Budapest, Hungary

Saturday we arrived and opted to figure out Budapest on our own. All the bike tours were shut down for the winter. We strolled down to a cool neighborhood (Liszt Ferenc Ter first thing Saturday morning and tried for some coffee. Our waitress was not happy to see us, but this turned out to be our only unpleasant encounter with a local. Think Joan Jett with a solid scowl. Somehow we got the idea that we might be the only ones getting such treatment. We looked around and we were. We opted to conquer the “Pest” side of Budapest (east of the River) and managed to hit some key sights such as City Park, St. Istvan’s Basilica, Parliament, the Opera House. After a full day afoot and not too much to eat we caved and went the expat way for grub – Iguana Mexican food. Mix Hungarian spices with some Mexican dishes and that makes for tasty entrees! Sunday we attacked the Buda side of the city, leading to a local breakfast, many churches, the Buda Castle, some labyrinths and a Cave Church. The weekend ended with some local music, as a 6 man ensemble performed a mix of Hungarian and American jazz at Fat Mo’s Music Club. Coolest part was watching them setup as at 8:30 the “hired help”, 3 boys the under the age of 10 (sons of the drummers) had the band set up in no time.

When traveling you tend to be open minded and experience things you normally wouldn’t. It has been quite a while since we’ve donned a public pool back home. Nothing wrong with it, but we just haven’t been there in quite some time. So we did as Hungarians do and opted for time at the Baths. When K was asked to describe this experience in one word, her response was – “feet odor, b cracks, big bellies, foot fungus, utter odor”. It is safe to say this will be our last trip to the baths. This is one of “the things to do” in Budapest and you definitely get a local feel. We opted for a guide book rec on a Bath, rather then friends. Still not sure if this was a good choice.