I did some photo sessions in Parliament building and Synagogue. Tried to go to Memento park but failed, could not find the public bus to the park ( I even asked two policemen but they had no idea :-(). I know I can take a private bus that serves the route from Budapest to the park but .. I like more public bus (it's cheaper :-P and you can get more 'local' experience), besides.. I had to go to another side of Budapest to take that private bus. Didn't want to waste time in my last day in Budapest, so I decided to go to Buda again for souvenirs and then ... Gellert bath.
I was bit sceptical with the thermal bath idea at first (I am not into water when it's cold outside :-P). But some people recommended the thermal bath experience, it is in fact better when outside is cold. And well....indeed I like it (too bad I did not have much time :-(). I realized now that I am more into thermal bath than swimming pool :-P. It's a relaxing way to spend some time after a lot of walking (in the cold) plus Gellert bath has an awesome interior...it's just like having relaxing time in a palace's pool.
To sum up...Budapest is lovely even in such a crappy weather (don't forget a visit to thermal bath :-P).
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Budapest: Day 2
Woke up quite early but only managed to leave at 08:30am. I went directly to the Great Covered Market not far away from the hostel. It's quite a huge market, kind of the combination between the (covered) market in Riga an Helsinki. Clean and huge market. It consists of two floors, the first floor basically for the food materials, from spices to meat, oh and strudels (yummy). The second floor is for the souvenirs, traditional clothes, bags or something like that. In the other side there are some food sellers too, kind of warung or Imbiss. I could not resist to buy the strudels and yeah it's delicious :-)
After the market, I walked along Vaci Utca in the direction to the Vorosmaty Ter (all are in Pest side). I joined a free walking tour for 2.5 hours (yup it's quite a long walk). It was kind of cloudy and cold morning when we started around 10:30pm. I was one of the earliest person to show up at the meeting point. I was surprised that finally quite a lot of people joined the tour, I think there were around 50 people (in such a crappy weather, I could not imagine what happens in sunny summer :-P). Gabor who guided us, gave us a lot of interesting stories about Hungarian history and architecture (and thermal bath wohooo, it's a must he said :-P) and he did a good job to make it interesting and fun for us. We walked along the Pest area, then crossed the Danube river to Buda. We climbed the Castle hill, visited a strange small Russian monument (it was inspired by the famous Basilica but it's a small one so it's kind of weird :-P), the colorful Matthias church (too bad it's still being renovated), and the Fisherman Bastion. We finished the tour several minutes after 01:00pm.
I explored the Buda area myself after the tour, visiting some souvenir shops and booking a folk dance show for the evening in Touris Info Center. I then took bus to return to Pest and visited the Weihnachtsmarkt again before going to Danube Palace to see the folk dance. The performance was interesting, but I run out my camera's battery, so no pics from that show :-(.
After the market, I walked along Vaci Utca in the direction to the Vorosmaty Ter (all are in Pest side). I joined a free walking tour for 2.5 hours (yup it's quite a long walk). It was kind of cloudy and cold morning when we started around 10:30pm. I was one of the earliest person to show up at the meeting point. I was surprised that finally quite a lot of people joined the tour, I think there were around 50 people (in such a crappy weather, I could not imagine what happens in sunny summer :-P). Gabor who guided us, gave us a lot of interesting stories about Hungarian history and architecture (and thermal bath wohooo, it's a must he said :-P) and he did a good job to make it interesting and fun for us. We walked along the Pest area, then crossed the Danube river to Buda. We climbed the Castle hill, visited a strange small Russian monument (it was inspired by the famous Basilica but it's a small one so it's kind of weird :-P), the colorful Matthias church (too bad it's still being renovated), and the Fisherman Bastion. We finished the tour several minutes after 01:00pm.
I explored the Buda area myself after the tour, visiting some souvenir shops and booking a folk dance show for the evening in Touris Info Center. I then took bus to return to Pest and visited the Weihnachtsmarkt again before going to Danube Palace to see the folk dance. The performance was interesting, but I run out my camera's battery, so no pics from that show :-(.
