Budapest, where I learn important things about ordering lunch and public bathing

Budapest ended up on our itinerary because Brenda was dead keen to visit. It wasn't anywhere on my radar, really, but more the fool me. I had more fun there than just about anywhere in the world, and that's saying something.:) If you've ever wondered whether you should go, wonder no longer. Get yourself to Budapest!

I mentioned in our previous post how we rejected traditional hotels for this trip, and I think that's part of what made it so much fun. Everywhere we went, we stayed in apartments owned by locals, and it made such a difference. I like being in a neighbourhood, instead of a tourist area or a convention centre, and while a little maid service now and again wouldn't have gone astray, for the most part, I think my days of staying in hotels when I travel are behind me. 

Our lovely flat in Budapest was in an old, unrenovated building near the river, absolutely oozing charm and character. Our host, Miki, was very apologetic about the dilapidated state of the outside and the entry way, but I loved it. Bless him, to let us into the flat, we dragged him away from his wife who had just given birth the night before! He was super friendly and gave us lots of information about the local area. He stayed so long, actually, that long-suffering Dave thought we'd all been kidnapped or something (he was waiting with the car while Miki let us in and oriented us to Budapest). I think Miki was trying to get a bit of peace and quiet, while Dave was just hoping someone would come relieve him, so he could relieve himself, if you know what I mean - it was a bit of a drive from Prague to Budapest!

The inner courtyard of the building

Plasterwork in the entryway

The main entry hall

Screens at the ready!

Our first night in town, we went to a restaurant/wine cellar a few blocks from the flat, and made a very pleasant discovery. Hungarian food is excellent! Gone were the stodgy dumplings and stewed meats of the Czech Republic. Although it was still a bit carnivorous, the dishes were much lighter and flavourful. Must be all that fantastic paprika. (No pics, though. I forgot - sorry! Ever happen to you?)

After dinner, we stopped into a cafe, lured by the sound of a gypsy band. After a couple of drinks of the local fruit-flavoured brandy, I was somehow convinced to purchase one of their CDs for the low, low price of 20 euros! A bargain at half the price.:)

The next morning, we slept in a bit (ahem) and later made our way to the Great Market Hall.

I love markets! I love the buzz, the local specialties, the opportunity to lose your money when it 'falls out of your pocket'! Seriously, I probably should have put that 30 euros back in my bag instead of my front pocket, as Mark helpfully and repeatedly informed me. C'est la vie!

You can buy all the paprika in the world here

A display of local mushrooms, both poisonous and raunchy

We decided to have lunch at the markets, which was an excellent idea. There were many, many food stalls to choose from, and all the food was amazing! I tried langos, a local delicacy of fried bread and toppings.

That's my langos there on the right

What I learned is that when the lovely girl in the food stall asks if you want a topping on your langos, she's not asking "Would you like some of this topping that comes included in the price of the langos?" She's instead asking, "Hello, crazy tourist. How many of these toppings can I talk you into?" Which, in my case, is all of them. So, 2000 Hungarian Forints later (roughly $10 AUS), I ended up with the world's biggest langos, which greatly amused the locals I had to carry it past to get to our table. But let me tell you, it was gooooooood. Sometimes it pays to be crazy.

My guidebook to Budapest informed me that it is a city both fascinating and frustrating in equal measure. Very, very true. You can't just show up somewhere and have any expectation that it will be open or that you'll get in. Budapest requires you to plan ahead, research your activities, and plot your route through the public transport system. Once you accept that, you'll have a much better time. 

We had hoped to visit Parliament (more on that later) on our first afternoon in town, but I didn't read the guidebook closely enough and so didn't realise that we had to buy tickets in advance. Doh. Oh well, a lengthy walk in the rain never hurt anyone, did it? So we fell back to Plan B - the Szechenyi Thermal Baths.

I don't think I would classify myself as a person who finds the idea of public bathing to be particularly attractive, but when in Budapest! We hopped on the train and headed to City Park.The baths are in a beautiful Belle Epoque building - there are indoor and outdoor baths fed by hot springs. The outdoor baths are 27-28 degrees C and people of all ages, sizes, and nationalities splash around and soak themselves.

They're pretty freakin' serious about who can go into the swimming lanes - don't even think about it without a swimming cap. I saw some snarky British guy get kicked out of the pool - maybe even the baths altogether - because he wouldn't put one on. They're not kidding around, man!

