Euro Autumn Trip 2015 Part 2: Budapest and Prague

Namaste. This entry is continuation from my previous entry; Euro Autumn Trip 2015 Part 1.  So, this entry is the story of our journey after we parted from the Rarecation group in Salzburg.

20/10/2015

We departed to Budapest Keleti from Salzburg Hbf by OBB Railjet at 0908hours and the journey took about 6 hours. We arrived at 1450 hours. So, Hungary, or Budapest itself is a whole different place from the other places we've been to in Rarecation. Jika dibandingkan dengan tempat-tempat sebelum ini yang dipenuhi pemandangan alam semula jadi yang hijau dan menyegarkan, kami kini berada di bandar yang sibuk, bising dan segala-galanya kelihatan pantas dan huru hara. Not a big fan of cities, I still prefer nature over this new place. Di Budapest, mereka menggunakan bahasa Hungary yang saya kira jauh lebih sukar difahami daripada bahasa Jerman. I can predict few Germany words, but not Hungarian. They use Hungarian Forint, but they also accept Euro here.

Budapest is the capital of Hungary, and it is bisected into Buda in the west and Pest in the east by Danube river. Personally, I prefer Buda because it is less busy compared to Pest. There are four main bridges that connecting Buda and Pest; Freedom bridge, Elizabeth bridge, Chain bridge and Margaret bridge. Anyway our hotel is in Pest. When we arrived here (Budapest), I thought every single thing is so expensive and I don't really like this place but after few days, I think this place is not so bad. We bought a 72hours pass (for all public transportation) which cost us HUF 4150 (€13).

Salzburg Hbf.

Inside the train.

From Budapest Keleti, we took metro ride to Deak Ferenc, then changed to Oktagon. We walked to our hotel which is 5-10minutes away from the station. We checked in to our hotel, The Training Station ( 1066 Budapest, Teréz körút 23., I/1., Hungary). We paid €110/3 nights (breakfast included). We were so lucky that there's a halal (insya Allah) restaurant just below our hotel. Two course meals with water cost us HUF 2180 (about €7)

It's not luxury, but this is good enough after you had to cramp yourself in a motor home with 5 other people. (still I miss living in that motor home). Queen size bed, spacious room, big bathroom. No cupboard.

Had our breakfast here.

21/10/2015 

Today Arifah and I had a big surprise as Munirah decided to continue her journey with us. So we waited for her in Oktagon and she arrived at around 0930 hours. After that, we headed to the famous Hősök tere (Heroes Square; opened in 1896). Heroes square is surrounded by two important buildings, Museum of fine arts and Kunsthalle. 

Photo credit: mun

Millennium Monument and Column with archangel Gabriel on top of it.

Then we went to the Vajdahunyad Castle which is located behind the square to take some good photos there. 

Vajdahunyad Castle. Tempat yang digenangi air ini adalah ice skating area semasa musim sejuk.

Entrance

The whole city is full of old, artistic buildings. I swear, almost all buildings are old and have nice architecture.

St Stephen Basilica, a Roman Catholic basilica, named after the first Hungarian king; King Stephen

Sorry for this ugly photo, this basilica is beautiful and so huge that I can't fit it in my phone camera. LOL.

We went up this basilica tower (302 staircases, but you can pay HUF 500 to use lift up the tower). The view is not as nice as in Munich.

Angin sangat kuat di atas menara ini. Tudung Pah adalah buktinya.

The Great Synagogue

Our next stop is Dohány street synagogue or The Great Synagogue. Synagogue is Jewish prayer house. I'm so interested with synagogues and Hebrew alphabet (sorry if this gonna be controversial), but since I have to pay to get inside the synagogue, I just took some photos outside this place.The synagogue was built between 1854 and 1859 and it consists of the Great Synagogue, the Heroes' Temple, the graveyard, the Memorial and the Jewish Museum. 

Street art, on the street itself.

University of Budapest

 Later in the evening, we went to the Great Market Hall, the largest indoor market in Budapest. The stalls on the ground floor offer home-made chocolate, meat, pastries, candies etc. you can buy souvenirs on the first floor. I think this is the best place to buy souvenirs rather than from the streets because they have great varieties of souvenirs with cheaper prices. There's a stall on the first floor, owned by a Hungarian young guy who can speak good Bahasa Malaysia. I was so impressed that I bought a lot from his stall.