Budapest: Day 1 (20.10.2009)
Budapest welcomed me with a foggy afternoon when I arrived today. It was almost dark with the fog though it was only around 3:30pm. I was disappointed but it was late autumn almost winter so I was kind of prepared. I took train to Nyugati train station (around 20mins trip), it's not the main station and was bit strange one (supported by strange language that I had no clue at all :-P)..at least it took me several minutes to figure out how I could get to the Metro. I went directly to the hostel that I have booked before, it's located in Ferenciek Tere, after I bought a three-day ticket for public transportation in Budapest (which was a really good idea).
After putting my luggage in the hostel I tried to do my orientation of Budapest. I went to the city center in Pest area tried to find the Tourist Info Center and visited the Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas market) then hurried up to find the Hungarian State Opera House to see a ballet performance called Karamazov testverek (Karamazov brothers). Good that I managed to get the ticket that evening :-)
The Opera house is so beautiful inside, even when you're still at the hall area. It's not that big actually but beautiful (I know I said that before :-P). To be honest I never heard about Karamazov Brothers before, I just wanted to see a performance in the Opera house :-P. Luckily I sat next to a nice lady who told me the story and also about how famous the story and Dostoyevsky (the Russian author who wrote Karamazov Brothers). I do not have any clue on Russian literature and neither most of Indonesians I think...:-P It was a modern ballet performance from Boris Eifman (a Russian choreographer). The performance was great, better after I knew the story for sure :-P
After the ballet performance, I strolled along the Andrassy boulevard to the Vorosmaty Ter (the Weihnachtsmarkt again :-P) then to Danube promenade. Had some photo sessions of the Chain bridge and Elizabeth bridge in misty Budapest..
After putting my luggage in the hostel I tried to do my orientation of Budapest. I went to the city center in Pest area tried to find the Tourist Info Center and visited the Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas market) then hurried up to find the Hungarian State Opera House to see a ballet performance called Karamazov testverek (Karamazov brothers). Good that I managed to get the ticket that evening :-)
The Opera house is so beautiful inside, even when you're still at the hall area. It's not that big actually but beautiful (I know I said that before :-P). To be honest I never heard about Karamazov Brothers before, I just wanted to see a performance in the Opera house :-P. Luckily I sat next to a nice lady who told me the story and also about how famous the story and Dostoyevsky (the Russian author who wrote Karamazov Brothers). I do not have any clue on Russian literature and neither most of Indonesians I think...:-P It was a modern ballet performance from Boris Eifman (a Russian choreographer). The performance was great, better after I knew the story for sure :-P
After the ballet performance, I strolled along the Andrassy boulevard to the Vorosmaty Ter (the Weihnachtsmarkt again :-P) then to Danube promenade. Had some photo sessions of the Chain bridge and Elizabeth bridge in misty Budapest..
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Switzerland trip: Day 4
I woke up bit late today, decided to have a relaxing time in Lucerne. After breakfast I started to walk along the city wall which is basically at the back of the hostel. I climbed the Mannlichturm (the city wall has several towers) to get a nice view of Lucerne. Then I continued to the old town area, the shopping street and the famous Lion monument(a sad lion indeed). I returned back to the old town following the city guides walking tour that I got from the Tourist Info Center yesterday.
I was late to catch the boat trip, but it's okay since I think I had enough sun (and lakes) already). I visited Rosengart Collection instead (tried to avoid sun a bit :-P) for its Picasso collections (also Paul Klee's and some others that I forgot the name). It was great collection since it was personally collected from Picasso (or other painter) so we got more stories behind the paintings.
After around two hours there I decided to buy lunch and some souvenirs. Then taking my luggage from the hostel. It was around 5pm already. My train departed at 05:54pm to Basel and then from Basel to Duess (oh this time I got a first class ticket with a cheap price...nice..). I got another nice sunset view on my train trip back to Duess, what a great way to finish my short trip to Switzerland :-)
I was late to catch the boat trip, but it's okay since I think I had enough sun (and lakes) already). I visited Rosengart Collection instead (tried to avoid sun a bit :-P) for its Picasso collections (also Paul Klee's and some others that I forgot the name). It was great collection since it was personally collected from Picasso (or other painter) so we got more stories behind the paintings.
