Annual April trip for IIHF Women's World Championships! Held at Ceske Budejovice in Czech Republic this year, but I've been to Czech 8 years ago so we spent 1 night in Prague, 2 nights in Ceske Budejovice then 4 nights in Budapest.
Day 1
We took Qatar to Prague, stopping over in Doha where we visited the lounge since it was a 4h layover. Priority Pass gives access to the Al Maha lounge but it was sooo crowded that we got "upgraded" to Onyx lounge which was much quieter. Food was the same and we really enjoyed it!
Landed around 7am in Prague and easily booked an Uber to Prague Marriott Hotel where we managed
to check in early!
Unfortunately, it was a rainy day so it wasn't great for sightseeing. In our previous trip, we mostly had breakfast in the hotel, so this time I was determined to try the cafe scene in Prague. First stop was Mezi Srnky where we had the pancakes and open sandwich! It was Good Friday so I decided to try the Easter special drink which was a nettle tea. Very refreshing!
Next stop was Vysehrad Castle! Walked through the grounds, cemetery and bought tickets to visit the church.
There is a tour of the undergrounds which was apparently used by the military, but unfortunately the tickets were sold out so we missed out on it. We continued on our way to see the famous Dancing House!
We took the tram to Karlin to have lunch at Eska, a famous bakery-cafe. There was a short wait but thankfully the cafe is in a sheltered compound. We had the eska breakfast set which consists of brioche with eggs and salmon, yoghurt, salad and a 'fermented' drink, as well as the popular potatoes in ash (amazinggg) and a pork broth soup which came with the signature bread 33. Our food
looked so good that someone came to ask what we ordered!
Since it was raining, we abandoned plans to go to Letna Park and attempted to go to the national museum but the queue was out the door!
So that got abandoned also and it turned into a very productive shopping spree along Wenceslas St. There happened to be an Easter market as well, but the stuff sold are almost exactly the same as Christmas markets!
Shopped till evening, then went for dinner at Tiskarna which I had booked. Decided to be adventurous and tried rabbit meat and it was so tough lol. Also ordered the trout fillet and vegetable salad which were pretty good.
Final stop of the day was the famous Cafe Louvre. Unfortunately, the service was really subpar. We're expected to just find our own seats, and service was just really slow in general despite it being past 9pm where there wasn't as much crowd. I was gunning for the famous hot choc with whip cream, but misordered (the menu is confusing T_T) and ended up with hot choc with rum where the whipped cream is on top, so I ended up ordering another one. We also got the affogatto and a plate of mini desserts that were pretty decent.
After eating so much, I visited the hotel gym for a run! Really well equipped.
Day 2
Went out for an early breakfast at Cafe Imperial, another famous traditional coffee house which was just a 5min walk from our hotel. They have a breakfast buffet but I decided to go for ala carte. We ordered this
imperial breakfast set which looked super fancy cos they place each component on separate corners of the plate haha. Plus pistachio croissant and eggs royale (scrambled eggs instead of poached) that was so good. And of course, can't miss the hot choc.
We checked out and took the tram to Praha main station for our train to Ceske Budejovice. There was some time so managed to explore the historic station as well!
I booked first class tickets but it was so completely full and there was hardly any space for luggage! Luckily our seat mate in the 4-person booth told us that we could put our luggage between the 4-seat compartments. Slept through the 2h train ride and we arrived back in a familiar town!
Arrived at Hotel Metropol CB but it wasn't time to check in so we left our luggage and went for lunch at U Vas. For such a small town, there's
MANY cafes. Everything was super affordable so I ended up ordering too much. Shakshuka, omelette with a huge salad, dubai choc crepe pancakes
and a cheesecake!
Went back to check in, and wow this hotel was more 1* than 3*. It was really tiny like a dorm and came with no amenities apart from a towel. Not even a kettle!
But we had no time to deal with it as it was time to head to Budvar Arena for 2025 Women's Ice Hockey World Championships!
First semi finals was USA against Czechia! Front row seats as usual :) Was very impressed by Czechia's performance. They managed to hold US to 1-1 up till the third period, and US barely won with a final score was 2-1 which is super respectable. Since it was a home game, atmosphere was BANGING.
Had to clear the arena before re-entering for Canada vs Finland semis, and was lucky enough to have Team Canada warm up on my side. Pou and Stacey being the last to leave as usual! Pou is GOAT, but Stacey has always been one of my favourite players. So fast and such a grinder no matter which line she's on.
She ended up in the sin bin which was right next to us but Canada was up 7-1 by then so she happily obliged a fan to take a photo while she was serving her penalty haha. Also, shockingly Finland actually scored first within the first 5 min of the first period which made me mildly alarmed, but after that Canada poured on the goals, especially after a failed coach's challenge which led to a penalty.
