We visited the zoo again and i must say it's absolutely amazing to go up the Great Rock and watch the city. It was really crowded mostly because it was the week before Children Day and because it is tourist season. However, we didn't expect the city to be that crowded in May.

We went by car with a friend and we had a lot of fun. Don't forget that the self-serving restaurant in the Zoo is the best way to  not starve and eat healthy while you are there. Don't forget to grab your cam and a very big card

...more about the trip soon.

In photo: with my husband on the Great Rock, in back the Elephant's House;

Photo Copyright by George Mutea

The traditional gulyas is made of beef, paprika and many other ingredients. You can also find gulyas made of chicken or fish. The best guyas is obtained on an open-fire, just like the old Hungarian cowboys made it: from onions, beef, paprika and  caraway seeds. Potatoes and/or pasta are also added to the soup. The soup is spicy so the recipe requires hot chillies and often tomatoes.

Traditional Hungarian "bogrács gulyás"  is often still cooked outdoors over an open fire in a cauldron. In Hungary as well as in near-by countries -such as Romania -there are annual festivals and contests for anyone who likes to cook gulyas. Obviously, the traditional one...but everyone involved has their own secret.

If you want to experiment, try Paprikas as well. That's a stew...but about it, on a different pos

Why not plan to celebrate Christmas in Budapest? The main celebration takes place on Christmas Eve and families go to the midnight mass. The traditional Christmas food includes fish soup, meat filled cabbage rolls, rolls stuffed with walnuts and poppy seeds. Families exchange gifts on Christmas Eve.

In Hungary, baby Jesus brings the gifts, not Santa. Santa brings the gifts on December 6th (St. Nicholas). So why not spend the entire month of December celebrating on the bank of Danube?

Christmas lights and charming Christmas trees fill the streets and squares weeks before Christmas. But you can't really enjoy the Christmas atmosphere unless you go there during the Holidays. Enjoy the traditional music and food.

I still miss Budapest and I might just try to visit it again before the holidays. Why not? I can even get some nice gifts!

Although we went to Budapest with a couple of friends , we "deemed" the trip our honeymoon because we got married Nov 4, 2006 and didn't have a real honeymoon until this summer.

But how romantic is Budapest? VERY! The most romantic thing about Budapest is watching the city by night. Walk on Elisabeth Bridge then take a right. Right near the bridge you'll see a cafe. Take a sit and enjoy the city by night. Yes , by night! The lights are incredible , the Danube is amazing and you just can't leave!

Budapest has an amazing nightlife. There are clubs, discos, restaurants...it's a matter of choosing where to spend a wild night.

And if you want to relax with your honey, just visit Margitsziged (Margaret Island) and either walk or rent a bike (those with 2 seats!). You get to exercise and spend quality time together. Or just go to a spa and enjoy!

So, yes, Budapest can be the perfect place for your honeymoon!  It's also a lovely place to spend Valentine's. Remember that Hungarians are mostly Catholics so the holiday is at its best here. You'll find the "puffy" cupid and red hearts but you can also enjoy the real Catholic holiday in one of the churches. Christmas is really special as well and so is Easter.

We decided to visit the Castle Hill during a lovely August day. Once in front of the Hill you can choose to take the cable car or walk up to the castle walls. Because we were on a slightly low budget by now -and why not admit, I love to work out when I get a chance - we decided to walk.

The Cable Car (still using the original ones)

Copyright by Branzea Mihaela

That's us -Alex, Adi (my husband), me and Sorin (Mihaela's fiance) - walking to the Castle Hill

Copyright by Branzea Mihaela

Once there we didn't know what to do and what to visit first. A lot of the buildings are under reconstructions so it was a little hard to capture nice photos without scaffolding showing up.

Probably the place I liked best was the Fishermen's Bastion. It offers a marvelous panorama of the city and is always crowded. The architectural style is a mixture of ne0-Gothic and neo -Roman styles. Looking to your left you'll see the Parliament building close by and Margaret Island further away. To the right you can see the Citadel Hill with the lovely monument on top.

Me in front of The Fishermen's Bastion (one of the photos I love best from this trip)

Copyright by Adi Dima

View from Castle Hill

Copyright by Adi Dima

The Church of Our Lady has a stunning architecture. Too bad it was during reconstructions both inside and outside. There were tours available however. Be careful what you are wearing! If you wear a tank top you aren't allowed in -uppsss

The Church of Our Lady

Copyright by Adi Dima

A lot of restaurants are located on Castle Hill. Be aware though that the prices are rather high -ok, way higher than the "normal" restaurants located within the city - and you even have to pay a fee to go to the toilet. The water is incredibly expensive as well.

You can buy a lot of souvenirs, some more expensive than others. But probably the best souvenirs are photos and the coins you can mint yourself by using 100 Forint coin and 2 Forint coin. I've got several of those and they are a nice reminder of the places I've visited.

A lot of museums are located within the Royal Palace.

A small island, right in the middle of Danube, home to the Sziget Festival (yes, I thought that would ring a bell).

Its best-known landmarks are:

- The Centennial Memorial , commemorating the hundredth anniversary of the city's unification

The Centennial Memorial

Copyright by Ady Dima

- A small Japanese Garden with a mildly thermal fish pond
- A tiny zoo
- The "Music Well" (Zenélő kút), a small pavilion, close to Árpád bridge;

- The "Music Fountain" (Zenélő szökőkút), a fountain near which music is played and light shows are performed in summer, close to Margaret bridge;

The Music Fountain

Copyright by Ady Dima

- An octagonal Water Tower.