After around two hours there I decided to buy lunch and some souvenirs. Then taking my luggage from the hostel. It was around 5pm already. My train departed at 05:54pm to Basel and then from Basel to Duess (oh this time I got a first class ticket with a cheap price...nice..). I got another nice sunset view on my train trip back to Duess, what a great way to finish my short trip to Switzerland :-)
Switzerland trip: Day 3
Started the day quite early to have a walk to Chateau de Chillon, the YH has really good location, it is exactly in the middle between Montreux city center and the castle along the lake Geneva promenade. It took me around 15 minutes to reach the castle and got a beautiful view of the castle and lake Geneva (a lot of nice pictures for sure :-P). I walked back to the YH and took my luggage to go to the city center. Spent some time to visit some souvenir shops (:-P) and to exchange some Swiss Franc there.
I headed to the train station to take the Golden pass trip to Lucerne via Zweisimmen (passing through Interlaken). As you know, I always love train trips so this is one of the highlight from my Switzerland trip (still have to try Glacier and Bernina express though..:-P). The Golden pass trip wad great, we passed through some beautiful lakes around Bernese Oberland area and pretty wooden houses on the green valley along the way. Though we only used the panoramic train between Montreux-Zweisimmen only.
I had two hours transit time in Zweisimmen, so I decided to explore the village a bit, bought some postcards and some food at the Coop supermarket. Then we continued the trip with a normal train, next stop was Interlaken Ost (too bad I could not spent some time there - for Jungfraujoch for sure). We had to change another train there, it was so warm outside and in the train but thankfully we had a great view outside the window :-P
I arrived around 7pm in Lucerne, still managed to visit the Tourist Information Center at the train station (and got a lot of info :-P). After having a dinner in a fast food restaurant (whose name I never heard before)I went directly to the hostel. I was tempted to join a tour to Mount Pilatus (because of the man at the hostel resception who promoted the tour and gave a good discounted price for it :-P). But not so long after I had shower, it was raining heavily (the first rain since I was in Switzerland) so I decided to leave out the Mount Pilatus trip.
I headed to the train station to take the Golden pass trip to Lucerne via Zweisimmen (passing through Interlaken). As you know, I always love train trips so this is one of the highlight from my Switzerland trip (still have to try Glacier and Bernina express though..:-P). The Golden pass trip wad great, we passed through some beautiful lakes around Bernese Oberland area and pretty wooden houses on the green valley along the way. Though we only used the panoramic train between Montreux-Zweisimmen only.
I had two hours transit time in Zweisimmen, so I decided to explore the village a bit, bought some postcards and some food at the Coop supermarket. Then we continued the trip with a normal train, next stop was Interlaken Ost (too bad I could not spent some time there - for Jungfraujoch for sure). We had to change another train there, it was so warm outside and in the train but thankfully we had a great view outside the window :-P
I arrived around 7pm in Lucerne, still managed to visit the Tourist Information Center at the train station (and got a lot of info :-P). After having a dinner in a fast food restaurant (whose name I never heard before)I went directly to the hostel. I was tempted to join a tour to Mount Pilatus (because of the man at the hostel resception who promoted the tour and gave a good discounted price for it :-P). But not so long after I had shower, it was raining heavily (the first rain since I was in Switzerland) so I decided to leave out the Mount Pilatus trip.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Switzerland trip: Day 2
I woke up early to catch the train to Lausanne at 08:10am. Arrived in Lausanne around 08:45, still quite early.. I went directly to the old town. The map that I had was a bit confusing and I could not find the Tourist Info Center at the old town. Lausanne has hilly landscape..had a bit exercise to walk around it. My ultimate plan for Lausanne is to visit Musee de l'Art Brut, which shares the same idea with Prinzhorn Sammlung (Prinzhorn collection) in Germany. L'art Brut itself can be translated to 'raw art'. It has an art collection from people who did not get or experience art education or stayed outside the art institution, mostly some psychiatric patients, or just some eccentric people.. It was impressive, looking through the collection sometimes you're wondering how people consider something as art or not :-)..but I like it a lot, it's unusual and has some interesting stories behind it. There is a painting collection that looks like kind of Japanese manga collection (a bit erotic one though) which always pictured someone with military uniform. In fact it was painted in the beginning of 20th centuries..by Aloise who worked as a teacher and governess in the court of Kaiser Willem II in Potsdam. She had a crush with the Kaiser. It's kind of platonic love that made her obsessed and she ended up in a psychiatric institution. Duh..it's sad indeed..