The match ended past 9pm, so we hurried into the town centre for dinner, and barely made the last order for Masne Kramy. Ordered pork tenderloins for starters and lamb and fish for the mains. Humongous portions!
Day 3
Easter Sunday! It was a nice chill morning, starting with breakfast at Cafe Datel - pancakes (again) and cilbir eggs with pita which was excellent! Also couldn't resist getting a hot cross bun since it was Easter though it was a little hard.
Walked around the town to take pretty photos.
Also climbed up the black tower for panoramic views. The clock struck 12 while we were on the way down and we were literally next to the bells chiming.
Was also lucky enough to catch the Easter festivities in the town! 
It was super sunny so we went to hunt for gelato and had one of the best pistachio gelatos I've ever tried! 7.nebe gelateria is tucked away from the main centre but definitely pay them a visit if you're ever in Ceske Budejovice.
It was around noon by now so it was time to make our way to the arena for the Bronze medal match! Front row again but on the opposite (bench) side, and nearer the goalpost so the views weren't as good. So, Czechia vs Finland - atmosphere was ELECTRIC. Czechia was up 3-0, but they took a series of crappy penalties
and Finland tied the game. The game went to OT, and Finland scored. Wow, the arena went silent. Heartbreaking for Czechia but sports is like
that. Happy for Finland, but also wish their long time captain Jenni Hiriikoski could be there - she's apparently been battling an unknown infection for awhile.
As usual, went out to wait before being let in for the Gold medal match. USA warm ups were
on my side so I relocated haha. Hilariously, it felt like a Canada home game. Not sure if it's due to the Czech coach is Canadian, or just because they're more likable. First period was full of action but scoreless, then US struck first in the second period. This was on my side of the rink so we got a good view. KK Harvey with the first goal and lol shes pretty entertaining to watch. Second goal by US a few moments later when Desbien made a mistake and dropped the puck after catching it, with Abbey Murphy just there to sweep it in. Heartbreaking but Canada came back quickly with 2 goals, one from the top line!
And then....at one point the puck came into the US zone and US goalie Frankel came wayy out of the crease to the face off dot to play the puck, with Stacey going for it as well. With Stacey's speed, a collision was inevitable. Frankel got
flattened and injured requiring a goalie replacement, and Stacey ended up with a penalty even though it wasn't really her fault. This happened literally right in front of me so I had a full view.
Canada also got another penalty and it became a 5 on 3 and of course, US scored. Once again, Canada came back with a goal from Fillier. And so we were headed to OT again! 20min sudden death. The game just kept going, and Canada drastically shortened the bench with the top line getting double shifted. Eventually, a costly mistake by defender Laroque where she passed directly to an American skater led to the winning goal by Tessa Janecke :/ Heartbreaking for Canada. 3 out of 4 world champs I've witnessed ended with US victories now. At least I made it to Utica last year haha.
So we filed out and it was really late with barely any restaurants open, especially on a Sunday night. Luckily we managed to find a restaurant/bar that opens late and had some grub which was super cheap but surprisingly decent. Hugest salad ever!
Day 4
Another early breakfast at Esence cafe. Ordered the pancake dilemma which comprises one sweet and one savoury pancake, and a sweet potato toast with a bunch of veg on top that was really fresh. Unfortunately the latte macchiato was way too milky.
Headed back to our hotel to have more breakfast since breakfast buffet was complimentary. Super pleased to have yoghurt and granola, and some usual eggs/ham/cheese toast and sweets.
I booked a private shuttle from Ceske Budejovice to Budapest as I didn't want to take a train back to Prague then fly which would have been a hassle. Our driver came early and we were on our way to Budapest! It was nearly a 5.5h journey by car but didn't feel too bad as we stopped halfway. Our driver spoke really good English and kept us really engaged with interesting nuggets of info and history throughout the ride. The ride cost us 444 euros, and no deposit was required, so I really liked it. It's not the cheapest, but I think it was worth the slightly additional costs for the increased convenience of being dropped right at our hotel in Budapest.
We booked Hotel NH Collection City Centre into Budapest, and checked
into a large 1 bedroom apartment with plenty of facilities (compared to
our Ceske hotel that was more like a dorm). Unfortunately the extra bed
was a sofa bed which was so thin and creaky, and the aircon wasn't
working grr. Apparently, it was too hot that day and the system was
having issues.
We were hungry by now, so first stop was VAJ bakery/cafe to try their famous pistachio croissants which was overflowing with pistachio filling. SO good. Also got a mini almond croissant and a pistachio choux!
Time to start sightseeing! It was Easter Monday and many
things were closed, so the plan was to visit the Gellert Hill and Cave
Church. After struggling for awhile to buy transport tickets on BudapestGO app, we made our way across the river from Pest to Buda!
Climbed up to the the Citadel at the top but it was under
construction :/ Good exercise at least.
