It all started when we had friends (very close ones) over for lunch on one of those weekends, a while ago. We had a very funny conversation going on and I don’t remember when or who of us suggested that we should have a short weekend abroad together. Now that our kids are not that young anymore, we can and should do it. At that moment, E went straight away to bring his laptop to the kitchen table and we started looking for low cost flights. It was literally few minutes later that we had found this ridiculously low cost flight, by WIZZ to Budapest. None of us ever visited Budapest before plus it is known for being low cost so the decision was very easy. Only God knows how, but we managed to find flight dates for a long weekend that suited the schedule of the four of us and BANG! – we booked it.This happened a few months ago, BUT the time has come and here I was, sitting on this flight with my hook and earphones, listening to the Beatles singing ‘words of love’. OH and my heart, my heart flew with joy up there among the clouds and sunny sky. I had this perfect time crocheting little pompom bracelets with my delicious playlist. When we got off the taxi next to our hotel, it was late afternoon and this was what our eyes saw. I was standing there thinking: what a nice welcoming moment. It took me few long moments and few photos, till I could step into the hotel to check in.Our friend Hilit has this special talent, she just knows how to pick the nicest hotels wherever she travels. Once again – she did it here. We stayed at hotel Moments on the Andrássy. I know, it looks very expensive but it just wasn’t. At first I thought we will need to buy some fancy clothes as I only had a pair of jeans with me but it was really ok and most of the people were dressed pretty much casual….We didn’t spend long time in our hotel rooms even though they were very inviting. We just went out to explore the city and understood very fast that we have made a great choice. The weather was nice and we walked for hours, with our heads up. We were so happy that this was just our first evening there. Here we had our breakfasts that was included in the price of our room reservations, including champagne (!), which was greatly appreciated.

From this point on, I’ll share places and highlights from our visit. There were few places we visited more than once. Sometimes it just happened as a brilliant mistake and in other times we wanted to revisit a place. There are many beautiful locations in Budapest that we didn’t see through this visit, but we plan to handle it in the near future.. Budapest is divided to the BUDA area and to the PEST area. Some will say it’s one city with two personalities. You can read more about it here.

The following places I’ll share here are those that will stay in my good memories’ box for ever and ever. Come with me and I’ll show you and try to make you feel the overall vibe and atmosphere in the city.

On our way to the Buda area, on our very first morning, we had one of the most exciting stops of this visit.

New York Cafe – They say it’s the most beautiful cafe in the world and YES it is! We had a very pleasant late morning cafe there and we loved every moment. We took so many pictures and in all of them you can see us smiling with our eyes shining so bright. I’ll only show you pictures of the cafe itself, mind you. The cafe is part of a beautiful hotel in Budapest. You can see how elegant and meticulous everything is. It makes you feel like you are sitting inside a palace. On the high floor there’s a huge piano, and yes, there was this nice guy playing it while we had our cakes and coffee. Guess who was blissfully happy? La Dolce Vita indeed. Old Buda area is the highest side of the city and is the most beautiful place to visit. We visited there twice. On the second time we came just for this famous cafe called Ruszwurm cafe. Lucky us – we did it on a sunny day and we had a clear view so we took about million pictures. You can go up to the hill with the funicular which is located at the Buda end of the Chain Bridge. The distance is almost 100 m long. But we did it by foot, all the way up. This is not such a big deal since you get to stop often on the way up with many of these: ‘WOW look what a view’ and ‘WOW let’s take a picture!’.When we got to the top it was breathtaking. We spent quite a long time starring at this amazing view of the whole city and the Danube.Parliament On the way down from Buda, our friend Shai took this beautiful picture of the Parliament, which we visited next. 

The Shoes on the Danube Promenade right next to the parliament building, on the banks of the Danube river. These iron shoes are a memorial and a monument to the hundreds of Hungarian Jews who, in the winter of 1944-1945, were shot on the banks of the Danube River by the members of the Arrow Cross PartyWell, I wish this post only showed pretty breathtaking moments but unfortunately not this time. This was a very moving moment, one of these moments when you just stand there quietly and try to digest what you are seeing.

On the Pest area we visited the Great Synagogue. Unfortunately we couldn’t go in as it was a prayer time. We just continued strolling in the area around it.We visited few awesome Churches in the Pest area. In one of them we were lucky enough to hear a violin concert. Guess whose heart swelled there? (shhhhh, me) Can you see the colour story of this city? Do you see the same colours repeating themselves in a different combinations? Take a closer look again on the New York cafe pictures, or the above Church picture and the following one. Do you see what I mean or does it only exist in my crazy mind? Colour combinations have a significant impact on each and every adventure we take. I find this melting tenderness beneath the colour combinations of this city.The Opera was very close to our hotel, less than a minute walk but none of my companions wanted to go in and buy some tickets. It’s not that I’m such a big fan of opera but I would have been very happy to see one while I’m there. At least I could step into this beautiful building and take a few photos from the inside. They promised that they will go with me on the next time (I DON’T believe them).OK now let’s face it, food was the biggest part of this trip. We ate in many different places and the food was delicious and surprisingly cheap. I have so many pictures of food plates that it is embarrassing to show here. It makes it much more fun when everything is so cheap and you don’t have to think twice before ordering something. We ate traditional Hungarian food in the Great Market Hall. Our visit at the market was very short but very productive :)}}I will share some food plates from Onyx. E made this reservation for us, a while ago. The whole ‘having lunch thing’ felt a little like visiting the opera here. All 4 of us felt sorry to eat the food as it was presented perfectly on our plates. The food looked like pieces of jewelry and we wanted to just stay inside those plates forever. The overall atmosphere was incredibly elegant. Zimpla Kert I just kept this one for the end, like the cherry on top of a mountain of whipped cream. The Zimpla Kert is the hottest bar I’ve ever visited. Located in a building which is intended for demolition. Entering this bar will make you feel like you are in an imaginary world. The place is a brilliant mixture of eclectic chaotic decorations, many different rooms, corridors and passageways, each with its drinking bar, psychedelic patterns, colourful graffiti, clutters of items everywhere. All these, together with the hottest music playlist create a very special atmosphere. I could spend days just looking at all the random bits and pieces covering the floor, the walls, the ceiling, and leaning on just about every surface.At last, it was time for us to fly back home. With hearts full of this special feeling of satisfaction and with a new love discovered. We got into the taxi back to the airport, laughing and joking and it continued on the airplane all the way back to Israel. It was a super delicious weekend, away from home, with E and with close friends. I couldn’t ask for more.
During this long weekend in Budapest I crocheted a few of these bracelets for Hilit and myself. We wore them on our wrists all days long. They fitted any outfit we had on. I know some of you saw it on IG and I plan to share this bracelet pattern here on one of my next blog posts. I’m not sure yet how to call it and it’ll be great to have your ideas here. What is the right name for this bracelet? La dolce Vita? Zimpla? Friendship bracelet?  I would love to hear your thoughts. See you soon, xoxMo