One Small Thing: Budapest

On Wednesday, we flew as priority passengers via Wizz Air to Budapest. Amazingly, it was only a short one hour flight between these two countries. We picked up a taxi and made our way to downtown Budapest. We found our accommodations easily and, once we got the correct code, were in the building. Our host met us moments later. We have a wonderful flat in a really interesting building with an awesome courtyard in the centre.

After settling in, we took a walk to train station to purchase tickets for our train tickets to Vienna on Sunday morning. This involved a half hour wait in line but the purchasing process was very easy. Our walk through the streets highlighted a lot of old buildings, something we are becoming accustomed to in these Eastern European cities. Unfortunately, we noticed a high number of homeless folks all around. This was to become a common site in Budapest. Apparently, Budapest has one of the worst statistics for homeless people. It is genuinely a sad and heartbreaking sight to see so many disenfranchised people.

After we got our train tickets, we headed back to our flat as there was a Spar grocery store right next door and we stocked up on groceries for the next four days. We fixed a late lunch/early dinner and tucked in.

After we were refreshed, we walked toward the Danube which is a 20 minute walk from our flat. We wanted to hit up the tourist information office in order to get tickets for a boat tour and ask questions about a couple of things we wanted to do while in Budapest. We organized our Danube nighttime boat tour and figured out how to get tickets for a tour of the parliament buildings the next day. We also got information about the baths.

We continued our walk to the Danube River. The sights along the river are tremendous. We are staying on the Pest side of Budapest. So we were able to look out toward Buda Castle, an enormous edifice on top of the hill. We also saw a number of bridges that span the river, including the famous Chain Bridge. We walked along the river and sat for a while at the base of the Chain Bridge and admired the river scenery.

On our way back to the flat, we passed by the Basilica of St Stephen and sat in the square people watching and eating a delicious caramel covered brownie that we picked up from a bakery we stopped in along the way. And then we called it a night. We had three big plans for the next day so it was time to head home and rest up.

We began Thursday with a walk to the Hungarian Parliament Building. The grounds of these buildings were immaculate and we actually saw crews using soap and water to clean the walls of the fountains on the grounds. The buildings were very impressive to look at. We had a 45 minute tour booked for 9:30. Our guide took us to the impressive golden staircase and the crown jewels, where we saw the changing of the Crown Guards. The crown jewels are located in the dome shaped room that is an obvious part of the building from the outside. We also saw the National Assembly, which was empty of members at the time. The stained glass is impressive simply because of its age. During World War II, the windows were taken out of their frames and stored in sand in the basement of the building in order to protect them. The crown jewels were also given to the Americans for safe keeping! This way, Hungary protected their possessions.

After our tour, we took a walk toward City Park. The main entrance to the park is Heroes’ Square which includes the tomb of the unknown soldier and features statues of many national heroes. We entered the park and sat for a bit by the river to enjoy a picnic of baked goods.

Within City Bark is Széchenyi thermal baths. Supplied by two thermal springs, the baths are considered to have medicinal healing benefits. The baths and pools are huge. There are many bodies of water at a variety of temperatures. The baths were full of people. When in Budapest… So we rented a couple of cabins and some towels and headed on our bathing adventure. We spent a few hours in the afternoon bathing in hot and average temperature pools. I avoided all cold bodies of water (big surprise). The best pool, in my opinion was the outdoor pool that was at an average temperature since there were these amazing squares in the floor that would periodically blast air upwards. The jets felt great!

Unfortunately, Calvin was not feeling so great, so Arlyn and Calvin walked back to the flat so he could get some rest while Abby, Kim, and I continued on toward the Basilica of St. Stephen, the first king of Hungary. The cathedral is huge and beautiful. The domes are impressive. Within the basilica is a relic. It is St. Stephen’s mummified right hand. That is a pretty odd thing to line up to see.

Next we headed to Gelarto Rosa down the street from the Basilica. This is a gelato shop that scoops its ice cream out in the form of a rose. We purchased a medium and were able to select three flavours - I chose chocolate, Oreo, and Nutella. It was delicious. Great choice for my first ice cream on vacation.

We returned to the flat for some rest and some eats before heading out for our boat tour on the Danube.