Then went back down to visit the cave church which was really interesting! Entry fee was around 5 SGD and comes with an audio guide.
Took the bus to our dinner place at Ghetto Gulyas. It's famous for goulash but it has beef so we went with hen soup, chicken paprikash and seabass fillet. Also tried this typical hungarian sponge cake called somloi for dessert! We also found out that soups here are often poured on the spot haha.
Ended the day with a treadmill run at the gym! Our hotel is linked to Anatasara (which houses the famous New York cafe) so I had access to the really fancy gym there!
Day 5
Second day in Budapest! Breakfast at Budapest Bariastas - pancakes AGAIN, this time with a tahini-mascarpone sauce and berry compote, plus hummus toast with salmon. Interestingly, flat white here is usually served in a glass, not a mug.
Walked over to Central Market Hall for souvenir shopping. Got some magnets and chocs!
Followed by the Hungarian National Museum to get our history lesson.
Lunch at Retro Langos to try the iconic Hungarian street food, which is essentially fried dough with sour cream and cheese. We got the 'Hungarian' langos which also comes with onions and bacon. Sooo unhealthy and 3 of us shared 1 but other people were having 1 each!
Headed for coffee next but passed by Cookie Beacon on the way and couldn't resist getting a choc chip cookie to try and wow it was HEFTY and super sinful.
And then coffee at Espresso Embassy! This came highly recommended on reddit and glad to say, it lived up to expectations. We ordered a flat white and cortado and this was hands down the best coffee throughout the trip. Also got a flodni to try and it was pretty good!
Walked along the Danube to see the Shoes on Danube memorial to the Jews who were made to leave their shoes and shot down into the river :(
Took some photos with the Szechenyi Chain Bridge!
Then walked down to St Basilica Church, which is THE grandest church I've ever seen.
We also got tickets to the panorama and I climbed up the stairs while the parents took the elevator, and somehow I was faster than them as the elevator only takes 4 people at once lol. Amazinggg views from the top!
Happened to pass by Gelarto Rosa, which sells gelato in a rose shape. Yes it's a tourist trap but we are tourists haha so of course we went in.
Dinner was at Borkonyha kitchen, which is a one Michelin star resto with ala carte!
Complimentary bread and amuse bouche, but it was
beef tartare so we had to send it back oops, and it was promptly replaced with a ricotta cheese tart.
We ordered 3 starters - guinea fowl, lake saibling and ragout soup. SO good.
Mains were spelt risotto and mangalica pork, which had the sauce in the shape of a pig which was so cute haha.
For dessert, we tried this Strawberry with basil sorbet dessert and it was sooo interesting and flavours meshed really well together. And ended with yummy petit fours! The total bill came up to about $200 SGD which is an absolute steal, considering most Michelin starred places only offer tasting menus which are usually upwards of $200 per pax.
Day 6
A jam packed day exploring Buda!
First stop was Freyja which is also famous for pistachio croissants. Also got cardamom bulle and cinnamon roll that were equally good. I've been a sucker for cardamom buns ever since trying the one at La Cabra in NYC.
We took the bus across the river to Buda, and climbed up many steps to Fisherman's Bastion and St Matthias church.
I bought an additional ticket to go up the tower which was a super narrow 196 steps but look at these views! It's quite free and easy, with a short intro to the exhibition area midway and you just have to come back down within 30 min for the next tour.
Headed to explore the church next, and conveniently got a concert as well!
It was getting really crowded at Fisherman's Bastion so we just took a few photos then headed back down for brunch at Franziscka, one of the most popular cafes in Budapest. They have a branch in Buda and one in Pest - we happened to walk past the Pest branch another day and wow there was a queue out the door. Pancakes for the 5th day in a row haha, but man the pancakes are always top notch. Also had the scrambled eggs toast that looked more like omelette but nevertheless very yummy.
Then had to go back up to Sandor Palace to catch the guard change at 12pm. I was hoping to take the funicular to cut short the climbing but the queue was insane so we ended up climbing anyway. Got a prime position to watch the guard change!
Next was the Hungarian National Gallery which is an art museum with exhibitions from those classic landscape/portraits to more abstract art. Really enjoyed it!
I also went up to the dome of the Gallery for more amazing views!
Initially planned to visit another cafe, but was not going to climb down and up, so we headed on to the Budapest History/Castle Museum with exhibitions about the medieval castle history and history of Budapest. The point about Budapest being occupied by Turks then the Ottoman empire certainly got hammered in this trip.
Next was time for dinner! Google maps was being very confusing and kept telling us to go around the entire castle completely when there was a tunnel to cut across, but we finally managed to find our way to Stand25 where I had made a reservation. It's asparagus season so we went with asparagus salad and asparagus soup and wow no wonder Europeans are obsessed with (white) asparagus during spring because these 2 dishes were amazing.
