Before entering the city and becoming a channel forced between concrete quays, the Danube is actually a living river. On the Buda side, north of the Újpest railway bridge there’s a long green esplanade called Római part stretching on the riverbank towards Szentendre. “Római” means Roman, since the ruins of the ancient town “Aquincum” are located nearby.

Római part is full of bars, restaurants mostly serving the same food and lacking a distinct character. The iconic dish, “hekk” is a fish, the number one fish consumed by Hungarians which is funny because it’s a sea fish. You go to lake Balaton, you eat hekk from the Atlantic. Makes sense, doesn’t it?

If you get past the crowd and the twelve-in-a-dozen places, you’ll eventually reach Fellini, this colourful circus car placed near the water with its own beach. Other bars simply don’t use the opportunity to get closer to the water than 10 meters, thus it’s a relief to finally find a place with deck-chairs on the stony beach.

By character I mean that Fellini has a certain atmosphere. The colors, the car, the beach – a very simple idea and it works, because it brings you close to the water in a green setting. Plus they have several Belgian beers on tap, don’t miss the cherry-flavored one!

Downsides? Not too many, not too serious: a bit expensive to my taste, only has a mobile toilet and the water attracts bugs.

I can live with these until I have my cherry beer.

Want to see some pictures?

Memento Park – or Szoborpark (“Statue Park”), is a depository for communist-era public statues.

Located on the very fringes of Budapest, you should allocate quite a bit of travelling time to getting there and back, or catch the once-a-day direct bus that leaves at 11:00 from Deák Ferenc Metro station and goes back to the city at 13:00 (or just drive).

Lots of people get a kick out of seeing these monumental statues in their new, “harmless” environment, but given nice enough weather, the park is also a good spot to get away from the city’s concrete for a bit.

Just outside the main entrance, there’s a barrack where they sometimes have temporary exhibits as well as some permanent information on the 1956 revolution and the 1989-90 change into democracy.

Definitely check it out, as there’s also a movie theater inside, showing a subtitled documentary called “Life of the Agent.” It’s a compilation of actual black-and-white training videos filmed by and for the communist secret police, teaching you how to conduct proper house searches, how to follow someone unnoticed, how to enlist someone as an informant, and other similar skills. You can also buy the movie on DVD at the ticket office, and it’s awesome.

The Hungarian Museum of Science and Technology is a place you’re unlikely to find on your own. Not only because it’s located a bit out of the way, but also because, well, would it occur to you to check out three large halls’ worth of machinery if I wasn’t prompting you?

When I first visited with some friends, I immediately fell in love with the place. What you have here is three separate exhibits, each in its own hall:one full of scientific instruments (telescopes, clocks, geodesic and meteorological machinery, etc.); one dedicated to engines of all sorts from steam through petrol to an actual fighter jet engine; and one – which I find the most interesting – for household electronics from the 20th century.

Among other cool stuff, this last gallery holds part of an ancient, room-sized Ural 2 computer; the first Hungarian robot toy, a giant ladybug; and a Hungarian invention whose idea was not patented because of the inventor’s boss’ incompetence, got stolen and later became the 3.5 floppy disk. You’ll definitely want a tour guide to point out the special items for you.

It’s really poetic to see all these man-made items collected and displayed as if they were works of art or wonders of nature. It’s also a great way to build up geek cred.

Practical note as of now, it’s a bit hard to get an English-speaking guide to the exhibits. To arrange for one, you should call 3612044092 at least 3-4 days (or preferably a week) ahead.

You’d better be prepared for long queues because this confectionery attracts people from all across the city. No wonder, the family Daubner has been serving the needs of the clientèle for several decades since they moved to Budapest at the end of the 1950s with excellent pastries, cakes, parfaits and ice cream.

You shouldn’t miss the ice cream in sweet waffle (no extra charge) but don’t forget to pay first, keep the receipt and hand it over when asking for your favourite taste. For those with a “salty tooth” there’s an impressive choice of “pogácsa”, traditional Hungarian pastry. Most guests come here to choose and pick up their favourite stuff after paying since the whole store is set up to serve as a takeaway.

You’ll find some benches outside but beware, the street features pretty heavy traffic during the day. There is also some room inside to eat what you have asked for. The previous opening times have changed, now we can enjoy Daubner on Mondays too.

Located a bit far from down town you might want to combine this visit with a walk around the nicer parts of Óbuda or a hike to Hármashatár-hegy.

See more photos here.