This year, for the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States, my other half and I decided to get away—this time to Budapest, Hungary. We had been wanting to explore more Eastern European cities, and one of his coworkers had recently been to Budapest and recommended it. Now, we do as well!

Our stay was 3 full days bookended by 2 half days, and we felt it was enough to get a good sense of the city, although we definitely wouldn’t have minded staying longer. The intricate, medieval buildings have inspired me to learn more about architecture and the different styles.

The first night, we stayed at Hotel Clark, which was more upscale and had a sweet woody signature scent. And Balmain toiletries!

I wish I could tell you what they smelled like, but my jet-lagged brain adjusted the time on the alarm clock 12 hours the wrong way at the last minute before falling asleep, resulting in my waking up late and starting the first full day far more stressed than anyone should be while on vacation. I skipped the shower (as one can get away with in temperatures just above freezing!). I can tell you, though, that the lotion is a nice citrus-ylang-musk to my nose.

Luckily, the hotel is right by the Széchenyi Chain Bridge, so we were able to cross over quickly to the Pest side east of the Danube (Duna) river and ride the Ferris wheel, or Budapest Eye.

The doors on the rectangular cabins allowed plenty of space between each other, so I was able to stick my phone outside through the gap and take photos without glass getting in the way. (Do not try this at home, kids.)

The rest of the first day, we stayed on the Buda side and took the funicular up to the Castle District. “Buda Castle,” formerly the Royal Palace, now houses the Hungarian National Gallery. I particularly enjoyed the portraits.

We got to see the sky over the Danube in its various shades that day:

As night fell, we trekked toward the labyrinth under Castle Hill, a musty dungeon where Vlad “the Impaler” was once imprisoned, and also where saints are buried. It involved a lot of stooping to cross under the arches between rooms and using the phone flashlight to try to avoid stepping into the puddles that formed from water dripping, but was worth a visit.

When in Budapest, the thermal bath is an experience not to be missed. Even (or especially) on a cold November night, we unwound on the rooftop of Rudas with a bottle of sparkling Tokaj, looking out over the river at the magnificent buildings along Pest—we were soaking in warm water above only 3 floors, but for that hour, we might as well have been on top of the world.

The next day, we went gift shopping at Central Market Hall, the largest and oldest indoor market in Budapest. It wasn’t too crowded, November being in the off season, but still a bit overwhelming—so many vendors selling beautiful Hungarian lace embroidery, leather bags, cork bags, handpainted spice grinders, dolls, and all kinds of paprika, to name a few things. Prices sometimes varied between stalls.

Gift-buying mission accomplished and relieved to be out from the sensory overload, we walked across the green Liberty Bridge back to the Buda side to Gellért Hill Cave, home of the Pauline Cave Church (Sziklatemplom). This view of the hill is what I found most striking, as the church and a monastery beside it were constructed by carving into natural rock formations and located right in the heart of the city.

More shopping, now of a more quotidian kind. Budapest has several stores that sell vintage as well as new, contemporary clothing at wallet-friendly prices. I came closest to being “a kid in a candy store” at Szputnyik and browsed all the shirts with funky patterns and all the mesh dresses while my other half sat patiently between racks of sunglasses, watches, and shoes… unfortunately, the “free size” of the shirts I liked just did not work for me.

Of course, the main pedestrian shopping street is Váci utca, a touristy mix of high-street chain stores and artsy souvenir shops. Our best memory from there is of sipping proper Arabic coffee and eating pastries at Cafe Frei, which features coffee specialties from all over the world. (I was curious about their Nicaraguan “tobacco coffee” but didn’t give up my option of Bedouin coffee for it when they told me it tasted not like tobacco but like apples and cinnamon. Next time, if there is one…)

Another experience we are not supposed to miss is the ruin bars, which are dive bars set up in derelict buildings, often decorated with a theme. We ended up going to Red Ruin twice because it was close to our second hotel—it is satirically plastered in old Communist Party propaganda and literally red. I tried a couple different versions of Unicum, the local herbal liqueur, and found the Unicum Barista quite a delicious coffee liqueur.

Was perfume involved on this trip? Absolutely. I’m saving the sniffing for a separate post as the sightseeing was too marvelous not to share first!