Dates: 5-11 March 2014.

As it was Liz’s 30th birthday and she’d always expressed a desire to visit Budapest, I thought I’d surprise her with a trip there. Since I’d been before I decided a short stay somewhere new and near would be good too. Therefore, we flew into Belgrade, stayed for three days then caught a train to Budapest for another four days.

We arrived in Belgrade via the airport bus and disembarked at the notoriously busy and chaotic Slavija roundabout. It was grey and raining lightly. It felt superbly eastern Europe, like something for an old spy film.

After finding our cool little apartment we headed out for a wander. The city still bears the the scars of the NATO bombing during the Balkans conflict.

The now-famous former Yugolsav Ministry of Defence building has been left unrepaired as a reminder:

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

Superbly eastern Europe:

Tasty…

The famous (and posh) Hotel Moskva, built in 1906, is not as old as the Terazijska česma (fountain):

Cool clock:

It was a pretty cold and murky evening:

However, we found a warm and welcoming little restaurant that had a traditional band playing for tips.

The second day started brightly so we headed out for a Liz-guided walking tour.

The Church of Saint Sava:

Saint Mark’s Church:

The National Assembly of Serbia:

Stari dvor, or old palace. Now the City Assembly of Belgrade:

Idiot with an umbrella:

The famous (Google it) Radio Beograd building:

A very wet and stark Republic Square, with Prince Mihailo on his horse in the foreground and the under-renovation National Museum in the background:

Around Kalemegdan Park:

A misty view east out over the Sava:

The Sava empties into the Danube (far right of the picture):

The last day in Belgrade was a bit more relaxed. We wandered around the markets and  visited the last resting place of Josip Broz Tito at the House of Flowers, which was a bit weird!

A deep-in-thought Tito:

Shame I left my penny farthing at home:

Can’t disagree with Serbian logic:

For our last evening meal in Belgrade we headed to the (according to the guidebook) up-and-coming trendy Sava Port area and ate in a low-lit and intimate restaurant called Toro. They had a live pianist.

Trendy:

Moody:

The next day we headed to the train station to buy tickets to Budapest. At that point Liz was still unaware of where we were heading next, and thanks to my superb Serbian, I bought the tickets and kept the suspense going until we had to board the train a few hours later.

The foreboding central train station and our train:

After Liz’s excitement of realising where we were headed, the four-hour train journey was spent mainly watching Californication on Liz’s tablet.

After some initial drama finding our apartment, we were greeted with this view from the balcony, the Hungarian Parliament:

A two minute walk gave us this close up across the Danube:

As it was early evening we had a general wander to get our bearings. The nearest bridge to our apartment on the hilly Buda side of the Danube was the most famous, the Chain Bridge:

Buda Castle and the National Gallery by night:

Former Hungarian leader Imre Nagy crossing a little bridge:

After a breakfast of croissants and strawberry jam on the balcony we set off for the free walking tour which starts at Elisabeth Square:

Lots of locks:

Szent Istvan Bazilika (Saint Stephen’s Basilica):

A portly brass policeman:

The vary prosaic Hungarian Academy of Sciences:

Lovely view over the Danube to Buda with the Matthias Church on the left hand side:

The walk ends above the Buda Castle tunnel (or Budai Váralagút) which afforded a great view over the Danube and of Pest:

An elevated view of the Chain Bridge with Saint Stephen’s Basilica in the distance:

After the tour finished we headed north to the Fisherman’s Bastion to take a look at the Matthias Church and the views.

The Matthias Church:

The view towards Margaret Island from the walls of Fisherman’s Bastion:

After eating we made the trip to the other side of the Danube to take in the impressive UNESCO World Heritage site, Heroes’ Square.

The square depicts statues of tribal leaders who founded Hungary and is adjacent to the Museum of Fine Arts:

The nearby Jaki Chapel:

Statue of Gróf Károlyi Sándor:

Statue of Anonymous:

Both of the above can be found in and around the grounds of Vajdahunyad Castle. It was a beautiful and peaceful area.

As the sun faded away we walked back via a lit-up Heroes’ Square:

We then headed up Gellért Hill via the funicular to get a view of the Citadella and the Liberty Statue at night.

The city at night:

Statue to signify progress:

Statue to signify peace:

As well as the free walking tours, there was also a pub craw tour that, for a few forints each, involved a guide taking a group to a handful of bars, mainly in the Jewish quarter.

We thought we’d give it ago, and we were glad we did as it turned out to be a really fun evening. There was one free shot in each bar and the guide gave as the historical run down on the areas we visited. As it was a small group we got to chat to everyone. There was a young couple from Germany, a young girl from Hong Kong and another woman from India.

It was one of the German girls’ birthday the day after so when the clock struck midnight I suggested we sing a rendition of Happy Birthday with each of us using a different language for each line. We had Hungarian, German, Cantonese, English, Hindi and of course Cymraeg. It was pretty cool!

The next day we wanted to see the Citadella and Liberty Statue in the day light so we headed back up Gellért Hill, this time opting to hike up.

More beautiful views across the city with the Margaret Bridge in the distance and the Chain Bridge in the foreground:

The Elisabeth Bridge below Gellért Hill:

Liberty Statue by daylight:

Gellért Hill Cave:

Back over to the Pest side, with the Mother Church of the Blessed Virgin in the background:

Not long after the above picture we headed for a simple bit of lunch upon where I managed to break a molar whilst munching on a ham and cheese baguette. Eating wasn’t as much fun after that!

The day ended with this spectacular sight of the parliament:

The row of lifts in our apartment building reminded me of the lifts in Roald Dahl’s book Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator:

Not everyone was a fan of old fashioned lifts:

For our final day we headed out of the city on the bus to visit the impressive Memento Park which is full of weird and wonderful Soviet statues.

Words actually fail me:

The last one was probably my favourite!

Before heading to the airport we went back to the city and took a stroll around Liberty Square:

A statue of Ronald Regan is near the US embassy building:

Belgrade and Budapest were very different cities with the former still looking and feeling like an old eastern European city and the latter feeling more western and geared towards tourism. Despite having visited Budapest before, it was long enough ago to make me feel like I was seeing a lot of it for the first time. It’s one of my favourite cities and I’ll continue to recommend the place.