Sept 24-28: Budapest

Well, Budapest is (for now) our new favorite city, just barely bumping Prague into the #2 spot. With Buda on the one side of the Danube and Pest on the other, it’s more like two cities. The impressive buildings on both sides of the river look ancient, but many are either relatively new – the Parlaiment Building – or reconstructed after war damage – Buda Castle. Hungary has a long and really interesting history and only became an independent democracy in 1989. Not sure about the rest of the country, but in 2017 Budapest is booming. Big time. We lucked out with another great Airbnb, built in 1732 and belonging to our host’s great-great grandmother. Our street, Havas utca,  was a block away from everything – the Danube, bus/tram/subway stations, the enormous Central Market Hall (so big we thought it was a train station when we first saw it), and Váci utca (Váci street) a bustling, if touristy, shopping/dining street with many similar streets going off in all directions.

On arrival, we went out exploring and looking for lunch. When the place I’d wanted to check out had a mile out the door, we continued down the same street and found Street Food Karavan – a little alley with dozens of options  for good, cheap, street food. Mick tried (and savored every bite of) a cheese “burger” – a deep fried cheese sandwich  – and Jeff and I tried two different sandwiches from Las Vegans. All were delicious.

Further wandering led us to the Budapest Eye. While not quite as impressive as its London predecessor, this one did not have a mile-long line, so Mick and I rode it and got a good look at the city from up high.

Nearby was St. Stephen’s Basilica, a beautiful church named after the first King of Hungary, which houses a reliquary containing his 978-year-old mummified hand (why?). For Mick, the outside of the church was the best part. That’s because he was offered a sample Segway ride by one of the many Segway tour salespeople all around town. Luckily, using bait (ice cream) and switch tactics, we were able to avoid the (@$100/hour) tour and continued seeing the city on foot and via public transportation.

We trammed part way to the Buda side of the river and walked up to Buda Castle (the funicular was closed for servicing). In addition to the castle, the hill-tip area includes Sándor Palace, home of Hungary’s president (the lack of security was surprising); the simple, but beautiful St. Matthias Church and the Fishermen’s Bastion. There were also many restaurants (one dishing up Jeff’s local favorite – goulash soup), several museums, and other businesses, that we hadn’t expected to see.

Later that same day, we took the tram to the base of Gellért Hill and walked up to the Citadel to see the Liberty Statue. From there we had breathtaking views of the city and Mick even found another trampoline in a park about halfway up the hill.

Almost right outside our door was the Great Market Hall (we thought it was a train station when we first saw it because it’s so huge), a three-story building with individual booths selling everything from pig’s feet to handmade lacework. We dropped in one day to check it out and couldn’t escape without trying some of the delicious food we found on the top floor.

From the Market, we took a street car out to the visit one of the hot spring baths, Szechney, that Budapest is famous for (70 million liters of water bubble up to Budapest’s daily!). The largest outside pool has a “whirlpool” thing set up in the middle where strong jets set the water and the people in it, swirling around. So fun. Mick, the only person in the entire place with goggles on, loved every second. When the whirlpool cycled off, he’d go over to another area where jets came up from the bottom of the pool and busy himself with bubbles. We explored the sauna (WAY TOO HOT) and some of the other 17 pools of varying temperature, inside and out, but spent most of our time at the main outdoor pool. And, the poolside people-watching could not have been better. Literally all shapes and sizes (of both bodies and swimsuits) were hanging out (some out farther than others). 

 

Et Cetera

*What do you call a 13-year-old boy in Hungary? A budaPEST.

Famous Hungarians:
Ernő Rubik (Rubik’s Cube), Harry Houdini, Lugosi Béla (Hungarians put last name first) and, who knew, Tony Curtis and Gene Simmons! The inventor of the ball-point pen and vitamin C, also Hungarians.