The indoor pools have many different temperatures, so you can gradually move from warm to hot to scalding and there's a cold water plunge pool. There are also wet and dry saunas, which caused Brenda to lose the will to live when she was blasted by the heat as the door opened (Brenda, like me, is also not a fan of heat). (No pics of the inside pools - seemed a bit intrusive!)

As we were getting ready to leave, I saw a bunch of people laughing their asses off in one of the outdoor pools, so of course I had to figure out what was going on. There was a kind of wave pool where a super strong current pushes you around the outside of a small, tiled, circular pool-inside-a-pool. I waded in, and once the current catches you, you're outta there! It took me two full turns around the circle to get my feet under me again, but then I crashed into a big, hairy Russian guy and ended up going around again. I have never laughed so hard in my life! How I wish I had pictures...

Public transport in Budapest is a wild ride! There are two kinds of lines: the newer lines are deep underground and were used as bomb shelters during the war. The escalators are the longest I've ever seen, and those suckers move fast. You'd better hang on!

The other line is just under the surface of the street, and is all wood panelling and beautiful tiles. The carriages are tiny, rattly old things, and I love them.

A hobbit door!

Another transportation experience I can highly recommend is a river tour. It's a bit touristy, but the view of the city from the river is spectacular! The audio guide they give you is hysterical - the river talks to you in a strange American-ish accent and tells you its own story. Way fun.:)

But the best time by far was the wine festival we attended at the Buda Castle. About 300 wine makers from all over the world set up booths for wine tastings, and there were food stalls and folk dancing and frolic!

Look how presentable we are at the beginning of the festival.:)

Could there be anything more wonderful than a glass of wine and a view of the Danube with good friends?

I could have watched the music and dancing all day. I love the little stories each dance tells, and how high those guys can jump!

Uh-oh. The sun is going down.

You are getting veeeeeeery sleeeeeepy

And now we head downhill, literally and figuratively.

Brenda loves me in spite of my purple teeth

My favourite souvenir of Europe is the little holder they gave us to put our wine glass in. Dave models his for the camera.

Now those escalators are really scary!

Never fear - Brenda's got it covered!

Best. Photobomb. Ever.

I'm sure you'll all be pleased to learn we made it home safely, with no unwelcome adventures. We might have found ourselves wandering around a rather unsavoury part of Budapest in search of an underground pub we read about, but we couldn't make it happen, so we went home.

And thus concludes the Budapest chronicle. Next up, the Mikulov wine region in the Czech Republic. Like we need more wine.:)

In which we squish ourselves into elevators and eat dumplings...

When last we spoke, the fearsome foursome was enjoying the wonders of Berlin. The next leg of our journey carried us to the Czech Republic - not Czechoslovakia anymore, my friends, in case you shared my confusion. This happened in 1993, so you think I'd have noticed. I'll fall back on my usual excuse of being American, meaning I am geographically challenged and often not well informed about world events. (Aren't stereotypes wonderful? Fellow Americans, feel free to take me to task in the comments section...)

Ah, Prague. This has to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world. As well as one of the most difficult to navigate by car. Poor Dave - we tortured him for over an hour upon our arrival, trying to negotiate the one-way streets and pedestrian zones of old town Prague. Our GPS system apparently thought the pedestrian zones were more suggestions than actual restricted areas. The local constabulary, however, felt differently. Luckily, I don't think we were the first misguided international visitors they'd encountered, and so none of us ended up fined. Or in jail. So that's good.

So Dave was contending with a confused GPS system, and three advisers who felt certain we each knew the best way to get where we were going. Eventually, he pulled off to the side of the street (onto the footpath, actually), said, "Get out!" and kicked the rest of us (and our baggage) to the kerb, in the rain, and drove away. Shocking behaviour. 

Ok. So it might have gone more like this: Dave drove as close as he could to the flat we had rented, helpfully unloaded the baggage, and told us he'd meet us at the flat after he'd found a park. But the first version is far more dramatic, don't you think?

So now we joined the pedestrian throngs, and made our way to our temporary home.

Brenda: I'm pretty sure we should go that way...

We saw strange and interesting things as we sought our lodgings...

We passed this storefront a few times in our wanderings...

The two headed baby really freaks me out!

But rest assured, Brenda safely navigated us to our destination.

Our street!

The church across the way from our flat

From the front window of our flat!

Once we had settled in, we did what comes natural - we found a pub. Did I mention that those Czechs know a thing or two about beer? 

