The Most European Thing I've Done...

Day 2 started off slowly as we crept out of bed around 9.  We didn't have to shower or get ready though, because we were going to the baths!  

First on our way we dropped in to Heroes Square.  

Just an example of the fascinating architecture that just couldn't go unnoticed.  

That's right, ladies and gentlemen, we made our way to Szechenyi Bath and Spa (at the top right corner of the map...Rozy).  It was opulent and overwhelming.  It looked like a museum or where someone famous would have lived.  We walked in and were immediately greeted by a sweet young girl eager to tell us about massage specials and prices.  4500 forint for a half hour....hmmm...that is....what....Taylor...if 300 forint is 1 euro...then....hmmm.... One of our biggest issues was converting money.  At least euros operates on 1, 5, 10 like the US dollar, but operating in hundreds and thousands?  Somehow it was much harder for me to give up a bill for 1000 forints even knowing it was only 3 or 4 euros.  So we sat there for a good 5 minutes calculating everything and figured out that 4500 forints is about 15 euros-um, massage?  Yes, please!  

Front façade

Just another European dome...absolutely beautiful.   This was at the entrance to the baths.  

We paid our 3000-something forint entry fee, got our wristbands, and headed off to the lockers.  I paid for a cabin since changing into a bathing suit in the middle of a coed locker room just isn't my cup of tea.  

I felt as if we were in a labyrinth trying to get out of the room with the cabins, and to my surprise, nothing was in English.  (This was supposedly the most touristy bath in all of Budapest.)  We finally stumbled upon the room that started it all.  Each pool/bath was a different temperature and often some had different medicinal healing qualities.  I found out, the greener and dirtier the water, the more healing power it had and the fouler it smelled.  But for some reason, they were the most popular.  Scechenyi thermal baths are the largest medicinal baths in Europe.  Its water is supplied by two main thermal springs with higher content of sulphate, calcium, magnesium, and bicarbonate and are said to relieve and heal joint pain and arthritis, calcium deficiency, amongst a myriad of other things.  Temperatures of the water varied from 26 degrees Celsius to 38 degrees Celsius.  

There was a dental clinic, a first aid place, therapeutic spas, a place where you could get your hair cut, saunas, steam rooms and showers galore.  

Below was one of my favorite.  The temperature wasn't too hot, but it still smelled like eucalyptus and dirt.  ha!  (I know, I know, if you forced me to do it I would pitch a fit.)

After getting a better grasp on the lay of the land, we went back upstairs for our scheduled massages.  We had all gotten a half hour, and I had chosen the weaker "relax and refresh" massage.  There was no room for modesty and unlike any massage I have ever gotten in the states.  A couple of minutes in of being a little self-conscious, I realized that she probably rubs all over gross, old, Hungarian men all day and all modesty went out the window.  I was truly relaxed.  She asked me, "Your shoulders are so tense and there are a lot of knots." My reply was, "Yes, well, I sleep on the floor."  ha!  I was oh so disappointed when my 30 minutes were up, but was happy to step outside and check out the rest of the baths.  

And the outside pools?  Absolutely my favorite place.  Yes, it was 45 degrees and freezing outside but the pools were kept at a nice warm temperature.  You could get a little sunshine and still float around on your back in the warm water.  Couples were all around smooching all over each other and old Hungarian men were playing chess on a floating chess board in the pool.  Standing under the fountain gave an instant back/shoulder massage from the water that poured from it, and kids were running back and forth from pool to pool just to test the waters.  

In the photo below, if you notice the circular shape in the pool surrounding a sauna, you could get in that jet stream, pick up your feet, and the water would just push you on down.  It was like an underwater Tilt-a-Whirl.  Amazing.  

As Taylor and I were pondering our days in Budapest, we decided that this Hungarian bath was by far the most European thing we have ever done.  Swimming around with all the locals, tourists, children, women who don't shave, and men who just don't care...I realized I can now officially call myself a European.  

We had a couple of hours to kill before everything began to close, so we decided to go over to Central Market Hall, which was one of the first things on my list of things to do.  I had heard it was a great place to go for foodies but I had no idea what I was getting myself into!  It was a 3 story Hungarian heaven.  The entry floor was for food/veggies/parika/spices/meats, etc.  The top floor was for souvenirs and the bottom floor for fish/seafood/pickled items and the best milk I have ever had.  (But I will save that for tomorrow.)

Central Market Hall

Looking down the street from Central Market Hall

Days of the week in Hungarian!

Inside Central Market Hall

I am so glad I did my research because one of the things I found was that while at Central Market Hall you should eat Langos.  Fried bread.  Not quite so sweet as a funnel cake.  It was delicious.  The outside was crispy and greasy and the inside was fluffy and sweet.  Top it off with nutella and it makes for one messy treat.  There were some French people sitting behind me who ordered crêpes.  Seriously?! You can get a good crêpe anywhere in France and you pass up a local treat for a mediocre crêpe?  Craziness.  

I met back up with the guys just as the market was closing and we grabbed some dinner before heading out.  We had found this kitschy bar a few blocks from our hostel so we went and had a beer or two.  Szimpla bar had fun decorations all around, several televisions, and was easily the largest bar I have ever been to in Europe.  

On the walls at Szimpla

A local specialty:  Palinka.  Take my advice:  don't ever try this.  

A few other random things we noticed that day:

Gross. 

This was our bill for everyone.  Food and drinks were super cheap!  There are places we go in Paris where one person can't even eat for 20 euros!  

Taylor and I started the next day early at Central Market Hall.  David was still snoozing so we left him at home.  We had some wonderful finds...delicious food pictures coming!  

