No Need For A Map

As handy as it is to have my World of Maps in Ottawa Budapest Map (Mike's newspaper map is also decent), it is much more exciting to explore the city without it.

You simply walk out your apartment door, choose a street, and start venturing down it. Along the way, you find another street and you branch off and trek down that path. Along the way you come across so many interesting shops & restaurants and some amazing architecture. It's amazing what you can stumble upon when you have no clue where you're going.

Today, on this gloriously sunny day, we did just that! We picked a main street and began walking down it, soaking in all the sites, and discovering along the way a supermarket, the Opera House, and the National Museum of Hungary. We then cut over a street to where we thought the Parliament buildings were. Turns out, those weren't them; we're not sure what they were but they were gorgeous regardless. And behind them we found a little pedestrian square which we then chose to stroll along.

We headed down it straight, until we hit the river and then decided to walk along it for a bit. We had no clue where we were going, but the view to Buda was gorgeous and we found our first gypsies! Trekking along the river brought us to another set of buildings guarded heavily by police in funny uniforms, and these ones turned out to be the actual Parliament buildings! Unfortunately we just missed the last guided tour, but we have ourselves our own little tour - of course standing out as tourists!

Eventually we decided to make our way back, but we couldnt take the same route. Instead we just took street after street, turning here and there, exploring the side streets of Budapest where all the locals hang out. We knew we were heading in the general direction but weren't sure exactly. We were considering pulling out the map....and then all of a sudden we hit Vaci street: our favourite pedestrian street that we've ventured to every day since we've been here (there's just so much to see!)

And yes we ended up doing a lot of walking, but this city just fascinates me and so I love exploring every nook and cranny of it....especially when we stop for a fresh-baked chocolate croissant on the way home!