Budapest is best!

Hungarian Parliament and Danube River - Budapest

I love Budapest! I wasn't sure what to expect from my first journey to Hungary and Eastern Europe. I never expected to love this city, or frankly any city, this much. What made it so great? Just keep reading!

Oldest Metro in Europe!

Opera Stop

I'd like to start with with public transportation. Budapest made a terrific first impression here. The subway was not dirty! I wouldn't eat off the floors or anything, but I never left the underground feeling like I needed to shower. The underground and aboveground trains were regular and frequent, even late on a Sunday evening we didn't have to wait more than 7 minutes for a train. Everything was well marked and labeled, we never got lost. Then there were the smells! Freshly baked goodies at just about every stop! It's like someone applied that "freshly baked cookies" realtor trick to metro planning. The result was fantastic! The number 1 line was our favorite. It's the oldest underground system in Europe (London's is older but no one considers that as inside Europe - Brits included!). You ride JUST below street level, and the stops are so pretty: beautiful subway tile and hardwoods. The carriage doors open before the train stops making it super fun to jump off while still in motion. I tried to do this whenever possible. It was a little strange to have to show our metro ticket to actual people at just about every station, but perhaps this is a way the government keeps up employment figures? Not a job I'd like, but to be honest they did seem to take a good amount of pride in their work. Nearly every attendant really did read our ticket.

Széchenyi Baths - by day

Széchenyi Baths - by night

Thermal baths and green spaces - you already know I love them, and Budapest has them both in abundance! There are dozens of thermal baths around town, as the city actually sits on top of thermal springs. Did you know the word Pest comes from the Slavic word for "oven" (thanks Rick Steves)? Our bath of choice was the Széchenyi Baths located in the delightful and massive city park. In addition to the large bath complex the park has a zoo, a circus, a fun park with roller coasters, a fantasy castle compound, ponds, gardens... all built for Hungary's 1000th birthday celebration in 1896. That must have been quite the party! A real golden age for Hungary. Throughout the city there are numerous green spaces and pedestrian only streets right where you need them, providing the perfect escape from the bustle. 

City Park

Anyway, the baths - we loved them so much we woke up before 6AM on our last day just to have time for a second visit! I am not a morning person, but I would happily wake before 6AM every day if I could start the day here. At Széchenyi you soak, play, swim as well as drink (though I passed on this), get steamed and massaged by these amazing waters that are cooled down from their natural 170°F to anywhere between 86°F to 108°F. It is amazing. Soreness and tension simply just melt away. The outside swimming pools are lightly chlorinated but the indoor pools are just straight up mineral waters. Some of these indoor waters are a beautiful aqua-green, and the smell is a bit like your hand after you've held a fist full of coins on a warm day. Soaking in these waters really felt different. In fact, we both really had to pee not long after leaving them! (probably TMI, sorry!) The outdoor pools were so fun! In the hot pool, everyone is mellow - people even play chess in the water! In the warm pool there are a several bubble activities that alternate to keep you moving from place to place. My favorites were the whirlpool that let you swim/float in a large circle, the big bubble spots and the serious jets that massaged your back, legs, feet... anything that needed it really! I highly recommend "taking the waters"!

Great Market Hall

Great Market Lunch!

FOOD! The market hall was our first stop, as we rented an apartment to create our own Hungarian masterpieces. CNN called this the best market in the world - and you won't get much argument from me (though Pike's Place in Seattle has to be in the top 5). I was immediately reminded of Baltimore's Lexington Hall, but this place was HUGE and much cleaner. :-) We bought ingredients to make Chicken Paprika and Beef Goulash, as well as some very spicy pickled veggies and some fresh asparagus (sparga). This was also our last stop and a great place to spend the rest of our Hungarian forints. We enjoyed eating our way through the hall (our lángos lunch was especially tasty!) and picked up some souvenirs (paprikas, embroidery, a leather belt for Nick, salt and pepper cellers, and even a Polish pottery bowl - it was Polish weekend at the market!).

Memorial Garden

Tree of Life

The sights. It would be wrong to not mention the sad but powerful experience of visiting the Tree of Life and memorial garden at the Great Synagogue (second in size only to Emanu-Eli in NYC). The memorial garden, originally a reflecting pool built for meditation, was converted to a mass grave for over 2,000 men, women and children who died in the deplorable conditions in Budapest's ghetto during WWII. It was windy that afternoon and the breeze gave life to the weeping mulberry trees and ivy vines that have grown thick in this small space. A kind of song came from the leaves as they rustled, it was beautiful and haunting at the same time, and it honestly brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. The Tree of Life is a metal sculpture of a weeping willow that is actually an upside down menorah. On its 4000 leaves are the names of Holocost victims. Such a moving place, both sad and peaceful.

Grand Staircase

In the parliament

We toured the amazing Parliament building, which was even more breathtaking on the inside. Positively palatial, really. It is also home to the Hungarian royal crown, which was actually kept safe at Ft. Knox, KY during the war!

Castle Hill

I really enjoyed walking around castle hill, especially in the quite of the evening. The hill was flattened during WWII and rebuilt using the original building plans. It is just charming - SO glad it was not rebuilt in the Soviet style. 

Matthias Church

Sanctuary

Stensils everywhere!

The Matthias Church is the jewel on this hill. The inside is decorated floor to ceiling (even on the ceiling in places) with stenciled patterns. While the paintings and stained glass tell Bible stories (as is typical), there are even more Hungarian history stories on these walls. These gave the church a style and feeling that was different and very enjoyable. Certainly not another "ABC"!

Opera House - LOTS of 24K gold leaf!

The top site was certainly the Opera House. We saw Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio), which was outstanding!! While the cast, sets and costumes were world class - it was the orchestra that impressed me the most. While listening to the overture, my jaw might have actually hit the ground. They were so precise and so together, it was like hearing a work of art. Yes, there were different colors and textures, but they all fit so perfectly together all you heard and felt was the music. I have not heard music of this caliber since the London Symphony Orchestra in 1998 and the Berlin Philharmonic in 2000. It was an experience I will remember and try to learn from for a very long time.

So, that was Budapest! I highly recommend visiting this wonderful city and give yourselves plenty of time. We had about 4 days and could have easily spent over a week here.  Now, I have to get busy, the family arrives in Graz in just over four hours! WOOHOO!
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