Sunday morning we rolled into Budapest, Hungary on a night train from Krakow. Like Prague, it is a city with a great deal of history, much of the material evidence of which was destroyed during WWII. The years of communist rule which followed still palpably influence the city. There is much to see, but overall we must admit, we enjoyed Prague and Krakow much more.
Our first few hours in Hungary were a bit disorienting. In order to leave the train station, we were supposed to present our tickets to some kind of international ticket control officers, something we had never encountered before. The conductor had not returned our tickets, so they allowed us to pass. Then we got on the right bus, in the wrong direction. This was pointed out to us by a loud and opinionated Hungarian who began complaining about the state of the roads, first in his native tongue, then, seeing our blank looks, in broken English, and then, after asking Tommy where he was from, in broken Polish. We got off the bus and got on one in the right direction, only to discover that you cannot buy tickets from the driver as in Krakow. We got off again, located a kiosk, and got on a third bus, only to find the same loud Hungarian on this one as well. Eventually we made it to our hostel. It’s very centrally located, but it’s far too much of a party hostel for our taste; the other students here leave at midnight to go to the bars, return (loudly) around 6 am, and sleep until 2 pm. It’s a travel philosophy that seems common among college-age Americans, but it is one Tommy and I find completely bewildering.
We walked around the city a bit, taking in the sights around the Danube River. We wanted to get some lunch, and that turned into a 2-hour ordeal. Since it was Sunday, just about everything was closed or closing when we arrived, and every open place we tried fell through one way or another. For example, we finally stumbled upon a window where a girl was making cheap waffles. We stood in line for several minutes, only to reach the window right when she ran out of batter. We finally found some food, but (we’re ashamed to say) it was at a Subway. After having spent the last two weeks being over fed by Tommy’s grandmother and relatives, it was almost strange being hungry again.
We ventured next to the castle district, up on a big hill on the west bank of the river. The city actually used to be two cities, Buda and Pest, before it was united. The castle is in Buda, and has endured a number of different destructions and reconstructions in its long history. We walked up the hill to the oldest section of the castle. It was falling into a bit of disrepair; there were piles of pigeon poop lining the walls, and periodic signs which said “watch for falling rocks.” We found our way over to the newer section, which had been reconstructed post-WWII to its former Hapsburg glory. We walked north from there through the remainder of the district to where we thought there was a church with an English mass. We had found a website for a dentist that was supposedly across from the church we were looking for, and that is where we got our directions. Unfortunately when we reached there, there was no dentist and no church. There were however, lots of opticians. Every block had at least two optician’s shops on it. If you need glasses, apparently Budapest is the place. We ended up crossing the river and stumbling upon the Basilica of St. Stephen and attending mass there in Hungarian. We found a cheap, charming Hungarian restaurant nearby for dinner.
Monday morning we walked down the historic Andrassy Avenue to City Park, where we spent the morning at the Szechenyi Baths. Turkish baths are very popular here, as the city is built on a number of mineral springs. The baths are considered medicinal because of their mineral content. They are housed in a really gorgeous building. There are indoor pools, hot tubs, and saunas, as well as some outdoor pools. The air was cold, but the water was nice and warm. It was wonderfully relaxing and really fun. Quite an experience, too. Most of the clientele appeared to be older Hungarians who go regularly for health and relaxation.
For lunch, we ventured to the Central Market, a huge building filled with stalls selling fruit, bread, pastries, meats, and (attesting to the growing tourist popularity of the market) lots of souveniers. It was like many of the markets we’ve seen in Africa and South America, only… clean. There were a number of food stalls, and we were able to try a Hungarian specialty called Langos, fried dough with different toppings. It was delicious. From there we took two busses to the outskirts of town to the Statue Park. This is an attraction that was much-advertised in brochures and tour books. Basically, after the fall of communism in Hungary, they collected all of the communist propaganda statues into one park. Most of them are either of communist leaders, or depict “Russian-Hungarian friendship” and other similar messages. There was a small museum and movie room as well. It wasn’t all the ads made it out to be, but it was still an interesting attraction.
This morning we visited the Synagogue in the city, which is supposedly the second-largest in the world (after one in New York). It was designed by a Christian architect and resembles a Catholic cathedral, but with Jewish decorations and symbols. We overheard a tour guide explain that synagogues are usually much smaller and laid out differently, but the Hungarian Jews wanted it to be a symbol that they could build something as large and magnificent as the Christians. There was a nice museum, and a courtyard with a memorial for the Holocaust victims. It is a metal weeping willow, and each leaf has the name of a family that perished on it. It’s very hauntingly lovely.
From there we went back to St. Stephen’s Basilica, the immense Catholic cathedral in the city. We had seen it the day before during mass, except for its star attraction: the Chapel of the Holy Right Hand. St. Stephen was a Hungarian king who did many good things for Christianity and for the country, and to commemorate this and immortalize him… they apparently removed his mummified hand and put it in a golden box. Tommy and I have agreed that the idea of relics is a bit creepy. St. Faustina’s finger bone was on display in Krakow, and that was weird enough for us. Still, for 100 florint, we could light up the case and admire the shriveled hand of St. Stephen.
We tried to take a tour of Parliament in the afternoon, but it was entirely filled up. Instead we visited the medical museum, which had some really neat texts and old instruments. We also returned to the Castle District and visited the Fisherman’s Bastion, a lovely observation deck from which there is a great view of Parliament, which is really a gorgeous building.
And that was our time in Budapest. Tomorrow we’re headed to Croatia!