Blogs from Buda, Budapest, Central Hungary, Hungary, Europe - page 9

I've been in Hungary for a few days and for me it feels quite normal to spend a few weeks in Budapest in August as I've done it for the last three years. Probably this needs a bit of an explanation for some readers which I'll try to keep as brief as possible. It all started with a Hungarian chap who I met in Ireland whilst studying viola. I thought he was the bee's knees, cat's whiskers and dog's bollocks - quite a combination, you'll agree. So I moved to Prague (where he got a job in an orchestra) and lived there with him for 5 years. It was tough learning Czech and Hungarian, but I needed to learn Czech for survival and I really wanted to learn Hungarian even though his English was so much ... read more

Our alarm goes off before dawn and it is not long before Kristen, Gabe, and I are riding the metro back to the Széchenyi Medicinal Baths in City Park. We arrive shortly after they open and change in the locker room before dipping in the indoor marble, Turkish-style thermal baths. This facility is a favorite of both tourists and locals, and was the first to be built on the Pest side. It is difficult to imagine the enormity of this neo-Baroque complex, built in 1913 and one of the biggest in Europe. The outdoor pools of varying temperatures are truly palatial. It is easy to lose oneself in the grandeur of the fountain statues and marble columns, as it brings the bather back to times of exuberant splendor, real or imagined. There is a hot bath, ... read more

We woke up on Friday morning to discover (we knew already really) that Enda was missing. The sly dog. He got back in and we all decided to head to the thermal baths. A quick hop skip and a metro away and we arrived in the north (?) of the town, to these pretty extensive thermal baths. There were hundreds of people there. It was like a night club except during the day, with no booze, with lots of water and swimsuits. Yep, thats exactly what it was like. We messed around trying different water temperatures (i recommend 36 degrees) before heading out into the outdoor heated pools. We even contemplated a second massage of the trip, but that involved standing out of the nice warm water for a bit too long. No thanks. The lads ... read more

Following the huge activity day the previous day, we had decided to follow it up with paragliding. It should be noted that we skipped our night train to do so.....but we (mostly me tbh, figured it would be worth it). So five of us set off (our three intrepid heroes and an Aussie and a Danish guy) to a nearby town to go paragliding. I could go into it, but basically, it was expensive. WAY TOO EXPENSIVE. He was charging us for stuff even before we got to the top of the hill/mountain. So we bailed. We headed back to the hostel and hung around for a couple of hours before running accross the street to the train station to catch a train to Salzburg, then to Vienna, then to Budapest. The train journey was nice. ... read more

I'm a bit late publishing this entry - we were without internet for a couple of days - I’ll start by talking about dinner on Sunday night in Budapest. We decided on a restaurant just off Vaci utca (the main shopping and tourist street of Budapest) that was suggested in our guidebook. It turned out to be a great choice. A violinist and xylophonist were playing outside on the patio where we ate a very nice traditional Hungarian meal. Nothing exceptional but good basic food (seems typical of Hungarian cuisine) and nice wine. The musicians were very good and it made for a relaxing and enjoyable evening. We started today with a trip to the train station to get our tickets to go to Zagreb, Croatia on Tuesday. It was a good thing we went early! ... read more