Buda and Pest

MARCH 23
Happy Birthday to me...
Yes, Birthday #28 was celebrated in Budapest, and as a birthday present to me, I called home. It was a good day. The only thing that would have made it better would have been to find the church. We thought we had good directions...I think our hotel clerk sent us to a Catholic church.

So, instead of church, we spent the day reading from the Ensign, Scriptures, writing in journals, and (for me) calling home. I miss my cell phone. I don't like hoping my room will have a phone I can call out on and then worrying about the time difference.

MARCH 24
Her knight in shining armor.
It just so happens, that our timing was perfect in Budapest to be there during their Spring Festival. This particular day, they had scheduled a Renaissance Fair at the castle in Buda. Tents filled with musical instruments (and people playing them), clothes you could put on and get your picture taken in (like our old west photos), and, of course, tents with trinkets for sale at outrageous prices. Ok, to be completely honest, I'm not sure how much they were. My mind is a little frazzled from so many different currencies.

We watched our meal being cooked in these enormous cast-iron skillets. They kind-of reminded me of Dutch ovens, but much shallower. I had paprika potatos and mixed vegetables. Mmmmm...vegetables. I also had some kind of meat dish. I'm not sure exactly what it was originally, but it had some kind of mustard based sauce it was cooked in. Very good. Terri and I both decided to skip the roasted pig.

After wandering around the castle grounds, we walked across the Chain Bridge to Pest and made our way back to the hotel.

MARCH 25
Solo.
We ventured out on our own, so I headed into downtown Pest to see some sights and visit their main market. It's a huge, two story building with food vendors selling vegetables, fruit, spices, etc. on the first floor. Wrapping around the the second floor (with views down into the main floor) are where the fast food shops are along with all the tourist souveniers. I had a kind of fry bread with "Hungarian Sauce". It was basically a very messy goulash with vegetables in it. Tasted great. Kind-of hard to eat without plate or fork. At least they gave you napkins.

I didn't know when Terri was expecting me back, so I headed to the hotel, with some sidetracks, where I (yay) got to do laundry in the sink. I really miss a washer and dryer.

MARCH 26
A bath in Pest.
We again decided today was a day to go into the city on our own. I wanted to hit some places Terri had seen the day before, and she had some other places in mind.

First, I went up the Fishermen's Bastion...I think that's what it's called. I really can't remember. It's this really cool, fairytale-style castle overlooking the river where the fishermen lived. It's made of a white stone and has cone-topped turrets connected with arched ramparts. For about $1, I got to go up into the ramparts and turrets. I'd say it was worth it; the views were incredible.

I then went North to Hero's Square where they have statues of various hero's from Budapest's history. I walked around a Transylvania-style castle, saw their city park, and made my way to the Bath house where I was meeting Terri.

After paying for everything (entrance, changing room, towel rental), I went out into the main area. The buildings surround three different pools. The first is a "play" pool. The most likely place to find kids, it has a current area that alternates with jets in the center. It's a lot of fun, but you better get in the currents when they first start, or you'll be fighting for a spot in a crowd of splashing teenagers. When the current stops pulling, or pushing depending on your point of view, jets start going all over the big pool. Wonderful back and leg massage for tired muscles :).

The center pool is the "serious" pool. It requires a swim cap and is for swimming laps, etc. We didn't try that one out.

The other pool is a huge hot tub. Well, maybe saying hot tub is a little misleading. The water was much warmer than the other pools, but it wasn't "hot". This is where the chess players are, if you've ever seen pictures. Groups of men surround two players and a waterproof board, seriously contemplating the next move. Knowing they could beat me in three minutes tops, I decided not to challenge anyone to a game.

Inside the buildings are saunas and smaller pools with varying temperatures. Most of the water is full of minerals, turning the water a bit green. They were really relaxing to soak in.

After spending nearly three hours at the baths, we decided to call it a day and head back to the hotel. Our train was leaving at six in the morning, and we still had a bit of packing to do.