Day 5 - Good for the Body, Good for the Soul...

We spent day five at the Gellert Baths, and exploring two of Budapest's churches. The Gellert Baths are on the Buda side of the river. While walking over the bridge, we spotted some turrets and balustrades on the opposite rock face. A closer look revealed arches and windows carved directly into the stone. Naturally we needed to check it out. Turns out those crafty Hungarians had found yet another use for the myriad caves under their hill. A chapel! It is still in use. In fact, there was a mass in progress when we arrived, so we decided to go over to the baths first, and then come back when the church had re-opened to visitors.














Budapest is known for its baths. The one in the city park has its picture on the tourist map, so most visitors go there. The Gellert Baths, however, are the far superior baths. Half of the complex is underground, in elaborately tiled halls. The other half is open air, complete with 'naturalist sunbathing' for women and families. All the pools are fed by natural springs, and range in temperature from 8c to 38c. We spent almost four hours lolling about, frolicking in the wave pool, and even getting a Thai foot massage! The currency works well enough in our favour that we could afford to live like rock stars for a morning!

The cave church was literally that: a worship space carved out of natural caves. If one sits very still, one can hear the drip, drip of water between the clicking of rosary beads.

The other church we visited was the main cathedral of Budapest - St Stephens. Aside from stunning architecture, it also houses St Stephens actual hand. Mummified, but still - a severed hand in a gilded little reliquary.

After a busy day of sightseeing in the city we went out to the park. It wasn't as green as we had hoped, but we still found subjects - mostly other visitors to the park who had no idea they had become models - to sketch. Cz has decided to draw at least one thing from each country we visit...perhaps a posting on that if we find a scanner?


From there, off to Julie's apartment for a home-cooked meal featuring all sorts of mysterious products from the local grocery. The spices come in pouches! Tuna comes with paprika and vegetables right in the can! Olives are worth their weight in gold! It was great to hang out with Julie again, but our tickets to Prague are waiting!

Day 4 - Name That David Bowie Movie...

Labyrinth! We spent most of day four looking for, and then exploring the caves under Buda Castle. Fun fact: Budapest used to be two cities - Buda and Pest. Buda is the old town with the castle and other tourist sites. Pest also has architecture a-plenty, but is much less tourist-oriented. Anyway, the Labyrinths. Under Buda Hill there is a system of caves. The princes of various eras decided to link them with a system of tunnels, creating the Buda Labyrinths. Modern entrepeneurs decided to capitalize on the caves by adding statues, lights, and eerie sound effects. Our favourite - the fountain of wine. We are told that sometimes people actually empty their water bottles and fill up, but we came unprepared. It wasn't very good wine anyway.

While above ground, we splurged on a delicious meal including the Hungarian variation of Kohl Dermers (stuffed cabbages which I know through my German grandmother).

In Budapest, many of the decorative fountains actually flow with drinking water. We won't mention what this one reminded us of...

Buda Hill, being quite literally a hill, affords great views of the Danube - which is NOT blue - and the Pest side of the river. Just over the bridge, you can see the dome of St Stephens, just waiting for tomorrow's adventure...

Day 3 - A Comrade and Scotsman Walk Into a Bar...

And, Lo, they wear the same thing under their skirts. We accidentally got off the train at the wrong station, and the only direction we could figure out was the bus to the sculpture park, so to the sculpture park we went. When a country has been a part of the communist bloc, it is bound to have a collection of giant 'inspirational' statues. When the bloc breaks up, what to do with the statues? Why, build a tourist park of course!

From there, we caught a bus to the city center, found our hostel, and wandered around until we managed, after many adventures in non-English direction giving, to find Julie's hotel. Julie being a friend and Cz's boss from Theatre VA, also the one who will be watching our cats. Thanks Julie!

We had a lovely dinner at a restaurant that had been Morroccan, but was now, in fact, traditional Hungarian. The most unusual dish, potato noodles (like tiny little gnocci) with cottage cheese.

We decided to walk home from dinner, and on the way got a little lost again and wound up passing by the main Mosque, all lit up in the night.

In case you hadn't caught on, Budapest is a spectacularly confusing city! With our trusty map in hand though, we are figuring it out.

OH! and we have bonus stamps in our passport. The train to Budapest went straight down through Slovenia.