The Purple Orchid: Day One: Finland to Hungary

And we are off!! Our trip this Summer Holiday is to Hungary, Budapest and Bled, Slovenia (where my dad is speaking at a Public Relations conference). True to our nature, Harri is planning all the touristy things to do in Budapest, and I am planning heaps of walking and hikes up mountains in Bled ;) haha.

First-off: Hungary!!

All of us having a Finnish snack before flying from Tampere, Finland to Budapest, Hungary

The plane <3 , or as I have come to term it, a rollercoaster in the sky ;)

My view from the emergency exit seat :o I was getting a bit nervous :o So much responsibility!!

Puffy clouds as a view from the "rollercoaster in the sky" :)

At the Budapest airport!! First thing Harri did was look at the map ;)

Airport cafeteria, where we had a light snack

To get from the airport to the city, and then back again the next day to get our hire car, we found it best to get a 24 hour transport ticket at just 11 euros for up to five people!! This would then allow us to go on as much transport as we like :)

To get from the airport we needed to take a bus to the metro, and then two metros to the apartment.

An old-fashioned metro with no air-conditioning :o

As we ascended the narrow stairs to the reception of the accommodation, a lovely lady in a blue dress greeted us and warningly showed us to our room. She told us that, most importantly, we could have tea, coffee and hot chocolate any time of day!! Due to the hot weather, we actually preferred to cold drinks to the hotter drinks :o Not to say that I didn't enjoy my tea just as much ;) I mean, it was the hottest day that Budapest had had in a while at 32 degrees!!

Next, we had to find decent food!!

Harri and Dad at an Italian restaurant. I know, we couldn't find a Hungarian restaurant in Hungary!?!

My salmon, asparagus and sun-dried tomato pasta dish <3

After this we had to go shopping, as someone had forgotten an important piece of clothing when packing ;) Not mentioning any names here ;) haha

We then went back to the flat to drop things off, gather up momentum, and set off for our adventure!!

As Harri was our tour guide, he recommended that we take the metro to the palace, look through the palace grounds for free, and then walk down to the Danube River. We agreed, and all packed into the metro for another adventure. Little did we know what was in store for the weather ...

We got out of the metro at the Heroes' Square, where the heroes of the Magyar are honoured. Amazingly, there is also a large grave stone for the unknown soldier... the soldier who could not be identified.

Arriving above ground from the metro

The Heroes' Square. In this image is 5 of the 7 Chieftains of the Magyars ;)

Heroes's Square with the National Art Gallery in the background

The Millennial Monument. On top of the column is Archangel Michael holding the patriarchal cross (a cross with two horizontal beams instead on one). The top beam on the cross says "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews".

One of the buildings in the Vajdahunyad Castle complex. These buildings are exact replicas of 21 of the most magnificent and historic buildings in Hungary.

The entrance to the complex

Walking our way down the road (longest road I might add) to the River Danube

Interesting piano chair I found on the way ;)

We then stopped for dinner after we took the metro the last couple of steps to the river.

By this time it was waaaay past our normal dinner time ;) So we sat down at the outdoor table of a nearby restaurant. Annoyingly, the weather had other plans... Suddenly it started to bucket down with rain, streak the sky with lightning and deafen our ears with thunder. Accordingly, we had to quickly run for cover inside the restaurant, otherwise we would have gotten completely soaked!!

After some time, however, we didn't end up eating till around 9pm at a small cafe close to McDonalds ;) haha