gerbeaud

well, enough of monuments and sights of budapest, for now, i will take you to a sweet treat and the name of the confectionery is called gerbeaud. apparently gerbeaud is a byword for excellence among budapesters. in fact i already know that i will come here to try out the cake even before my trip to budapest. gerbeaud is so famous and apparently a must visit, must try cafe in the guide book and according to many internet source.

it took me awhile to find this cafe, in fact i almost wanted to give up as i have been searching for awhile after i left saint stephen basilica. nonetheless, with the never give up attitude, i arrived!

i walk straight into the confectionery store and check out the cake counters, plenty pretty cakes enticing me....

gerbeaud also has its own name chocolate and packaging

a quick glance of the lustrous interior of rich stucco decoration, glittering chandeliers, marble topped tables, wood and brocade furnishings, i can imagine that the the superb delicacies only serve to enhance the sense of occasion felt by all the guests, here in the indoor sitting.

perhaps it is the season, no one sitting inside, i don't want to be the odd one out, so i settle at the outdoor terrace as well, which gives a bit of breeze in the late evening of summer day, i sit down and browsing through the menu, i am spoiled with choices and in fact i don't know what to choose from, and so i decided on something traditional and authentic....

i ordered flódni (pronounced as FLODE-NEE) a sweet pastry prepared with white wine layered with walnut, poppy seeds and apple filling. but i am totally disappointed, the flódni is so dry and so hard... perhaps it is truly traditional and authentic, perhaps the authentic recipe does not match up to my modern palette. perhaps gerbeaud is just a fame of the past glory? perhaps i am comparing the hungaricum pastry against the sophistication of french patisseries standard? i am not sure any more, but i just don't like what i have ordered and tasted.

perhaps i should just order the macarons or the cakes that on display at the cake counter instead of searching for the authentication and being let down.... but i must admit i do like the ambiance of this cafe, perhaps the exterior enjoyment is already worth this pilgrimage...

gerbeaud is situated in a 150 years the grand building dominating vorosmarty square and has functioned as the home for confectionery and café of world renown in the 19th century.

as i paid my bill and walk further and further away towards deak tér metro station, i turn back for one last glimpse of gerbeaud and vorosmarty square

saint stephen basilica

[you probably won't believe what i am doing now, i was burning late night oil last night. some of the shared folder migration failed due to naming convention or the path name too long, as a result we have to move the folders manually. that's exactly what i had done last night, and what i am doing now, i just have to log on to the file servers and do the moving and it takes time... so while waiting, i will post another blog entry to kill the boredom...]

i am still on my travel tale of budapest, so from the colorful central market, i now bring you to the famous cathedral called szent istván-bazilika in hungarian language.

saint stephen basilica is what it's called in english, an clean line, elegant cathederal that named after the first king of hungary who is also mummified here.

you stand at the square and have a picture with saint stephen... it was late afternoon when you arrived, the sun set on the front building of the cathedral create a cozy and warm feeling...

you walk in and immediately attracted by the heavenly choir and angelic voices, usually you don't like the hymns sing in the cathedral but you find their voices and the rhythm of the hymns are actually quite modern and soothing to the soul and above all pleasing to your ears...

while enjoying the choir, you walk around and observing the glamorous and glitter dome in the cathedral

and the details of the ceiling, all glitters, golden and glorious.... saint stephen basilica is definitely an impressive monument in budapest, and worth a quick visit

at the side room on the entry/exit, there is this little exhibition room that showcase the model of saint stephen basilica

the front view, one can actually pay and walk the way up to the side tower where the whole view of budapest will unveil in front of you, but you didn't do that because you have no more energy to walk the steps....

as you leave the cathedral from the front door, you stand in front of saint stephen basilica and this is the square that leading to a whole stretch of pedestrian and restaurants and shops... all rather hip, pricey and atmospheric but touristic....

the back view of saint stephen basilica that links to andrassy út which you will tell the story in another blog entry...

colorful.budapest.central.market

[i had a super busy day... some migration of files are not working properly and as the consequences i have to stay back to watch the guys and also solve the problem... to cut the story short, today is not really my day but thanked God that everyday is a new day and the fact is that His grace and mercy is new every morning is already a blessing to me.  so tomorrow will be another new day]

twenty third august

you stop by at the budapest central market on your way ‘home’ after descent from buda hill. It stands close by the pest foot of liberty bridge, so it is really on the way, so you drop by…

the budapest central market is encompassed within a 100 years old building or rather warehouse. quite a nice building though from the outter appearance

apparently this is the largest market in the budapest and the most attractive one.

you are not really impressed; in fact this market could be the most popular and visited shopping sites for tourist.

inside the market hall there are plenty of stalls selling variety of goods.

from hungarian sausage, souvenir to the fruits and vegetables.

from paprika garlands...

to strings of garlic...

tokaj aszu and unicum can be found here too

there are many stalls selling typical hungarian merchandise and likewise many other hungaricum.

the market is big but not really lively and not down to earth either as it is typically cater for the tourist.  at least this is what you think....

