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Published: June 12th 2005
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Today started with a three hour tour of the city in a big white bus with a tour guide named Georgiana, thankfully not Skipper or Gilligan. I was hoping to get a good feel for the city and the layout but we made so many turns and went back and forth so much that I am totally disoriented. When I went back out on my own this afternoon I got quite lost, multiple times. It didn't help that I had lost my map along the way. Anyways, back to this morning. The three hour tour started with a couple main sites on the Pest side with a stop at Hero's Square for a
photo opportunity.
It was here that I met another couple on the tour who are from LA. They are on their honeymoon, Steven and Briata. It was great to pair up with them, we could trade off taking pictures of each other. The weather was almost cooperative but a strong wind kept it cool. When then wound our way all around down by the Parliment building which really is impressive. Our guide mentioned that there was more security than usual so maybe an important person was visiting today. She
pointed out all sorts of buildings such as the office building of Parliment members and the office building of the President. Very unimpressive buildings on their own but this French guy was going bonkers taking pictures of everything from the bus window. I wonder how they will turn out as he had the flash on which would only reflect off the window. Our next stop was the Castle Square where Steven, Briata and I went to St. Matthias church. It was very beautiful and it was fun because you could go up to this walkway and look down into the church. I know there is an official name but I can't remember it. We walked along the Fisherman's Bastion which is quite fantastical in style. We only had a little bit of time up there before we had to be back at the bus. We were the last ones, everyone had been waiting on us. I am hoping to get back there tomorrow to really explore the area. Our last stop was the Citadel which offers a great view over the city. That was the end of the tour. I don't know that the tour was really worth it. I
Dinner at Buda Castle
With my new friends Jennifer Choat and Sue. think I would have enjoyed doing several of the smaller tours such as just the Parliment tour where you get to go in the building, or the Jewish Heritage tour, etc. Alas...
After the tour the three of us went to St. Stephens Basilica. We got there just in time to see a bride and groom come out having just been married. It was the day for weddings! When I left there was another one going on. I lost Steven and Briata in the church. I climbed the hundred plus stairs to the top of the tower where you could walk around the top for a panorama view of the city. It was so cool up there! After climbing back down I was looking around and found my favorite kind of souviner - penny stampers! I now have a 2 HUF that is stretched and imprinted with the Basilica! COOL!
I went back to the hotel and changed shoes, preferring my Chaco for the afternoon. Little did I know how fortunate I would be to have made the change. It was 3 pm, but I decided I needed to go out to Statue Park, a park of communist statues. It required several changes of metro, bus, and tram which seemed a little daunting but wasn't bad. There was a big warning to pay attention to the signs and not miss the stop for the park. I was a little worried. What if they had the sign in Hungarian? How would I know what stop to take? I didn't need to worry, how can you miss a gigantic statue of Lenin? Just as we arrived it started to pour. It was raining so stinking hard! This is way I'm glad I had my sandles on even if I did get funny looks for it. I didn't care if my feet got wet or that the clay was sticking to my feet. I was so glad I had decided to keep my new rain coat from LL Bean. It was serioudly tested today. The rain wasn't stopping so I put my coat on over my backpack and started walking around. I happened to be there with an older couple from Spain and a group of 7 men, a few from Germany and at least one from France. I had asked the gentleman from Spain to take a picture of me mimicking one of the statues. After he had taken it he laughed and patted my cheek. One of the German's thought it was hilarous and as we went around kept saying, "You can do a picture like this." and would pose like the statue. It is a funny place and it is sorta ment to be. Now getting there had been no problem. Getting home was a different story. I had turned in the card I had the directions on for a free postcard. I got very lost. That is when I realized I didn't have my map anymore. I just wandered for a good amount of time until I saw a big building and walked toward it. Ends up it was the train station. That was good because they had an information booth where I got a new map and a big place like that had a metro station connected to it. Of course the metro line under the railroad is being refurbished and is closed so they have trams running inbetween the sections that are closed, which was a challenge to figure out where the heck to pick up the right tram.
I made my way back to Vaci utca, the main street, and went to the oldest coffee house in Budapest, Gerbund, for coffee and dessert. I sat out on the patio and watched the people go by. Although the inside is amazing. You can kind of imagine what it would have been like back at the turn of the last century during the golden age of Budapest. Here is a funny story for ya. I went inside to use the restroom which cost me 100 HUF. When I picked up my bag I heard this funny clunk. I turned around to see my wallet in the toilet. YUCK!
I went on a hunt then for the zoo. I wanted to see the Elephant house. I managed to find the right metro and get off at the correct stop, right by the famous bath house, Szeny (sp?). Across the street there was a party going on so I had to check it out. I have no idea if it was a regular thing but all along this walkway under the castle wood huts were set up for dozens of wine shops. Somewhere you buy a wine glass and then go around and tast all the different wines. I choose to sample some of the food and pass on the wine. I watched these men at one booth making the most odd treat. It is dough wrapped around a big wood cylinder that is put over coals to bake then coated with tasty sugar and I opted for the additioni of coconut. Yummy in my tummy! I have a picture of it, once I'm at a computer I can hook my camera up to I'll post it.
I kept walking around following the trails through the park. I sat on a bench to look at my map. It was late and dark but I finally found the zoo - by smell. As I sat on the bench there was an undeniable smell of elephants. It was obviously too late to go in, but I had found it! What gets me is that there is a really nice resturant next door to the zoo. Nice in the sense of coat and tie required. The garden patio is supposed to splendid but who wants to smell Elephants while eating?
I started to head back to the hotel. I stopped at Hero's Square again to get some pretty night shots of the statues. I think it is almost better at night, a lot less tourist. While on the metro I decided to try...
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"to the oldest coffee house in Budapest, Gerbund, for coffee and dessert" This is the GERBAUD of course the famous bath house, Szeny (sp?). SZÉCHENYI