Taking a Bath in a Cathedral

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18th October........................Budapest lays on a geological fault line that result in some 30,000 cubic metres of thermal water being released daily from about 120 springs. As a result it is a major centre for thermal baths. Having just cycled over 1,000 kms from Germany, I felt justified in lolling about and in fact I went to two different ones. The 1570 Turkish bath with its sky lit central dome took me back to those I went to in Turkey. The Art Nouveau Gellert Baths, on the other hand, has been likened to taking a bath in a cathedral with its very impressive entrance hall, stain glass, statues and mosaic work. It is an experience that I felt I couldn’t miss out on.

I spent the morning of my last day in Budapest on ‘Castle Hill’ which has superb views of the river, city generally and the impressive Parliament House. Budapest is actually the combination of two cities, Pest and Buda, separated by the river. As an aside, the graffiti has been gaining momentum as I have moved from Germany to Austria to Slovakia to Hungary. It is out of control in Budapest- it covers the city, much of it on heritage buildings. Most of it is mindless tags.

Budapest was the goal I had set myself for along the Danube. One day I would like to return and do the first part of the river from the Black Forest in Germany and then perhaps the last part from Budapest to its mouth into the Black Sea. This last part wouldn't be the pleasant trip I had just done with its dedicated cycle ways and direction signs.

19th October………………..Train to Ljubiljana

With only one week to go before my flight, I got a train from Budapest to Vienna as an overnight connection to Ljubiljana in Slovenia. It seemed a bit out of the way to get there but it was the easiest and most time efficient way. I don’t have an alarm with me and so was a bit apprehensive in making sure I was in time for the 8am train. All went well of course, but there is always a certain amount of anxiety that goes with finding out new information. It was a different train station and I didn’t know how long it would take me to get there etc.

I was a bit sleepy on the train and drifted off to sleep to wake up on the otherside of the wardrobe in ‘Narnia' land - everything white in snow. It was quite bizarre as there hadn’t been any sign of snow this trip but because I was going through the Alps we were at a higher altitude. It was very beautiful.

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Photos

Budapest Rooftops
The unfortunate thing about this beautiful tiled roof is that it can't really be seen from street level.

Deer Sign
Koala Ted immediately felt an affinity with these guys. He thinks that the ones on people's walls are from road kill. I didn't let on that people actually went out there to deliberately kill them so they could display their killing prowess.

Narnia Land
On the Train to Ljubiljana

Narnia Land
Train trip to Ljubiljana