Happy Halloween!!!!

Wish my mom was around to read about Gromelda in "The Witch Has An Itch" to me, or better yet, little Sylvie Ann in "Pumpkin Moonshine."  

"It's almost Halloween and little Sylvie Ann has found the biggest, fattest pumpkin.  But before she can carve it into a giant, crooked-toothed pumpkin moonshine she has to get it home."  -Pumpkin Moonshine

I unsuccessfully made myself a fairy outfit, so am going to attempt to rock it tonight.  Wishing you all a very scary, spooky trick-or-treat tonight!  

Travel Days And Fall Colors

Since our flight was so early Tuesday morning, I was up and out of the house by 6:15.  I met Taylor and David at the RER and we hopped on the train for the 30 minute ride out to Charles de Gaulle Airport.  I dozed off most of the way, and avoided being pushed and shoved by the hundreds of commuters coming in and out of the city on any given Tuesday.  We checked out bags, found our way through security with the greatest of ease, grabbed a coffee and I grabbed a couple of magazines to catch up on my French celebrity gossip.  I forgot that when you fly to most of the European destinations, you take a bus from your "gate" to the actual airplane.  The first one wasn't so bad as our plane was a normal aircraft.  

The second one?  Well, not so much.  After a 30 minute quick change and another bus ride, we began to board the airplane and Chariots of Fire was playing over the speakers.  It was like they were pumping us up for our tiny helicopter ride from Prague to Budapest.  As I reached the last step into the plane I turned around and gave a big wave as if I was Kim Kardashian getting on my private jet.  

Sitting just inside from the propeller?  Not as exciting as it seems.  

Don't know how it does this in the picture...but was totally awesome.  

Our first flight served a "sandwich" which was 3 huge pieces of bread filled with a tiny slice of turkey and ham on one side and a couple of slices of red pepper, "rocket" (which turned out to be "roquette" or to Americans, arugula).  A sandwich with the ingredient:  rocket?  Yes! I'll take two! Sounds so powerful.  

On the smaller flight with 10 of our closest friends  we were given a small chocolate cake made with "quark."  Still not exactly sure what quark is...apparently some sort of cheese according to Wikipedia.

After we arrived in Budapest and got our bags, we changed a little bit of money at the airport, only enough to buy a bus and a metro ticket.  It was strange riding in on the bus and reading all the advertisements and billboards and not recognizing any of the words.  In Italian or Spanish or even sometimes German you can pick out what some words are just be looking at them.  Hungarian?  Not a chance.  We just had to pray that everyone we encountered spoke English, and for the most part, this was true.  

The metro looked as if it had been around since World War II, no joke.  It was an old, beat up blue metro  car that squeaked and the seats were made of worn leather.  We had to count how many stops it would take us on our hands, because we couldn't understand even the names of the metros being spoken at each stop.  We got off at Ferenceik ter, and were greeted by the nicest guy at our hostel.  He sat down and showed us where everything was on the map, how to work our small apartment and everything in it, where to have money changed, the 24 hour supermarket, etc.  If anyone is going to Budapest I recommend Happyflat Hostel for sure!  

We were given a 10% discount for a restaurant around the corner so that's where we went our first night and what did I order?  Goulash of course.  Hungarian goulash is not what we think of in the States, but a delicious soup made typically with paprika (a hugely famous Hungarian spice), potatoes, carrots, onions, and beef.  Exactly what's needed on a crisp, fall day.  

The next morning we set off for "Castle Hill."  Its on the 'Buda' side of Budapest.  Aka, the left side of the river.  The right side is appropriately named, Pest.  As we wound our way through a mountain of switchbacks, we were able to marvel at the beautiful fall colors which Paris hasn't been able to offer.  

Gellert Statue

The trees were yellow, orange, and deep red and seeing them scattered on the pathway made me giddy with excitement.  

"White bridge" which was just around the corner from our hostel.  

The Buda Castle

Overlooking the Danube, 3 famous bridges, and Parliament.

An old photo from pretty much the same location.  The bridges and Budapest devastated from the war.  

My favorite photo of the trip.  

Me being goofy....this was at the top of the hill.  

The three of us in front of the Liberty Statue, just behind us is an old war bunker.  

One of my favorite moments of the entire trip.  The boys said I look so..."girly." I think I will take that as a compliment.  

Bunker at the top of Castle Hill.

Incredibly beautiful city.  

The next two are of me being quite possibly a little too excited for yellow leaves.  I only wish I had a rake so I could jump in a giant pile.  

Parliament building, the second largest in the world!!! Brazil being the first.  

The "Chain Bridge" which I thought was the most beautiful.  

The tram system was one of my favorite things about Budapest.  They were everywhere and are just over 50 years old.  They are expecting new cars over the next couple of years, but as we saw, things seem to be operating just fine.  Trams are more popular than the metros, because they run to more locations in the city.

You may have noticed in these pictures, but definitely in tomorrows that the architecture is part of what makes this city stunning.  As we were in the museum in the war bunker and also the museum dedicated to WWII, we would see old photos and recognize the buildings from the streets in Budapest.  It is the first place I have visited where you can walk down the streets and still feel the devastation and the communism that struck this part of the continent.  Unlike France, many buildings are not refinished, refurbished, and pristinely perfect.  Some still have bullet holes and gaping holes in the rooftops from the war.  Did you know that the Soviet occupation of Hungary lasted until 1991, just shortly before the collapse of the Soviet Union?  

I decided to break up this trip into a couple of posts since I have SO many photos!  Didn't want to overwhelm y'all!  Therefore, more photos tomorrow.  Hope everyone is gearing up for Halloween!