I took the train at 02:20pm to Montreux, decided to go directly to the Youth Hostel but turned out it only opens after 5pm. Good thing that Chateau de Chillon is located not far away from the YH (and they have luggage storage :-P). It's nice castle with the beautiful view of lake Geneva..I stayed there until around 6pm and returned back to the YH. I spent the rest of the day walking a long the lovely promenade to the city center of Montreux, watching people, visiting Freddy Mercury's statue at the market area. I was lucky with the nice weather and bit regret that I did nor bring my swimsuit since the YH is located really close to the lake. I got a beautiful sunset by lake Geneva that day...lovely..
I took the train at 02:20pm to Montreux, decided to go directly to the Youth Hostel but turned out it only opens after 5pm. Good thing that Chateau de Chillon is located not far away from the YH (and they have luggage storage :-P). It's nice castle with the beautiful view of lake Geneva..I stayed there until around 6pm and returned back to the YH. I spent the rest of the day walking a long the lovely promenade to the city center of Montreux, watching people, visiting Freddy Mercury's statue at the market area. I was lucky with the nice weather and bit regret that I did nor bring my swimsuit since the YH is located really close to the lake. I got a beautiful sunset by lake Geneva that day...lovely..
Switzerland trip: Day 1 (15.08.2009)
I arrived in Geneva around 2 pm by train (yup it's quite a long way from Duess), decided to go to the Youth Hostel (YH) with tram. I stayed in YH this time.. after some time..Switzerland is quite pricey and I don't want to spend 100EUR for staying at a normal hotel :-P.
I met and Italian man with his son at the tram stop close to the hostel. We are both looking for the YH and after some efforts to communicate to each other since he could only speak French (and Italian), we managed to find it.
My first destination is to go to the Red Cross museum which is located in United Nations area. Oh I got free two-day transportation tickets plus 50% disc of the Red Cross museum from the YH...nice... it's really wise to stay there :-P The museum was okay, a bit small but it has interesting collection. After that I headed to the city center for Jet d'Eau, the famous fountain of Geneva, and then walked around the old town. Initially I wanted to go to Cine de Lac (Orange cinema) which is a open cinema by the Geneva lake. I was there already actually but changed my mind since the movie played that day was in French :-P. I had dinner in Globus, eating a delicious Pad Thai (quite expensive though :-(), then returned to the YH around 11pm.
I met and Italian man with his son at the tram stop close to the hostel. We are both looking for the YH and after some efforts to communicate to each other since he could only speak French (and Italian), we managed to find it.
My first destination is to go to the Red Cross museum which is located in United Nations area. Oh I got free two-day transportation tickets plus 50% disc of the Red Cross museum from the YH...nice... it's really wise to stay there :-P The museum was okay, a bit small but it has interesting collection. After that I headed to the city center for Jet d'Eau, the famous fountain of Geneva, and then walked around the old town. Initially I wanted to go to Cine de Lac (Orange cinema) which is a open cinema by the Geneva lake. I was there already actually but changed my mind since the movie played that day was in French :-P. I had dinner in Globus, eating a delicious Pad Thai (quite expensive though :-(), then returned to the YH around 11pm.
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