Budapest--City of Relaxation

Ashley's turn:
So, after a whirlwind tour of Paris, Jonathan and I decided to spend the rest of Thanksgiving week relaxing and unwinding for four days in one of my favorite cities, Budapest. I'd love to say we decided to go there because we were doing some sort of cultural pilgrimage or trying to reconnect with my grandfather's heritage (100% Hungarian) or something. But the truth is, most Americans couldn't name a famous landmark in Budapest if you paid them (although I knew a couple!) and the real reason we chose Budapest was a ridiculous, bargain-basement level airplane ticket. However, we could not have chosen more wisely. Budapest SHOULD be famous with the budget traveler for many reasons. Here are OUR highlights.
Hotel:
Jonathan cracked up when I did it, but I took pictures to show how BIG and beautiful our hotel was. It was not the least expensive room we've ever experienced, but it was a 3 star hotel for less than $100 a night, and it was not only deliciously 1920's themed, but offered a beautiful breakfast, and for an as-yet-unexplained reason, a Western-style hoedown on our last night. People were wearing cowboy boots and hats and there was hay scattered half a block down the street. It was HILARIOUS. Ahem. Anyway, here are the pictures of our room at the Cotton Club House, which was the Fred Astaire room.

The baths:
Our first stop in Budapest was at the Szechenyi baths. I had been there before (remember, Ali?) and I thought they would be a great introduction to the "communal bathing" concept that Hungarians adore. J and I had a GREAT time. These baths near the City Park are fed by natural springs and feature outdoor baths at about $11 for the day. I still found the whirlpool in one of the outdoor pools to be the best part, but J liked the sauna, located underneath the changing rooms. I could not sit in there for more than 30 seconds--I think it was really just a well-disguised oven. There were bricks over fires--and you were supposed to SIT on them? Yeah, thanks but no thanks. J, however, managed to make it the full prescribed 15 minutes. Since there were a lot of really unattractive men and high temperatures, we refrained from taking pictures inside the sauna, but here are some (rare!) J exclusives of the warmer outdoor pool, complete with steam due to the chilly late November temperatures. I am outside the baths a little later--fully dressed and wishing I'd brought a brush!

Later in the week, we visited the famous Gellert baths, too. J liked them a lot, but since we only had access to one pool (indoor and chilly!) and one hot tub for more money than the Szechenyi baths, and we had to trek all the way to Buda for them when our hotel was on the Pest side, I thought they were a little over-hyped. Here are some pictures of them, anyway. :)
Inside:

Outside:
The Food:
Oh the food, the food, the glorious food. Look, I'm part Hungarian, so I had already clued into the fact that food is a major part of Hungarian culture. All of the invading tribes and peoples who have rolled through Hungary over the past 2 millenia? You see them in the food, and thank goodness for it, because Hungarian food is fabulous (and famous). If you COULD find an American who knew Budapest, they would probably mention either A. the Gundel or B. The Gerbeaud Cafe. Jonathan and I did not eat at either of these famous establishments (although I've eaten at the Gundel before, and it really is great), and yet we still managed to swoon over our food every night. We also made it to the Mozart Cafe for some pastries and coffee.

Look at the glory that is these pastries, people. Yummy is just the beginning. Hungarians must have serious sweet teeth. The decorations at the cafe were also nicely reminiscent of old Hapsberg-era glamor.

Hungarian food is well-known for its generous use paprika. When walking around the indoor market, it is very common to see bundles of paprika similar to the one shown below. We got a big packet of paprika powder to take back home with us. In the Hungarian countryside the windows in the villages are commonly filled with similar bundles of paprika following the harvest.

However, our absolute favorite meal was the first night. We ate at the Calla cafe, and Jonathan swears his duck with Grand Marnier sauce (second picture down) was the best he's ever tasted. My chicken (1st pic) was the perfect "Fakes-giving" meal, too, since it included a pumpkin/sweet potato souffle, cranberries, and a lot of thyme. We finished by splitting a glorious orange/chocolate pastry, shown off by a strange picture of me. Notice the devilish gleam in my eyes that was either created by the glorious pastry OR the camera angle. You can decide. :)