We met the boat at dock 7 for our hour long night time tour on the Danube. There was an audio explanation of the sights we were seeing but I abandoned that as the sights were enough to take in. As the sun was setting, the lights came on to illuminate the bridges and the buildings along the river. Both the castle and the Parliament Buildings were magnificent. Budapest is busy during the day but really seems to come alive at night time. As we walked back through the Pest side toward our flat there were crowds gathered in the squares and outside of pubs ready to enjoy a lively evening.

Friday morning we all took it easy. We caught up on sleep and some reading. Calvin was very unwell and, unfortunately, was not going to be able to head out on the town with us. That meant that Arlyn, too, needed to stay in. So, Kim, Abby, and I made our way to Margaret Island. This island is basically a very large park on the Danube between Buda and Pest. It is easily accessed from Margaret Bridge and is not too long of a walk from our flat, as long as you turn the right direction when following a map. Needless to say, that may very well be my last turn as Map Holder of the Day.

Kim and Abby wanted to head to a different set of baths and pools on the island. I did not so I chose to stay at a large fountain just inside the park. I dipped my feet in, as others were do so also, and sat and read for a bit. Suddenly, George Ezra’s “Budapest” started playing over the speakers and the water fountain started shooting water along with the music. Three additional songs were played along with the fountain. It was a really cool thing to see and completely unexpected. I learned that the fountain plays music every hour on a daily basis. It was a great, and unexpected, attraction.

I sat and read for a while after the show was over. Kim, Abby, and I had agreed to meet up after about an hour and a half at a particular bus stop within the park. I wandered through the park at a leisurely pace, saw the ruins of the Franciscan monastery, and met them as they were walking back from enjoying the pools.

There were a lot of golf cart style cars and BINGO bike (car shaped with 4 sets of pedals) zooming around the park so we decided to rent a golf cart and tour the park on wheels. Our cart topped out at 10.6km/hour. It was a leisurely zoom around the park. We saw the rose gardens, the ruins of St. Margaret’s nunnery, a theatre where Shakespearean plays were being performed, and lots and lots of ice cream stands! At 6pm, all three of us were back at the water fountain to enjoy the music and water show (different tunes from the 3pm show). Then it was a walk back to the flat, picking up some groceries on the way, to meet up with Arlyn and Calvin and enjoy a late dinner.

Saturday was our last full day in Budapest. It was time to explore the Buda side of the city. This is the more historical side and the one containing the castle. We took the metro and a bus across the Chain Bridge and up the hill to the castle stop. We walked toward the castle and basically walked the grounds and took in the impressive view over the Danube toward Pest.

As we were wandering, the sky started to look a bit threatening and there were some streaks of lightening in the air. So, it was off to The Hospital in the Rock, which is an underground castle build in the caverns under the Buda Castle. The hospital was originally created during the 1930s in preparation for World War II. It was most heavily used during the Siege of Budapest from 1944 - 1945. It was used in 1956 during the Soviet Uprising as well.

We participated in a two hour tour that took us underground and through the hospital. We saw the triage area, the operation room, the male and female sick bed rooms, and lots of the utensils and equipment that were used at the time, including X-ray machines. In lower tunnels, there was a helicopter that had been taken apart, brought through the tunnels, and reconstructed in order to demonstrate how emergency teams would bring the injured into the hospital.

The tour guide also showed us the rooms that were prepared for the possibility of a nuclear attack. She explained how hospital personnel would have to decontaminate themselves, burn their clothes, shave all their body hair, and then put on special suits so that they would be ready to treat their patients. This routine was practiced once a year.

By the time we were finished with our tour, the rain was also finished. We wandered off to find a spot for lunch. We continued with our walk on the Budda side of the river up to Matthias Church and Fishermen’s Bastion. The bastion is a terrace and is part of the city wall. It is a very elaborate and beautiful part of the wall. The main upper area was all blocked off for a wedding The views from the bastion were, once again, spectacular.

We took the bus back down the hill and across the river and walked back to our flat. We had an early start to our day the next morning as we were off to Vienna and had an early morning train to catch. Our last stop on mainland Europe before heading to Ireland!

Parliament buidings at night