My initial plan today is to visit the Castle Hill but seeing that the sky is overcast with clouds, which means the photos won't turn out as nice, and also I've checked that it's forecast to rain today, I decided to change plan. This is the good part of backpacking (and with ample time to spare) where you can just plan and change plans as you go. So off I go to my sight-seeing on trams again and today I will be focusing on the Buda side. I board the tram no. 41 and went all the way towards the outskirts of the Buda town. Along the way I passed the Buda town area and the local residential area. Their residential areas consist of blocks of flats a little like SG. There are basically 2 distinctive colors for the flats; the older flats are painted in dull grey / brown, while the newer flats has a more striking yellow / red.
Further away from the town area, the scene changes where the residential areas are now bungalows houses on the hills. I alighted at one of the stops and went walking up a hill. The houses here are definitely more luxurious and has a very nice view from the hill overlooking the Buda town. There are still quite a few on-going constructions. Pretty good place to stay. Nice view, calming environment away from the city buzz. Going back to the Buda town, I came to the local market place. Its divided into 3 floors. The ground floor has stalls selling poultry, cakes and confectionaries, flowers and a supermarket; first floor stalls sells vegetables and fruits; while second floor houses hawker food stalls and clothings stalls. Browsing through the food stalls I have no idea what the food are. Yes, there are sign boards but in Hungarian words. Only a few comes with photos but I couldn't draw much info from the photos either as they are either covered in red paprika sauces or grilled / fried meat. Some stalls have various dishes displayed at the counter and you just tell the seller what you want (something like ordering 杂菜饭). So I pointed to something which looks like 'kuay teow' noodle and say '1'. The seller asked me something in hungarian which I have no idea what she's talking about. So I shrug my shoulders and she went back to the kitchen and came back bearing a pail and scoop up some white cream. I still have no idea what she is trying to do so I just say OK. What happens next is the lady put some 'kuay teow' onto a paper plate and pour some white cream on top of it. Then she asked if I wanted some brown colored stuff so I just say OK.
So, end up the white cream is actually sour cream with cheese and the brown-colored stuff is fried pig oil (like those on the 'bak chor mee'). It taste OK initially when you eat the noodle and the sour cream with the fried pig oil. But then it's just too much especially when it started turning cold. I couldn't continue any more and chuck away the remaining half. To wash away the 'geli' feeling, I bought a chocolate cake downstairs.
After that I took the tram to the famous 4-star Danubius Hotel Gellert, which is one of the most traditional hotels in Budapest and Hungary. The hotel was opened to the public since September 24th, 1918 and has maintained the highest recognition ever since. Next to the hotel is the world famous Gellert Bath. I saw a huge cross up on the hill beside the hotel. So I decided to check it out. Turns out that it's actually a very unique and lovely Cave Church of Gellert Hill, founded in 1924. It takes the formation of the cave and turns it into a chapel with separate areas for prayers. I didn't take any photos inside although I really wanted to as there are a few people inside praying and I felt it wouldn't be polite.
That evening, I went to Vista Cafe & Restaurant for dinner. I ordered Goulash soup and spagetti cabonara. The goulash soup is a traditional hungarian dish. It has carrot, potato and cattle meat in the soup and tasted very delicous. The cattle meat is very tender and juicy. The atmosphere is very nice and relaxing. There's very little customers at that time as it's only 5+pm. After the meal, I went walking towards Oktagon station and passed by the opera house. There are statues of musicians on top of the roof of the opera house. It's still raining so I decided to call it a day and head back to the hostel. Tonight I shifted into the 6-bed dorm.
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