We took the "surface metro" to get to Margitsziget via Margaret Bridge. Once there, we were amazed by the beauty and calm of the place. Cars aren't allowed on the island: only public transportation or rented bikes.

Once on the island we took a bus for a tour of the island and admired the Palatinus water park -and honestly felt bad about not bringing our swim suits with us...-, the sports pool, the hotels and thermal spas...the endless crowds of people, walking, jogging, riding a bike, admiring the serenity of the place.

We particularly enjoyed the Music Fountain. It can't be described in words or captured in photos, but it's worth taking a camcorder to record the show.

Music Fountain

Copyright by Ady Dima

If you walk along the bank of Danube, you'd be amazed by the views of the city. Margaret Bridge with the Parliament in the back if you look to your right, The Royal Palace and the Citadela if you look opposite to the Parliament and Arpad Bridge to the left.

Margaret Bridge and the Parliament

Copyright by Ady Dima

But we had to check out the Fortress on top of Gellert Hill so we went on a lovely afternoon. We climbed the Hill leaving from the Gellert Hotel side (and not the Elisabeth Bridge site with the waterfall, as we did the first day). We wanted to visit the Cave Church as well but that was opened only from 5 PM to the public so we went up the hill. High up on the Hill you can see the Liberation Monument- the statue of a woman. Also on top of the Hill there is the Fortress.

The Liberation Monument

Copyright by Adi Dima

The Cave Church is an incredible place to visit. It's a Catholic Church located right in the rock of Gellert Hill. You are only allowed to visit after the mass and for half an hour only . The entrance is free. We went right after the mass and stayed for a while to take some photos, film and enjoy some church music, which sounds divine in such a location.

The Cave Church -Entrance

Copyright by Adi Dima

The view from Gellert Hill probably rivals only the views from the Royal Palace...but from the Gellert Hill you can see the immensity of the Castle located right opposite to the hill-if you look to the left as you stand looking at the Danube.

The Royal Palace -View from Gellert Hill

Copyright by Adi Dima

We then took the other way down the Gellert Hill to take some photos of the waterfall in daylight. It's the way that leads to Elisabeth Bridge -where we first came to visit Gellert Hill on our first day in Budapest.

The Waterfall on Gellert Hill -seen from near Elisabeth Bridge

Copyright by Adi Dima

Elisabeth Bridge -view from Gellert Hill

Copyright by Adi Dima

Gellert Hill offered some of the most magical views of Budapest I've ever seen. It made us fall in love with the city. And it makes you want to go there again and again and again...it's the air, the views and people that attract crowds of tourists, from the low-budget youngsters -like us - to the huge crowds of Japanese with their fancy camera stuck on their neck-and by the way prepare yourself for taking 1000 or even more photos during a 4 days stay!!!! -to the wealthy looking to enjoy the spas. Budapest has it all!

A locomotive at the first floor of the Transport Museum

Copyright Adi Dima

The Transport Museum has a lovely collection of locomotives and wagons -and you can even sit in two of the wagons- and also displays a real railroad station from the 1900s. Other parts of the the museum house the history of road traffic -horse and mechanism driven vehicles, bridges, a collection of old cars, motorcycles and bicycles - , the history of sailing, the history of flight and space flight and the history of public transport.

The History of Flight: Hungarian Astronaut Bertalan Farkas

A very old -and weird looking - bicycle

Copyright Adi Dima

It's absolutely amazing to see everything and to read the history of different items -yes, the information is in English and the employees speak English.

A real must-see attraction!

Copyright Adi Dima

I was absolutely fascinated by the surrounding lake and the Vajdahunyad Castle's architecture. Part of the castle in Budapest is a copy of a Castle in Transylvania (Romania) --Hundedoara Castle, located right near the town with the same name, Hunedoara --- also called Vajdahunyad, although the Hungarian one displays different architectural styles.

Initially, Vajdahunyad Castle was made from wood and cardboard for the millennium exhibition in 1896 but it was so beautiful and popular that it was built from stone and brick.

Copyright Adi Dima

Within the castle's court there is a statue of an anonymous, thought to be a chronicler in the XII century. If you touch the pen , you are supposed to get good luck. Unfortunately we didn't go into the court because the concert started and we were not allowed.

Vajdahunyad Castle is right near Hero's Square. Actually you can see it from the Square so it's very easy to find.

Copyright Adi Dima

In Photo: Hero's Square; Copyright: Adi Dima

Then we walked to Budapest Zoo. It's pretty easy to find if you follow the signs. A ticket for an adult costs 1700 HUF (about $9.5) and is totaly worth it. There are over 2000 animals in one of the oldest zoos in the world. It literally took us 7 hours to visit only about 80% of the zoo because part of it was under restorations -which end this Sept. So if you decide to visit the zoo, you'll be able to see everything. Probably the top attraction in Budapest Zoo is the newly restored Elephant House.

In Photo: Elephant House; Copyright Adi Dima

Other interesting attractions include The Palm House and the Aquarium, the Butterfly garden and the World of Apes. We particularly like the Butterflies because we were allowed in their natural habitat and we had to surprise to see a butterfly wanting to "land" on my t-shirt. You are not allowed to touch them.

In Photo: Butterfly Garden. Copyright Adi Dima

There aren't enough words in the world to describe the Budapest Zoo and Botanical Garden. I loved everything about it: the polar bear, the seals, the penguins, the flamings, the baby lion, the tigers, the elephants -although they only showed us their "behind"-, the ducks, the pelicans, the swans, the butterflies, the monkeys, the turtles, the crocodiles...EVERYTHING!