The Walking tour:
Bolstered by the success of our walking tour in Paris, J and I decided to spend most of our second day on a walking tour offered for free. I'd love to tell you the name of the tour organizers, but unfortunately I've lost my notes for this trip. It was fairly easy to find on Google, though, and I'd highly recommend it. Even if it HAD cost something, we could have written it off as "research" for me, since the guide had grown up under the communist government and gave us many valuable insights into the changes his society had undergone. It was truly fascinating, and we learned a lot of little tidbits-- like the fact that th e average verb in Hungarian rejoices in at least 20 conjugations. So, yes, I think I will leave Hungarian to the native speakers. That's a lot of work for a language spoken only by 8 million people!
Here are some pictures we took wandering around town!
First up, J and me looking vaguely cold with Parliament in the background.
Next, a picture of the front of the Hungarian Agricultural Museum. This is part of an incredibly strange complex where the many different styles of Hungarian architecture are all combined into one huge (and in my opinion, incredibly ugly) "castle." Fortunately, it was not created by a bunch of inbred, psychotic aristocrats, but instead by a council. Further proof that just because an idea passes a committee doesn't mean it's a good one. :) The other pictures below are from our walking tour and beyond, since Jonathan felt a supplemental tour was needed. The pictures are from the main historical district in Pest and are just blocks and blocks of old beautiful buildings. Jonathan was in heaven. I think he took more pictures on this trip than all other trips combined. This is just a small sample of our pictures.

Then, a view of the river Danube from the Buda side. This was taken by our kindly tour guide. I also posed for the same picture with our new friend Layla H., who lives in Basel. Funny that we had to go all the way to Budapest to meet her, right?


St. Stephen's. Famous landmark! We found one. I think his hand is supposed to be inside, but honestly, I'm not that big a fan of relics, so we gave it a miss.




Here is perhaps the best example of the art deco architecture for which Budapest is famous:



The Music:
Hungarians are not as famous for music as they probably ought to be. Other than Liszt, Hungarians have not created a lot of international superstars. However, classical music is highly regarded (There are 2 functioning opera houses. I know that because the last time I was in Budapest, I went to see Un Ballo in Maschera and was disappointed that I didn't get to go to the famous opera, but instead to the smaller theatre. The performance was still top-notch, though). Jonathan and I made up for that deficiency by taking a tour of the opera house. I tried to talk J into attending that night, as well, but he argued (convincingly) that Tannhaus er is a difficult first opera for anyone. So I had to content myself with imagining the music, but we both enjoyed the grandiosity of the opera house itself.

The staircase in this picture was "SiSi's favorite" because it has an enormous mirror she thought was flattering to her figure. In fact--nobody else could use it. I guess the benefit of being the beloved Empress Elisabeth (yes, of the German musical fame, Flow ladies)and wife of Emperor Franz Jospeh is that you can commandeer entire portions of opera houses. To this day, Hungarians love SiSi (their pet name for her) and venerate her. It's a distant echo of the pride I remember Austrians having for the Emperor when I lived in Vienna.

While I didn't get Jonathan to the opera, I did manage to maneuver him into a jazz club our last night. The picture we took is terrible (and has mysteriously disappeared, hmmmm), but the music was far from it! The quartet we saw was incredibly talented, and it was easy to enjoy their music, since all the songs were in either French or English! It helped that the artists stuck to old 30s and 40s-style jazz for the most part (with the exception of a phenomenal cover of Paul Simon's 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover)--since neither J nor I are terribly big fans of funky or experimental jazz.

Hmm, somehow some of our "wandering pictures" wandered out of their section! But that's ok, because we went on walks A LOT in Budapest. The St. Stephen statue you see is outside the St. Matthias church on the Buda side. St. Stephen is mentioned a lot in Hungary, since he united the kingdom under a Christian king in, I think the 11th century? Somewhere in there.






Here is Budapest's "Lady Liberty". As our tour guide explained, it looks amazingly similar to a communist workers' statue that was in place throughout the dictatorship. After the overthrow of the communists, this statue disappeared for a short while and re-emerged in the same setting with a new title and new purpose.



Finally, a video showing why the Travel Channel will not be calling me anytime soon to host a show. I am a terrible narrator, and my cameraman can't control the glare from the sun! However, we hope you enjoy it anyway!



Thanks for sticking with us for such a long post! Next up: Bern at Faschnacht.