We had another lazy wake-up, followed by the usual muesli breakfast. We had a couple of hours free after that before needing to pack overnight bags and leave for our train to Budapest, where we are spending two nights before returning to the same apartment in Vienna. We decided to make the most of it by walking over to Karlsplatz and the park there to look around.
We didn’t quite know what to expect from the Karlskirche which faces the park, so we were impressed to find just how big it was.
We went inside the entrance and found that there was a charge of 9.50€, which we paid. The fee included entrance to the main church area on the ground floor, as well as access to a wide stone spiral staircase that led up first to a small room with a large cut-away model of the church showing the interior and exterior. There were also historical drawings, photos, and information about the building of the church. Across from this room was the organ balcony, overlooking the nave and towards the main altar from the rear of the church. So we got close to the organ itself, but the view out into the church was amazing. It was richly decorated, with detailed paintings, carvings, statues, and gold filigree.
From the organ room we continued climbing up another level, where there was a room full of clerical artefacts such as old robes, mitres, stoles, a dozen or more gold communion cups, crosses, and so forth. Then we continued up the stairs again, which eventually led us out to the roof of the church, behind the row of statues above the front door, and with a very close view of the great cupola dome, covered with green copper. We had a decent view over the surrounding area of Vienna, although in some directions it was cut short by taller buildings. After taking some photos we descended again all the way down to the ground floor and then toured around the inside of the main area of the church. It was very impressive. I especially liked that above some of the side chapels the ceiling had an elliptical hole cut in it, giving a view to the main ceiling above, where a matching shaped painting was located.
We left the Karlskirche and walked back to our apartment to rest out of the heat for a bit and pack our bags for the trip to Budapest. On the way we bought a couple of additional snacks for the train trip: a pumpkin seed bread stick and a salted pretzel. We made sandwiches using the bread and cheese bought yesterday and took them in the plastic bread bag to eat on the train. We also took some grapes and blueberries.
While doing this, I checked my email and found an update from ÖBB (Österreichische Bundesbahnen) about our train. It said that because of a shortage of train cars, our train would be missing carriage number 414, so we might not have any assigned seats any more. I checked, and sure enough, 414 was the car in which our seats had been assigned. The email said to contact the train attendant to see if we could get new seats. We decided to leave as soon as we were ready and check at the ticket office at the Hauptbahnhof to see if we could get new seats assigned there. So we walked back to Karlsplatz and caught the U-bahn to the Hauptbahnhof.
There we went into the ticket office and had to take a number and wait a good 15 minutes or so before I saw a staff member. I explained the email I’d received and the woman said I had to see the attendant on the train. I asked if she could find new seats for us, and she said yes, and then I asked if I’d have to pay for new seat reservations, and she said she’d do it for free. I’m not sure why she didn’t just do that to start with, but anyway, she gave me a new seat reservation in a different car, and everything seemed fine.
Then we went outside to check the departure board to see if our train had an assigned platform yet, only to discover that it was marked as being 20 minutes late. To kill time we wandered around some of the shops and stopped in at one that was a combined lingerie shop and cafe, where my wife got an iced coffee and we sat at one fo the tables there. I took a quick walk around and discovered that they sold not only lingerie and coffee, but also coffee machines, bicycle gear such as locks and gloves, and kitchen utensils. It was a very odd mix of things.
When we emerged we took a quick look in a newsagent where my wife checked out some small notebooks, since she’s trying to buy a small sketching book from each city we visit on the trip. I suggested we needed to head to our platform for our train, but when we checked the departures it was now delayed by 30 minutes. We were getting hungry, so we found a table near the food shops to sit and eat our sandwiches. I sent a message out our contact at our accommodation in Budapest that we’d be arriving about half an hour later than I’d previously told him.
We went to the platform to wait for our train. There was an announcement that it was now expected 40 minutes late. And then another saying 50 to 60 minutes late. We continued waiting. The announced delay became 60 to 70 minutes. Then 70 to 80 minutes. We gave up standing around and grabbed a seat in the small glass-enclosed waiting area on the platform. The delay seemed to stabilise at 75 minutes, and eventually our train pulled in.
We climbed aboard and found our seats; two adjacent ones facing backwards across a table at two forward-facing seats. But the train wasn’t full and nobody sat there. The train just stayed at the station though, not moving, until an announcement are over the PA system that departure would be in 10-15 minutes. In fact it was something like 20 minutes later that the train finally began moving, a good hour and a half after the scheduled departure time. I sent another message to our accommodation contact to say we’d now be arriving more like 90 minutes late.
