I arrived in Budapest this morning. My checked bag did not. I’m not very surprised, I barely made my connection in O’Hare, but usually the bags are faster than the people. The terminal change was the culprit. The bag did eventually make it, but as of 11 PM it still hasn’t been delivered.
After filing the claim for the lost bag I bought a 7 day metro travel card. Not having my checked bag made the journey on the bus / metro / tram significantly easier. The ticket office was right next to the exit and the 200E bus leaves every 10 minutes. Since it was Sunday there was no traffic. The 100E bus is more direct, but they charge 900 HUF each way while my entire 7 day travel card was only 4950 HUF. At the end of the 200E line (Nagyvárad tér), then took the metro a couple of stops, then took the tram. The tram and metro stops are very close to the hotel.
When I got to the hotel my room was not ready (was shortly before 11 AM at this point). It was too late to take a free walking tour, but the river cruise was going to do that anyways. So I repacked my bags and left one bag behind.
I walked a bit (exploring, I know I have a travel card and should actually use it) over to the Dohány Street Synagogue. Since it was a Sunday (and not Saturday) I knew it would be open and it was one of the places I did want to see. They have a very short guided tour in a few languages. By guided I mean one person talks to you while you are seated in the pews for 20 minutes, then walks you outside to the mass graves from WWII are located then walks you to another memorial in the back. They also have a small Jewish museum and some details on the Budapest ghetto during WWII.
At this point I was dangerously low on energy – If I hadn’t been using the handrail I would have fell down the steps in the museum. I walked over to the US Embassy (you know what I mean – McDonald’s) and got a small hamburger meal for 500 HUF. That was a good value.
I took the metro to the Batthyány tér metro station which is conveniently across the river from the Parliament building. After taking a few pictures of the Parliament building I walked to the Széchenyi Chain Bridge.
I walked over a bit of the chain bridge then decided to take the bus / metro back to the hotel since it was past normal check in time and the stores close at 6 PM (and I needed to get clean clothes).
I was upgraded to a Deluxe room in the New York Palace Hotel, Dedica Anthology, a Marriott Autograph Collection hotel. The room is quite nice, and it has a massive bath tub.
I went shopping across the street at H&M and another store to get shaving cream, razor, sun screen, deodorant….
After my shopping spree I got some dinner and liquids for hydration.