Budapest, by Day

I'm trying out a new approach for this trip, as the night life in Budapest was so vibrant, and different, that really, it deserves it's own post. So, hopefully this isn't too disjointed. We all arrived to Budapest Wednesday evening, after a short, low-key flight for l&j versus a long, trying day for David navigating the Vienna public transportation system with flawed information. Thursday we opted for a Free Walking tour which Joe had read about on trip advisor. It was a great way to get the lay of the land and learn more about the history, economy & culture of the city. They gave advise on prices, areas, food & bars to try. We did a bit more walking ourselves after the guided tour & then met up with Cynthia, who is a friend of Christine's from Dartmouth for a bit more advise & information on the city that she currently calls home. We sat at a cafe and enjoyed the late afternoon sunshine while we all got to know each other & hear a bit about Budapest. It wasn't long before we were all in need of some dinner, so we headed over to Vorosmarty ter where a huge, outdoor market was in place for the Easter holiday. There were enormous pans full of gorgeous meats, vegetables & sauces all on display, their aromas making us all the more hungry (in hungary -- i did, terrible, i know). So, we grabbed some dinner & a spot on a picnic bench & settled in for what ended up to be a huge, not cheap dining experience. Then, we decided to meet up later to go to an 'underground club' that Cynthia was talking about to hear some live Hungarian music. So, we broke for a bit, only to meet up later for what was quite an experience.

Needless to say, we didn't jump out of bed Friday morning. After a later start, we arrived to Market Hall, which has an enormous array of products for sale. Basement, live fishes, fish heads, stank, trauma. Ground floor, butchers, fruit & veggie stalls, the grocery store, but inside a gorgeous old building. Top floor, which is basically just a balcony that looks down onto the ground floor stalls, is where all the tourist shops & cafes are located. It's bargain time & it's apparent we all suck at it. Ah well, fighting over what is the equivalent of $1-$2 for us, when the people living there make, on average 500euros a month, just isn't really worth it.
Then we headed over to the mall which we'd seen had a TGIFridays for a chicken finger BLT for Joe, some things never change. Next we went over to the Opera House to see if there were any tickets available in the cheap seats for the upcoming days. Turned out Friday was the only day that still had cheap ($5) seats, so we bought them & headed down to the Terror Museum for a quick visit before the opera began. It ended up to be quite an interesting visit --- with information sheets in each room in English & Hungarian. On one of the museum walls were photos and names of all the people who died in labor camps, or were executed for being enemies of the state during the Communist rule. It was quite a powerful, well-done space that brought home the stark, if not solely negative, reality of living under the Communist rule.

Now, off to the Opera. I think we were all a bit underwhelmed. It was old, and it looked it. There were plastic pallets in the staircase. There was a surly usher who insisted on David checking his coat, rendering us M&Mless (they were in the coat pocket) and David, we would later find, with a dirty coat. There were rock hard seats (despite the presence of what looked like padding), and there was about 10 inches between us and the row in front. Even I felt the squeeze. However, when the lights when down, the orchestra began to play & the first singer came out singing in German, it didn't take more than 5 minutes for both David & I to pass the f out, despite the relative discomfort of the space. Hey, it'd been a long day, it was dark, and we were without M&Ms. I know our parents certainly couldn't blame us, after all, they are the reason we can sleep under such conditions. However, at one point during the opera, a woman screams & both David & I jerked our heads forward. I looked over at Joe & he was laughing, his body shaking as he tried to stifle his amusement. David wasn't even aware of it after the fact, but I recall it because Joe just looked so amused & probably annoyed that he couldn't sleep as well. So, we spent $5 for a nap. Certainly sounds like monies well spent. We didn't even last through the first act. At 6.45 (it started at 5.15), we woke David up & snuck out. It was painfully boring. We are not opera people, or ballet people. We just aren't. I don't care if it's the thing to do in a place. We aren't doing it anymore just to do. Later we learned, we aren't into some other 'must-do' things as well.

Saturday, we woke up real early to grab our rental car & visit Eger, a small town in northeastern Hungary. Joe was awfully excited about the opportunity to drive through for McDs breakfast. Odd note: no hash browns for you in Hungary, they go straight to the good stuff, fries, in the am. So, we arrived to Eger at about 9.15 and headed up to the castle grounds where the boys got to shoot some bows & arrows. We milled around, but it was a bit run down, so we headed into town, which I felt was pretty much the same story. Nothing too interesting to the place. So, rather than just walk aimlessly, we headed out to the wine caves, which are about a 5 minute drive outside of town. There are all these little, dark places carved into the side of the earth & they all make their own wine. It was fantastic. We grabbed a table outside in the sun & picked our place (R. Steves recommended), then went in to order a glass. And this was when we realized that outside of the city, Hungary can still be a really, really cheap place as it was $2 for all three glass of wine. We played some cards and just enjoyed being outside together. We tried one other place, then got back in the car to head to Szetendre, which is a small town just west of Budapest. To no one's surprise, David & I passed out in the car on the way there. It was just a gorgeous, clear day though & it was nice to be out in the countryside. Eventually, we reached the town, parked the car & realized, we needed to have the rental car back in just about 2 hours. No one was all that motivated anyways, so we just walked through the town, looked at the Danube (just looks like any other wide river), and decided rather than wander aimlessly in a starved fashion, we'd just head back to the city & eat something there. We were getting close when the GPS died & would not turn back on. Somehow, after some bickering, confusion about one-way streets (people park anywhich direction they prefer in Hungary), we began to recognize some area we'd walked in before, located ourselves on our Budapest map & a bit more bickering later, arrived to Avis. We didn't do much else but grab a snack, go into St. Istvans & then, headed back to the hotel for a break before dinner & Saturday night, Szimpla style.

Again, Sunday morning was a slow start. We headed out to a recommended cafe for some brunch which was quite pleasant, although too brisk to sit outside (which we were doing). Then we planned to head out to Hero's Park & the Szecheny baths. The park was filled with statues, trash, and people. Nothing too enticing there. So, we found the bath & went in. We figured out what we needed somehow & all headed in to our respective locker rooms. I wish we would have just aborted mission then. The locker rooms were packed, hairy, unclean affairs. The outside was similiar, packed, hairy, huge men in tiny speedos, cold air, weird smells. People had been saying & we'd been reading, you must go to the bath, it's so healthy for you, etc. etc. As David said, "these people sure aren't the picture of health." It was certainly a cultural experience, the only benefit coming from being able to say we've done it now. And yet, another thing I will not be rushing back to despite the fact we'll be in Turkey in 6 weeks, I'll pass on another bath experience.

Sunday evening ended up to be fantastic, a random, unplanned affair. And then David left early Monday morning to train it from Budapest to Vienna to tackle their public transport system again. He left plenty of time to see some of the city, but similar to our day in Budapest, it was cold & rainy all day. We didn't do much but return to the cafe we'd had dinner at the first night, check out the art museum, made to-do lists for our return home and generally tried to stay warm & dry. We did pass a random, out-door fashion show that was blasting pop music while women strutted by in sleeveless dresses and little girls danced next to us. It kind of summed up Budapest for me. You never know what will happen here it said. Honestly, I would hardly believe some of the places we were, some of the music we heard & some of places we sat if I hadn't been there living it.