Last minute change
Trip Start
Dec 31, 2007
1
Trip End
Jan 04, 2008
Budapest, Hungary
Thursday, January 10, 2008
We arrived in Budapest on New Year's Eve just after sun set and were greated to a temperature of minus 6C and a blanket of snow. We took a Zone taxi to the Kempinski Hotel which was our base for the next two nights to see in the new year and recover from our celebrations. Staff were helpful and on the whole friendly and we were offered an upgrade to a superior room which was very welcome.
The hotel is centrally located and only a few hundred metres from the Danube. Even with the chilly weather and slippery pavements walking around the city is easy and you are always met with amazing architecture around every corner. The immence size and grandure of these buildings will leave a lasting impression as too will the view across the Danube to the Buda side from the Pest which is on the north bank.
Our last two nights were in the Normafa Hotel some distance from the City Center up in the hills on the Buda side. Due to its altitude and position we were in a winter wonderland at this time of the year. The hotel is incredible value for money and I heartly recommend it. Our room overlooked the heated out door swimming pool which was open from 4 pm until 8pm and of course we had to have a swim in this unique setting. Fortunately there is a a hot sauna waiting after your frozen dash from the pool to the hotel. It's only a few metres away but at about minus 10C outside the onset of hypothermia is not far away when only clad in a in a pair of swimming shorts!
From the Normafa Railway Station we took the "Childrens's Train" to the end of the line. The name comes from the fact that the train and line is staffed by children [supervised by adults] except for the driver and a few men required to uncouple the carriages. The children dressed in uniforms salute the train's arrival into the station, even the station office is "manned" by young children who operate the switches and points. The line from Normafa to Széchenyi-hegy Station takes about 30 minutes and is a very pretty run throught the forest. Fox and wild boar live in the forest so may be seen from the train if you're lucky.
With cheap air fares and a stay in the Normafa Hotel most will find Budapest a fanastic city break.
