Budapest, The Land of Sparkling Water!
After a 7 hour train ride through the rest of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and northern Hungary, we arrived in Budapest, Hungary, on Wednesday. We had booked a room at a small hotel, located in an old Habsburg fortress, built in the 1850’s. The window to our room stretched through the outer wall of the place, which was about 2-3 feet thick. Because it was up on top of a hill, the views of the Danube river and the city lights were impressive. All of the major buildings were lit up every night as well. It was also quite a pain to try to ascend and descend the hill every morning and night. I’m not sure we will book a hotel up on a hill again, but it was great fun to stay in an old castle, and totally worth it! In Vienna, the next stop, our hostel is down the street from the train station.
We met up with a friend of Eric’s brother in law that lives and is studying in Budapest. His name is Thomas, and he and his girlfriend Anita really showed us around Budapest. We had a great time with them. They took us to a pancake house, where we dined on pancakes filled with coconuts, bananas and honey, and ham and mushroom, with cheese on top. Very interesting, and we loved it.
The first day we were in Budapest, we slept in a bit after arriving so late the night before. We then went to the Hungarian National Museum, and ate lunch on its steps, then met up with Thomas up on the top of Castle hill, next to the Church of St. Stephen. We took a gander at the church, and then explored the Fisherman’s Bastion for awhile. After walking around the rest of the castle, including the old royal palace and the current presidential house, we thought it would be fun to explore the Labrinth below the castle hill. Apparently the hill is riddled with some 3000 km (maybe about 4000 miles?) of tunnels, which were used all through the middle ages. Even during WWII, the population used them as a bomb shelter. So it was very neat to go down below and walk for a bit with Thomas. Thomas then took us to the pancake house, where we met Anita, who is wonderful. We gorged on pancakes, then walked uphill on a cobblestone street to the Tomb of Gul Baba, the northernmost holy place of Islam. We paid the guard a bit to take us in after hours on a private tour, which was really something. Apparently Gul was a great peacemaker back in the 1500’s between the Hungarians and occupying Turks. After this we walked along the banks of the Danube, which did in fact look rather blue in the moonlight. When we got back to our Fortress-Hotel, we crashed after a long fun day.
On Friday, we got up early and headed straight for the Turkish Baths. Apparently there are a LOT of hot springs in the area, so they build these thermal baths on top of them. Some are very old, however the one we went to was from the 1800’s. It was like a palace or a castle though, with stone carvings, Doric columns, towers and a brilliant façade over each wall. We spent 6 hours there, lazing in the warm/hot/cold/bubbly water, stepping from the sauna into the ice room, and going outside into the whirlpool. Thomas met us there, which was Uber fun. LAfter that we felt sooooo relaxed and clean, as we were slow cooked all day long. Laura had a 30 minute aromatherapy massage and Eric got a slight sunburn, but cooled it off with a beer. After our day at the baths, our buddy Thomas brought us to a BBQ with his school friends. They were quite a fun, generous, and diverse crowd. There were Finns, Israelis, Iranians, Germans, and Hungarians there. We drank a few beers, and ate Persian style chicken, delicious potato salad and homemade cake for dinner. We had quite a fun evening, and met some really nice people.
We absolutely love Budapest. It is similar to Prague, although, since the city has been leveled so many times, most of the buildings are newer. However, we have found the people to be so warm, generous, and helpful. We even figured out the bus and tram system, even though Hungarian is not the easiest language to decipher… On a side note, we have learned that sparkling or bubbly water is very popular in parts of Europe. It is at times hard to tell if water is still or bubbly, and a few times we ended up getting sparkling or miner water instead. This was easier to avoid in the UK, where they speak English, or in Germany, where Eric could read the language a bit. But not here in Hungary. We are now very fizzie bubbly from the baths and the water, but strangly we are developing a taste for it. Well that’s it for noe on our Budapest adventures.
Enjoy the pictures below. Our next stop is Vienna, then Munich, Fussen, and on to Italy! Chow!
The view from our hotel room in the Citadella. (Built by the Habsburgs to intimidate the Magyars...)
Our hotel in the Citadella.
Eric and the view from our hotel.
Eric and Laura on the steps of the Hungarian National Museum.
Eric and Thomas inside Buda Castle.
Laura in front of the Fisherman's Bastion.
Laura decending into the Labrinths below Buda Castle.
Eric and Thomas inspecting a well in the Labrinth. We are getting ready in case we need to hide during a bombing run.
Laura in front of the Hungarian Parliament building.
Laura washing her hands at the Tomb of Gul Baba.
Laura in front of the entrance to the Szechenyi Baths. We will put up a video of the baths later on our youtube site.