As the train took us out fo Austria and into Hungary, the information display screen listed arrival times at the stops along the way, and gave an estimated arrival time in Budapest of 17:22, almost two full hours later than our originally scheduled arrival. At times we sped across the landscape, but as we got towards Budapest the train slowed down to a crawl. We pulled into Bicske just before 17:00. After a couple of minutes stopped there, the PA system announced that the train had broken down and all passengers had to alight and catch a bus the rest of the way to Budapest!
We were slow to get our things together and follow everyone else off the train. We slowly walked up the platform, following the stream of people going down stairs at the end to go out to the street and presumably wait for whatever buses they’d arranged to carry us the rest of the way. As we began walking, another train pulled into the opposite platform. It was a local train, bound for Budapest-Déli station. This was on the west (Buda) side of the Danube, rather than our intended Budapest-Keleti station on the east (Pest) side. But I figured this was close enough and suggested we jump on board. So we hopped on and managed to get seats. I checked the Budapest train system map on board and found that Budapest-Déli was on the same M2 metro train line as Budapest-Keleti, the one we wanted to take to Deák Ferenc Tér, the closest stop to our accommodation. So this was fine. The only issue was this was a suburban train with several stops, instead of an inter-city express, so the trip took an extra 20 minutes. I messaged our contact once again to say our train had broken down and we were now on a local train, expected to be another 20 minutes late, arriving after 18:00 (as opposed to our original estimate of 16:00). He wrote back saying, “Ohhh! I am sorry! This is Hungary!”
So after an eventful journey we eventually arrived at Budapest-Déli station. From here things were easy. We bought metro tickets and hopped on an M2 train the four stops to Deák Ferenc Tér, from where it was just a few minutes walk. But, oh! I’d assumed our contact would be inside and we’d buzz the right door, but we didn’t see any matching name labels on the door intercom. So I contacted him again through Booking.com and he said he’d be right over in about 15 minutes, and suggested we wait in the adjacent cafe, which had air conditioning. He arrived with his wife and the two of them showed us inside, gave us the key, and also gave us a quick tour of the apartment we’ll be staying in for the next two nights, and gave us recommendations for nearby restaurants and sights.
After this we freshened up a little and then went out for a walk. My wife had wanted to check out an art shop nearby named Rododendron, but it closed at 19:00, and by the time our hosts had finished and left us alone it was too late to get there. But we decided to walk past it and check out the neighbourhood quickly, before finding a place for dinner. We’d seen glimpses of the Gozsdu Udvar courtyard, an open area in the middle of a block lined with restaurants and bars, and decided to walk through it. We found a bistro called Spiler Original, which had some a decent sounding vegetarian burger special, and we were getting hungry, so we sat at a small table by the bar, inside away from the smokers. There was also a roasted cauliflower with crispy broccoli dish on the regular menu that my wife decided sounded better so she chose that, while I decided to try the most traditional Hungarian thing and went with the goulash and potatoes, washed down with a dark Hungarian craft beer. The food was actually really good – better than I expected from a place that seemed in the middle of a tourist area.
After eating we decided to make the most of the cooler evening air by going for a walk into the centre of the town to see some sights in the twilight. Out first stop was a kurtosh cart, selling the traditional funnel cakes, either plain of filled with ice cream and various flavours. I got a nutella and ice cream one, which was okay, although honestly I’ve never much liked these kurtosh cakes—we have a place near my home that makes them and I’ve tried them there and was similarly unimpressed.
We walked over towards Erszébet Park, which contains the Ferris Wheel of Budapest.
We figured why not, and paid the fare for a ride on the wheel, since the queue was very short. We had a short wait, and then entered a cabin and were whisked up into the air above the city. The view in the early twilight was perfect and we got several photos in all directions from the top.
After the ride, we walked north towards Szabadság Tér (Liberty Square), passing along a street lined with numerous busy restaurants, with a good atmosphere of lights and people. Along the way we got a view of St Stephen’s Basilica, down a long plaza perpendicular to the way we were walking. We reached the square and turned around, coming back down a parallel street, passing right in front of the Basilica this time. Again, a beautiful photo opportunity in the twilight.
This led us back to the area close to our accommodation and we wandered back home for the night. We stopped in at a few small food markets on the way, but none had the muesli we wanted to buy for breakfast. We decided to get up and go to the large supermarket on the corner after it opens at 07:00 tomorrow.