-of-the-trabant/
We passed many cruise boats moored on the side of the river, with very little in the way of custom. It looked like many had already closed as the main tourist season has just about come to an end. We found the Holocaust Memorial dedicated to the Hungarian Jews who were shot on the Danube Embankment during winter 1944-5. These shoes are sobering reminder of the cruelty towards the Jewish community by the Arrow Cross Movement.
https://www.yadvashem.org/articles/general/shoes-on-the-danube-promenade.html
Further north are the beautiful Hungarian Parliament buildings, where there is a large statue of a former Hungarian Prime Minister, István Tisza. He was assassinated in 1918 during the Aster Revolution (aka Chrysanthemum Revolution) following protests about WW1. We walked around this and the huge buildings before heading back towards our hotel in the 7th district.
Before our next meal, we stopped off at a bar/restaurant called Mazel Tof for a quick drink. This is somewhere that we have visited before, so we knew what to expect. It’s a nice place with outdoor space at the back and serves typical Jewish dishes.
Our evening meal was booked at Gettó Gulyás, a Hungarian restaurant on Wesselényi utca. This is another place that always looked busy, so we wanted to try it out. It offers pörköltözö, which is typical Hungarian stew, along with, shall I say, delicacies such as gizzard stew or roosters testicles. I decided to go for mushroom paprikash which is like a stroganoff and tasted lovely.
https://m.facebook.com/gettogulyas/
Our final evening in this wonderful city ended in our favourite wine bar, Doblo. Again it was busy and we enjoyed a couple of drinks before heading back to the hotel.
jctraveller 
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