Home-made chocolate, sumpah sedap. (insya-Allah halal as checked by Mun hehe)

Ground floor

Please go to his stall on the first floor. Dia jual agak murah and he is friendly too!

We took a tram to the Hard Rock Cafe area and managed to buy my favourite HRC Flag tshirt. Later, Mun told us that there is a cafe called The New York Cafe which is the best cafe in the world. Thinking it is just like ordinary cafe, we took a tram to the cafe, under-dressed, carrying our stupid backpacks and wearing sport shoes haha. But, it isn't an ordinary cafe. It is a five star cafe, it is so beautiful that I feel like entering a palace. Lol. We had cappucino, hot chocolate, orange juice and ice cream and cost us MYR 108. Nasib baik sedap.

The interior design of the cafe. Meninggal.

The good thing about being in here is that people don't give you that judgemental look by what you wear, everyone is treated equally so you don't feel down despite being under-dressed. Haha true story.

Now look at that. Stunning.

22/10/2105 

Today we went to Buda, the western side of Budapest. Personally, I love this place after spending a hectic day in Pest. There are so many attractions in Buda that I think maybe I need extra days to really cover every places. We went to Cave chapel (chapel in the rock) and we hiked up the hill and manage to see Pest from there. But we did not went up until the Freedom Statue (Liberty statue) in Gellert Hill because our knee caps were already shaking atau dalam Bahasa Malaysia ialah kepala lutut kami dah bergoyang. Anyway, you have to pay €2 upon entrance and you will be provided with audio guide.

Church in the rock (Cave chapel)

Wood carvings

Cave chapel from the roadside

That's the Freedom bridge

Next, we went to St Matthias Church, Fisherman's Bastion and Royal Palace but we need to take a funicular ride (like a cable car) up to the hill. I think this place is the best part of Budapest. The view is just so amazing. Every single thing, literally.

St Matthias Church

Getting high in Buda? Hehe

Fisherman's Bastion. This place looks like castle in Disney movie.

That's Pest, across the Danube river.

That happy moment when all seats are empty and you can pose alone.

With Sandor guard, they have guard changing ceremony every hour and they stood so straight that I thought they were statues.

Archery hungarian style

Buda castle/Royal Palace

Batthyany Square

Royal Palace from the Chain Bridge. Cantik kan?

Fine dining on the ship deck.No, not us. Haha

23/10/2015

Today, we went to Budapest Keleti station as we were going to our next and to our final destination, Prague, Czech Republic. We bought our train tickets for €47/person and departed at 0925hours.

Arifah and Mun in our cabin. Or cubicle? I'm not sure.

Inside the train. There are few cubicles (6 seats per cubicle) in a carriage.

Looks like the train to Hogwarts.

We arrived in Praha hlavní nádraží at 1630hours. We then checked in to our hostel, Franz Kafka Hostel. We booked the hostel via Booking.com for €135/3nights but since we requested to add extra mattress, we were charged €180/3nights. What I love about the hostel is it is near to the Old Town Square (about 10-15minute walk) and the receptionist is very helpful and friendly (and she speaks good English as well). We bought 72 hours pass (CZK 310) for public transportation but we did not use it as much as in Budapest. For dinner that day, we managed to find a halal kebab shop near the Old Town Square.

This is how a subway station in Prague looks like. Futuristic eh?

A small pantry in our hostel, but that was good enough! :)

We passed by the Prague City Library at night and I was so surprised to see this book tower because long time ago I posted an image of this book tower in my instagram (cokeinfy), not knowing that it really exist. And now, it is in front of my eyes. Phuuu..

They put mirrors at end of both sides of the tower so that when you peep inside, it looks endless. Amazing kan?