Mains were brassoi styled pork and trout fillet which were yummy too. Super generous servings as well. Then somloi for
dessert again. They didn't serve water so we ended up ordering drinks - white wine for the dad while I tried this elderflower syrup drink that was
really good.
Walked across Szechenyi bridge to digest post dinner and for the famous Budapest and Danube night views!
Since we skipped one planned coffee break, we had space for another round of desserts at New York Cafe aka most beautiful cafe in the world. Known tourist trap with exorbitant prices but it felt like a waste if we didn't visit, especially since our hotel was literally linked to it. There was a short queue despite it being past 9pm. We ordered the hot choc, iced coffee with vanilla ice cream (which ended up just being whipped cream -_-) and the New York cake platter. 2 drinks and 3 tiny cakes cost us 60 bucks :O
Started with another early breakfast at Artizan bakery. Went with this pistachio almond brioche that was amazing, as well as a choc swirl and a savoury danish with ham and cheese.
We had to eat quickly because I had booked the Parliament tour at 815am. In fact I had to shift my itinerary around as this was the only slot with English guide that I could get online, and thankfully I booked online because the queue to get same day tickets was insane! Felt so pleased with myself went I just showed my online tickets and went straight in. After getting through security and getting our audio guides (to amplify the tour guide), we were led in for our 45 min guided tour. It's very well organised and the building was truly impressive. There's also a small exhjbition after the tour before the souvenir shop where we couldn't resist buying stuff.
We stopped by Madal Cafe for a coffee break as it came highly recommended. Had the cortado which was pretty good (though Espresso Embassy was better imo), but the latte was too humongous and thus way too milky. Also tried the babka and zserbo which were good!
Next stop was the House of Terror museum which documents the atrocities during the Nazi and communist regimes. Very sombre museum (no photos allowed), and the testimonials by the survivors were especially harrowing and sad. There is an audio guide, but we skipped it as they have explanation sheets in English for each room.
Lunch was at Kismezo which serves Hungarian cuisine. Ordered the smoked perch, crispy hortobagy pancake with chicken stew and green pea veloute for starters and a cabbage stuffed with lamb and barley risotto for mains. Another amazing meal!
Then it was shopping time along Andrassy St where we passed by the Opera House. But it was mostly branded stuff so we walked all the way to the Fashion Street which has stores like Half Price and C&A haha. Very productive shopping again.
Took the bus to Heroes Square then a quick walk around the gardens. It was raining intermittently, which made for a dramatic backdrop for Heroes Square.
But the main attraction in this area is the Szechenyi Thermal Baths! It is a THING in Budapest so we decided to try it. Tickets are around 40 SGD, which is pretty expensive. I haven't been to public pools in awhile, and I forgot about the need for lockers and shared bathing spaces and all. The place is huge and has like 15 indoor pools and 3 outdoor pools. The main outdoor pool is closed and so I didn't realise I was only exploring half the area, because I was wondering why I couldn't find my dad at all - turns out he was on the other half! I went to a couple of the indoor pools trying to find the warmest, then tried the sauna. One of them was so hot I could barely walk and then quickly hopped out as my feet were burning heh. Then finally went to try the outdoor adventure pool. Spent about an hour inside then came out but after washing up, I couldn't open my locker! Luckily it's probably a common occurrence and the wristband is electronically tagged to the locker so the staff helped me open it easily.
Walked to our last dinner at Szaletly, which is also on the Michelin guide. Went with eggplant tartarte and chicken soup for starters, and duck leg condition with poppy seed dumplings and grilled salmon with creamed spinach for mains. Food was amazing, and definitely best dumplings we've had so far.
Ended with Hungarian bread pudding for dessert!
Day 8
Last half day in Budapest! Wow this day was just eating non-stop. First stop was Aran bakery to takeaway an almond croissant and cinnamon swirl.
Followed by breakfast at Stika! Definitely make a reservation if you can as it's really popular. We had the smashed avo croissant plus French toast - finally, after how many days of pancakes. This truly lived
up to expectations with the choc stuffed brioche and vanilla ice cream.
Conveniently,
there was a large SPAR supermarket nearby so we went to buy all the snacks, and there was even a small market outside selling fresh produce.
Then headed to the Jewish Synagogue to take photos, but
decided to skip the interior because the entrance fee is 50 bucks :O And we have visited synagogues before.
Decided to go for a coffee break at Double Shot Coffee instead.
Cortado plus bulletproof coffee which has coconut with cinnamon. Super
interesting!
Our final meal was lunch at Central Grand Cafe, another famous historic coffee house. They are famous for their eggs bens so we went with the eggs royale, plus an omelette with lots of veggies, affogatto and pistachio tiramisu. Main
attraction was the tiramisu which comes with a layer of chocolate
covering the top that melts when the coffee is poured over! The violinist even came over to our table to play us a song of our liking - truly a lovely way to end our holiday in Budapest.
