Budapest on Foot

Although Budapest has an amazing public transportation system with ring roads and the first underground on the Continent, we decide to first experience the City on foot. Staying at Le Meridien for 5 nights near Deák Square in Central Pest aka Belváros, we only walk a few blocks to the pedestrian-only boulevard Vaci ut lined with restaurants and high-end retail shops. We avoid the stores but do enjoy coffee and a treat at Gerbeaud, the landmark pastry shop at the north end of the Vorosmarty Square.

Here we are given a clue for the rest of our trip - coffee is meant to linger over. Even the smallest cup of espresso is given its appropriate time to savor. While Starbucks does appear in Vienna, coffee to go is still an oddity in all the cities we visited.

Fueled with caffeine and sweets, our serious exploration begins. We make our way down Vaci Ut and then into the neighborhoods surrounding the restaurant row Raday Ut. Alan studies the city's grid as pedestrians, cyclists and cars each claim their part of the sidewalks, alleys and roads. Using his shoe as a unit of measure, he steps off widths of pathways, making notes to share with his colleagues and snapping pictures with his new camera. We notice some streets allow cars and others are blocked off for pedestrians - often by a shop owner's van. How agreement is reached is not clear but the result is restaurants spill into the street with their tables and chairs.

I am on the lookout for clues that pull people in for natural gathering spots and soon become immerse in the cafe scene. With a simple formula of heaters, blankets and retractable awnings, the outdoor cafe scene gets extended to 10 months a year. Why haven't we figured this out in Seattle? If you keep people warm, they too will enjoy a steaming bowl of soup outside.

We pop in to the Great Market Hall or Nagycsarnokm but it is closing time so I will need to return another morning to buy strudel, paprika and fresh fruit.

In desperate need of food, we find what is to be our favorite restaurant in Budapest - Borbíroság. Goulash soup and a great Hungarian wine selection bring us back several times. I love that they stash all the wine corks under the stairwell!