Old Town Square at night

24/10/2015 

Okay today we are going to explore this town. We went out early, around 0800hours, it was so cold and the street was still empty. Anyway we measure daily temperature here by the amount of vapour that came out from our mouth. Hehe. We went to the Old Town Hall and went up the tower to have a bird view of Prague. We paid CZK 120/person to get to the top. Initially it was so foggy but after a while, we had better view so we managed to take some photo from there.

Church of Our Lady before Týn (or Tyn church). Still misty at this hour.

Coco, in front of the majestic Prague Astronomical Clock (since 1410), the third-oldest astronomical clock in the world. It is so so beautiful and so majestic.

The translation of the plaque Meridianus Quo Olim Tempus Pragense Dirigebatur is 'The meridian by which the time in Prague was once defined'. It is to determine when the midday is.

We crossed the Charles Bridge to get to the Prague Castle, unfortunately it was closed so we decided to visit the St Vitus Cathedral which is located within the Prague Castle complex. St Vitus Cathederal is a Roman Catholic church with Gothic architecture and it is the biggest church in Prague.

Inside the church

I just love how they play with the lighting and colours

Excellent architecture

Palace, from far.

You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us. And the world will live as one - John Lennon. The famous John Lennon Wall, Prague. Honestly, I think this place should be taken care of  properly. It's kinda upsetting to see the graffiti of John Lennon being vandalised.

Strolling down the street

We had our meal for 2 days here, Jordan Fast Food. The mixed grill tastes soooo good, and the guys speak Arabic :)

Lovely evening in Kampa Island

This image was captured from Charles Bridge while waiting for sunset.

An evening on the Charles Bridge during sunset. That's an image of the moon between the statue and the tower.

25/10/2015 

Today is our payday! Hehe. No, today I was so excited because we are going to visit Sedlec Ossuary or the Bone Church which is located in Kutna Hora, an hour away by train from Prague. It got its name by this old medieval Gothic chapel decorated with about 40000 human bones and skulls. Well there's an interesting story how they manage to have so many human bones to do this. In the 13th century, Jindřich, the abbot of Sedlec monastery, was sent to the Holy Land in Palestine had brought back a jar of soil from the place where Jesus was crucified and sprinkled it on the cemetery surrounding the Chapel of All Saints. It became the most desired burial site in Europe. In 14th century, Black Death (caused by plague) arrived in Europe killing millions and many people came to Sedlec to die here (in this sacred soil). Entrance fee to this site is CZK 90

Cemetery outside the church

I bought a candle holder with exactly the same pattern like this

Going down to this spooky, creepy, mystical church

Look at that!

The famous chandelier

The skull at right, bottom belongs to a Turkish warrior.

I will find the meaning of these words

The altar

A wood carver named František Rint left his signature by bones on the wall, dated on 1870.

Fascinating.

The area itself is so quiet and peaceful, and it gave me chills sometimes. Haha

Went back to Praha within 3 hours

Next, the three of us went to the Kinsky Park. It is so beautiful (maybe because we came during autumn) even though not as beautiful as English Garden in Munich. But still, it was lovely.

That epic tree. Hehe

I get hyper sometimes, excuse me for that

Ah, I misbehaved again!

Later we left this park because I was about to meet an old friend (ex-colleague in KSA). She was not so well, anyway we managed to catch up for coffee :). At night we went to Louvre Cafe to have coffee (again) and cakes.

Coco and Jana Jaruskova. We miss you! Come back to KSA!

26/10/2015 

Oh man. Today was our last day in Prague before we have to go back to reality. Sob sob. It was sad to end the trip and to bid farewell with our new friend, Munirah (oh I can't believe that I have a new friend, outside from my normal circle haha). Our flight departed from Prague to Frankfurt at 1020hours, and then from Frankfurt to Riyadh. And there's no more vapour coming out from our mouth. Sedih kan?

Frankfurt, from above. Autumn, 2015.

**On the 25th October, we experienced the shifting of 1 hour back (during fall) in order to make better use of natural daylight. Jaruskova texted me on the night of 24th October to inform me this and I seriously thought that they are gonna have celebration for that. Haha. Okayla tu, first time punya experience.

Okay, I hope this entry will encourage people to go out and travel the world, explore everything, learn new languages and cultures, and embrace all the differences. Go, go, go! Till then, ciao!