prince.charming.fisherman.bastion

twenty third august

you walk further towards the old town direction, before you realize you already meet your prince charming – fisherman's bastion and his best friend st matthias cathedral. 

yes, fisherman's bastion, a scene that you have seen many times in travel channel, postcards but seeing it in real is quite a different.  the fisherman's bastion is beautiful, like a perfect white and charming prince standing at the hill top, watching and protecting his city.

you mingle around your white prince for a rather long time, not doing anything but take in the amazing and surreal feeling of being here in person and touching the off –white wall is just a bliss.

you are just so so happy to meet him, finally.  you don't mind at all, even his handsome neo-romanesque bastion has only ever had a decorative role and that he never fight a battle

fisherman’s bastion a relatively youthful structure next to st matthias cathedral. it was sited on the place of the medieval fish market and the wall protected by the guild of fishermen and that where the name comes from

the view of pest from here is quite spectacular, with the parliament right in front of you... and besides you enjoy his company

and you just love hiding under his wide arms, he shields you from the fierce afternoon sun and his breath is cool and refreshing

you just want to linger right here, with him forever…

admiring him up close and personally, he has a handsome face and he is just so charming isn't it? don't you agree …

you just can't stop taking picture with him, from different angles…

even his reflection on the glass window of hilton hotel is amazing…

oh dear, you think you are going mad because you really love this place so much, words just cannot describe  your contentment and the joy you have within you

and finally you decide to also pay a visit to his best friend st matthias cathedral.  you refuse to pay to go for the entrance because you have your principle.  you worship your God free and freely, there is no need to pay for entering your church and why should you pay to enter a cathedral? no matter how beautiful the interior of st mathias cathedral will be, you have no regret.

you wanted to eat your lunch at ruszwum - a cake house/café, but the cakes are not so appetizing, so you resort to two scoops of sorbet – melon and cottage cheese, both are good and natural. now you have enough energy to carry on…

one last look of the surrounding of your prince charming - fisherman's bastion and his best friend - st matthias cathedral, and you are ready to leave buda hill.  you hop on to a bus that takes you down the hill, back to the buda side of danube embankment.

a.hike.to.buda.hill

[it's friday again, time flies... before I realize, autumn already tiptoed in by surprise. the days are getting gloomier, the rain falls more frequently and the wind blows a little harder, and colder. the trees are changing colors and very soon they will be bald and wither away…  i already swapped my stockings to a thicker diner tights/maillot and already finding myself start digging into my autumn/winter wardrobe. although the weather is still in transition... my flu is on the way to recovery, another breaking news at workplace as a french supervisor that yelled at me a few weeks ago also leaving the project suddenly.  that leave me with a lot of decision pendings at work.... anyway, at least it is friday today with a weekend ahead (yeay)... but for now i will leave you with another summery travel story of mine, so let's travel back to a hot summer day on 23rd August 2010]

it’s another extreme hot day. you are determined to explore the city regardless of the heat and you head west to conquer buda hill.  you take tram no. 2 and stop at the pest side of the chain bridge and you walk across the bridge. the walk is pleasant although the weather is warming up.

you reach the buda side of the chain bridge and hike up to the castle hill by taking the royal path/steps.  the hike is tough. you perspire. you walk. you stop. you take your time to look back and look down to the danube river bank, you look to the pest and soak in the view every time you pause. 

you are at the top (sort of) and looking down to the funicular track and and the view from where you came from the clark adam tér. 

you look at the st stephen cathedral (top) and you look at the parliament (bottom) and you wonder why both look quite similar and almost the same height.  you overhead tour guides saying the both buildings are the same height because the government of hungary wanting to portray that the government and the religion are equal.

You finally reach the top, but you don’t quite know where you are.  You arrive at the royal palace that houses two museums, you didn’t bother to go in to any of them, you wonder around to appreciate the architecture.  ‘It is quite impressive’, you said. 

you are at the habsburg's gate, there is an eagle guiding this royal gate

as you carry on walking, you notice that you are already at the courtyards of the royal palace, by this time the heat is really unbearable....

there is no shade at where you are, the flowers are pretty, the views are superb but it is just too hot!!!

you walk around to find a shady spot but it is almost non existence unless you pay to go in to the museum.  so you decide to walk on, you see the ruin castle, the trace of old castle is plentiful but the new buildings overshadowing the old ones.  then suddenly, there is the cool breeze, you thanked God that there are enough breezes on the top of the hill and you are able to cool down even under the mid noon sun. 

from buda castle, you walk towards the old town, there are many sights along the way.  You love the idea of getting lost and just wonder around. even though there are enough signage but still not accurately pointing the right direction, so you are still lost sometime as you wander around...

 you bump into buda castle labyrinth unexpectedly. It is an oasis with just 20c degree. you have no intention to pay a visit but yet you stay at the bottom for awhile – to avoid the heat. you are hungry but yet have no appetite to eat (who will, under such heat).

you come up to the surface again and you spot a bulgarian strudel store tucks in an inner courtyard somewhere, it’s about time to rest your feet and eat (even though you don’t feel like eating). 

a sour cherry strudel, a cuppa espresso sound like an idea and a good rest – is exactly what you need!