Laura in front of Gellert Hill and the Danube. That is a bathhouse below the hill, and our hotel is up on top of the hill.
Eric confused on the tram.
A cool night shot of Buda Castle from our hotel.
We met up with a friend of Eric’s brother in law that lives and is studying in Budapest. His name is Thomas, and he and his girlfriend Anita really showed us around Budapest. We had a great time with them. They took us to a pancake house, where we dined on pancakes filled with coconuts, bananas and honey, and ham and mushroom, with cheese on top. Very interesting, and we loved it.
The first day we were in Budapest, we slept in a bit after arriving so late the night before. We then went to the Hungarian National Museum, and ate lunch on its steps, then met up with Thomas up on the top of Castle hill, next to the Church of St. Stephen. We took a gander at the church, and then explored the Fisherman’s Bastion for awhile. After walking around the rest of the castle, including the old royal palace and the current presidential house, we thought it would be fun to explore the Labrinth below the castle hill. Apparently the hill is riddled with some 3000 km (maybe about 4000 miles?) of tunnels, which were used all through the middle ages. Even during WWII, the population used them as a bomb shelter. So it was very neat to go down below and walk for a bit with Thomas. Thomas then took us to the pancake house, where we met Anita, who is wonderful. We gorged on pancakes, then walked uphill on a cobblestone street to the Tomb of Gul Baba, the northernmost holy place of Islam. We paid the guard a bit to take us in after hours on a private tour, which was really something. Apparently Gul was a great peacemaker back in the 1500’s between the Hungarians and occupying Turks. After this we walked along the banks of the Danube, which did in fact look rather blue in the moonlight. When we got back to our Fortress-Hotel, we crashed after a long fun day.
On Friday, we got up early and headed straight for the Turkish Baths. Apparently there are a LOT of hot springs in the area, so they build these thermal baths on top of them. Some are very old, however the one we went to was from the 1800’s. It was like a palace or a castle though, with stone carvings, Doric columns, towers and a brilliant façade over each wall. We spent 6 hours there, lazing in the warm/hot/cold/bubbly water, stepping from the sauna into the ice room, and going outside into the whirlpool. Thomas met us there, which was Uber fun. LAfter that we felt sooooo relaxed and clean, as we were slow cooked all day long. Laura had a 30 minute aromatherapy massage and Eric got a slight sunburn, but cooled it off with a beer. After our day at the baths, our buddy Thomas brought us to a BBQ with his school friends. They were quite a fun, generous, and diverse crowd. There were Finns, Israelis, Iranians, Germans, and Hungarians there. We drank a few beers, and ate Persian style chicken, delicious potato salad and homemade cake for dinner. We had quite a fun evening, and met some really nice people.
We absolutely love Budapest. It is similar to Prague, although, since the city has been leveled so many times, most of the buildings are newer. However, we have found the people to be so warm, generous, and helpful. We even figured out the bus and tram system, even though Hungarian is not the easiest language to decipher… On a side note, we have learned that sparkling or bubbly water is very popular in parts of Europe. It is at times hard to tell if water is still or bubbly, and a few times we ended up getting sparkling or miner water instead. This was easier to avoid in the UK, where they speak English, or in Germany, where Eric could read the language a bit. But not here in Hungary. We are now very fizzie bubbly from the baths and the water, but strangly we are developing a taste for it. Well that’s it for noe on our Budapest adventures.
Enjoy the pictures below. Our next stop is Vienna, then Munich, Fussen, and on to Italy! Chow!
The view from our hotel room in the Citadella. (Built by the Habsburgs to intimidate the Magyars...)
Our hotel in the Citadella.
Eric and the view from our hotel.
Eric and Laura on the steps of the Hungarian National Museum.
Eric and Thomas inside Buda Castle.
Laura in front of the Fisherman's Bastion.
Laura decending into the Labrinths below Buda Castle.
Eric and Thomas inspecting a well in the Labrinth. We are getting ready in case we need to hide during a bombing run.
Laura in front of the Hungarian Parliament building.
Laura washing her hands at the Tomb of Gul Baba.
Laura in front of the entrance to the Szechenyi Baths. We will put up a video of the baths later on our youtube site.
Laura in front of Gellert Hill and the Danube. That is a bathhouse below the hill, and our hotel is up on top of the hill.
Eric confused on the tram.
A cool night shot of Buda Castle from our hotel.Next is Vienna, and we are excited. Viszontlatasra!!! (That is goodbye in Hungarian)
Comments
you guys call this a trip? It's just food and castles
Wheres the crazy European SEX!!!