Dave's back!

We really were lucky with the accommodation this trip. We used websites to find holiday homes and flats (instead of hotels), and they all turned out to be centrally located and really comfortable. This building had a lift, which was fantastic, if somewhat small. Mark liked to wait until we were all in, then take a running start at us, and squish us all in like sardines. Good times.

Nobody really minded after a few beers...

We stayed smack in the middle of Old Prague, which was convenient as no one really wanted to get on the wrong side of those traffic cops again.:P We just left the car where Dave parked it.

There's Mark at the entryway to the building

Just outside the flat

The Havelske Markets were steps from our door. The sign says there have been markets here since 1232 - probably selling the same lovely trinkets to tourists as they do today.:)

I love the medieval-ness of Prague - it's all cobblestones and narrow streets with pointy buildings at the end. (I believe those are the correct architectural terms.)

Old Town Square is stunning - you wind your way through streets as closely packed with people as they are with buildings, and then suddenly you push through an archway... 

Into this...

We were here to see the Astronomical Clock, along with everyone else in the Czech Republic, apparently.

We stood around for about 20 minutes, waiting to see the clock do its thing. On the hour (which isn't actually the hour, because medieval clocks don't keep up with time changes very well) Death sets it off by nodding his head, the twelve apostles make an appearance, doing an odd little dance, and it's all over in about a minute and half. Blink and you'll miss it. All worth it, though!

So many beautiful sights, so little memory of what they might be called...

While I love Prague's architecture and its beer, I do have some concerns about the food. Czech food is brown. With dumplings. Not dumplings like you get in a dim sum restaurant, or like your mom puts into chicken and dumplings. No - these are strange things, some look like white bread with the crusts cut off but dense - so dense they sit in your stomach like a rock for hours. Others are steamed rubbery weirdness. I liked the cabbage, though. Which was lucky, since it was served with everything.

Two kinds of dumpling madness

I hope you like meat, cause that's what you're getting!

Back to the prettiness. The Charles Bridge was definitely one of the highlights of our stay. It's a beautiful pedestrian bridge built in the 1300s, that links Old Town with the Castle district.

Gothic tower on the Old Town side of Charles Bridge. And me, with my map.

My partners in crime, on the bridge

View from the bridge

At the other end - we made it!

All over Europe (and in Oz, too, now that I think about it), kids are clipping locks like these, engraved with names or initials, to bridges as a testament to their undying teenage love. I guess it's better than graffiti!

On the other side of the bridge, we found this tiny passageway down to the riverside. You can see there's a traffic signal that tells you when you can enter, as there's not enough room for two people to pass.

Waiting our turn

Muppets unite!

Climbing back out

I stumbled across one of my favourite things in all of Europe in Prague. Mark and I ended up in a public library one day (probably looking for a clean bathroom), and what should we find in the foyer but a giant tower of books!

So cool!

There were mirrors at the top and the bottom, so when you stuck your head inside, it looked endless.

I wish I could live here!

Now, this trip was a few weeks ago, and some bits are a bit fuzzy (probably due to all the Czech beer and dumplings), so I can't guarantee that these photos are strictly chronological. You'll get the drift, though.:) The next day (maybe?) we went to visit the castle.

Brenda and Leighana on the tram

I'm just now realising that I didn't take any pictures of the castle itself, but it was cool. You'd like it. We did climb to the top of the chapel's bell tower, and saw all of Prague laid out before us.

And they gave me a medal for making it all the way to the top. Because I'm special. (I'm sure the others would want me to mention that they got medals, too. I don't think they were worthy of theirs, however, because they didn't keep them. Something about too much luggage. Whatever. I retrieved them, and now I have all four medals. Suck it.)

As we made our way down from the bell tower, Dave commented on how thirsty he was and how much he wished for a beer garden. And what should appear before our slightly hung over eyes but the granting of Dave's wish! I even got a sausage (no comments from the peanut gallery, please).

You're a good man, Dave. You always wish for the right things.

On our way down the hill back to the tram, we came across a beautiful little winery, named for St. Wenceslas, where we paused for a photo opportunity.

I could talk all day about how wonderful Prague is, but I know you've got important things to do with your day. I can say for certain that I will return to Prague, hopefully sooner rather than later. It's a dumpling-loving, book-tower-building, beer-wish-granting kind of place - which is definitely my kind of place.

Next up, Budapest!