Budapest, Hungary

We arrived in Budapest late in the evening (after a 9 hour train ride from Krakow) and finally managed to figure out the subway system and get to our hostel, after finding a broken ticket machine and about 10 homeless guys. This hostel was interesting, as it was an apartment on the third floor of an old building. We were given a key to get into the building, a key to get into the hostel gate, which then needed to be locked from the other side and got stuck in the keyhole every time, and then we were told not to be too loud because the downstairs neighbors were complaining. The hostel wasn't bad, just a little quirky. After this trip, I will be satisfied with life if I never see another bunkbed again. Mike, however, has been inspired and now feels the need to build queen size bunkbeds from our two beds. Ummm...no.

Our first day in Budapest was full of rain. It rained steadily all day but we just put on our rain gear and went out anyway. The city is really beautiful with many old buildings (imagine that) and a river running through it. We crossed the river, took a 30 second tram ride up the hill, and wandered around Castle Hill. Great views of the city had there not been so much damn rain, mist, fog and clouds! Ah, well that's what we get for travelling in Europe in the winter.

We did find an amazing restaurant that made up for all the rain. We enjoyed some Hungarian food, me with a soup and Mike with stuffed cabbage leaves over saurkraut. The food was so good that we actually went back for drinks and dessert the next day!

I do have to mention that since it was raining and our hostel had a fridge we could use, we decided to go to the store for some snacks and bleach for Mike's towel. First off Mike's towel started smelling horribly a few weeks ago and had progressed to the point of needing to be fixed or killed; seriously you could smell the towel across the room! Off we went to buy some bleach, the towel's only hope at this point. On the way, we heard music and came upon a group of Jewish people dancing, singing and lighting the menora (video on the blog). We enjoyed this for a while and then it was down to business. In the end Mike shoved his towel into a water bottle, added water and bleach, and let it soak for a few hours. After some serious scrubbing in the shower (being wary of splashing bleach on our few clothes) and some serious rinsing, the towel came clean!! One cannot appreciate this momentous occasion as well as Mike and I. This towel smelled awful and if the bleach wouldn't have worked, the towel was a goner. Don't worry, Mike took pictures of this grand adventure.

That night we went in search of some live music and we are pretty sure that we got turned down from 2 clubs as they were pretty nice and even on the best of days (laundry days, of which we have had 3) our clothes are not exactly dressy. After this realization, we dried our tears and found some more Hungarian food and wine and called it a night!

Next day, we checked out a Jewish Synagogue and went on a tour. It was really interesting and made me realize how much I don't know about Judaism (sorry Whit, I am a terrible friend!) . We then ate at a Jewish Hungarian restaurant, where we had matza ball soup, stuffed goose neck, and Jewish cake. We checked out the Great Market, which is a huge building on three levels selling all kinds of fresh produce, nuts, meat, and seafood. The poor fish were still alive, shoved into tanks so tightly that they couldn't move. Mike was pretty sure that PETA would not approve. That afternoon, we were on our way to the Gellert Hotel to check out the baths, when we found an interesting detour of a church in a huge cave in the side of a hill. Apparently, Budapest is full of caves but this is the only one we saw and it was kind of weird with a church in it.

Then if was off to the baths, which Budapest is famous for. There are baths, not bath houses, all over the city but the ones in this hotel have been around for a long time and used to only be used by rich people. They were very similar to Lava Hot Springs (Pocatello) only they were indoors and the men all wore speedos- ooohh la la. In the end, it was very relaxing and we were very pruney. A good way to spend our last night in Budapest.