S L Song : Love to travel but hate the travelling

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Budapest Keleti pu Station

We were surprised that there is no immigration checkpoint at the station when we arrived in Budapest. Our passports were not stamped in Prague and again our passports were not stamped here. I experienced that before when I visited Holland. My passport was not stamped during entry or exit. As such, our photographs are the only evidence to show that we have been to Prague and Budapest.

Budapest

Budapest is the capital of the Republic of Hungary. It is often described as the "Little Paris of Middle Europe". It was founded in 1873 after the unification of three cities: Buda, Obuda and Pest.

The Hungarian Parliament across River Danube

Prague Holesovice Station to Budapest Keleti Station

The next day, we took the 7.30 am train to Budapest from the Holesovice Station in Prague. This 443 km journey took 7 hours. Why didn't we fly? After taking into account the flight schedule, check in time, travelling to and from the airport, arrival time and costs, we decided it will be better to travel by train.

Very comfortable train

Breakfast on the train

Lunch on the train

Our ticket

Kutna Hora Hlavni Station

We made it to the station which is about 3 km away. There are few cars in Kutna Hora and certainly no possibility of a traffic jam.

We had our dinner at the same restaurant near our hotel.

Italian Court

This building dates back to the 13th century when silver was discovered in Kutna Hora. It served as a Royal Mint and was so named because of the Italian craftsmen who worked here.

The courtyard of the Italian Court

Fountain with the statue of a miner

View of the Church of St Barbara and the Jesuit College from the terrace at the Italian Court.

Exploring the Italian Court is only possible by joining a guided tour. As we were only there by 4.40 pm it was closed. The van came on time at 4.45 pm to take us to the train station to catch the 5.00 pm train back to Prague.