It was our last day in Budapest and it was raining pretty hard, so we dawdled and came up with a rainy day plan which began with taking the metro
to the house of terror
to see the people who had been terrorized by the Nazis and then the Russians (not a lot of sympathy for the communist days here).
But miraculously, it wasn't raining at this point, so we decided to walk on along Andrassy Ut. and paused for the obligatory phone booth picture
and then marched on past this statue which would have significance later in our walk. For now, it just looked nice
as did the road going ahead
and we saw a sign for the baths that we intended to get to.
We were a little confused and so when Heores Square appeared in the distance, we didn't realize we were there and thought that this was the location of the lesser heroes
but Suzanne consulted the map
as we saw Cafe Kara
and we assumed we had some blocks to walk past this locale to get to the real Heroes Square
so we took a photo of the ice cream cone
and then took some photos of the monument
and the heroes left
with this memorial
and the heroes right
with the caption for the memorial which recognizes our heroes. For a country that has lost so many wars, we were impressed by the number of heroes Hungary claims.
We walked on to what we though was Embassy Row but was in reality City Park
and observed an art installation (though because of our orientation we wondered if this was a magical way of storing row boats for rent)
and then a museum (which we incorrectly identified)
and another piece of the art installation
as we observed the very wet sidewalk and wondered if more rains would fall
but when we passed this memorial of unknown purpose
we suddenly found ourselves in front of Szechenyi Baths
and after a moments hesitation, we walked around the building and past the circus (which seems to be an amusement park)
to the back entrance as recommended by Rick Steves.
We purchased what Rick told us to do and as he suggested, we did a lap of the baths taking photos before settling in. We began with an overview of the outdoor pools
and the snack bar
and back to the edge of the soaking pool (at a very comfortable temperature)
checked out the map of the grounds
and followed the sauna sign
to the room where the hot pools were
with the chemical composition given
and we observed one of the many pools at high temperatures
and the sauna at ridiculously high temperatures
as we passed by the hot pool
and headed back to the soaking pool
recording its depth
and its chess players
and seeing the shower rule
before moving to the lap pool which was kept at a lower temperature (26-28 (high 70's Fahrenheit))
but had a nice sculpture
as we made our way to the fun pool which was warmer
and had a current which sent people around in circles in the middle of the pool
and a fountain.
We then identified the showers
admired the fountain
recorded the temperature of the fun pool (30-34 summer-winter (86-92 F) and put the camera in our cabin (of which more later).
After several hours of soaking in various arrangements, I decided that I needed more photos (and couldn't remember which I had taken) so I came back to the chess game
and a mellow Suzanne
and the soaking pool
before doing the chess games in earnest (as though you, gentle viewer, can make the next move)
and back to Suzanne
and the statues at the main building,
the fountains which give the feeling of a massage
the shower
and Suzanne taking it all in
before taking these pictures of me.
After a few more panoramic pictures
and a photo of this man's bodily decorations
we went back to our cabin to record its size and change. I figure it was 1 meter square which made it a challenge for both of us to dress at the same time
but we liked its number and really enjoyed the baths -- perfect way to spend the last day of a vacation.
Once outside, we ran into the zoo entrance which had a lot of elephants; I wonder if there were any inside
and went past these lovely gardens
before going to the Antique cafe
for some beer
a cabbage roll that was like a knish
and a sandwich.
I decided it was necessary to take a cross section of the cabbage knish and so here it is.
At this point, we knew where we were and that we had already seen Heroes Square and so we decided to walk until the rains came (if ever) and hit the square of 4 statues (one was displayed above) which was described as the heroes who didn't quite make it to Heroes Square. Indeed, two of the originals who were going to be here were elevated to positions at Heroes Square. Since we hadn't done full justice to those at Heroes Square (thinking that they were the second team, we decided to pay attention to the scrubs and here they are
along with this elegant building which seemed to be abandoned (perhaps fitting company for faux heroes).
Walking further along, we came into this model of the Iron Curtain describing its horribleness
and then walked on to a sidewalk marking of something Schubert
and statues of Franz Liszt
and Franz Erkel at the Opera House
before we hit this statue which couldn't be explained
before we were ready to walk across the bridge back to Buda where we were living.
Along the way, we captured wonderful views of the Danube in both directions
and once across the bridge, we celebrated monuments in the hills (Buda being hilly, Pest being flat, an odd confluence)
focusing in on the hero
and his waterfall.
On the way to the restaurant, we saw this marker that must have war significance by the date
and then we were at the restaurant which had multiple seating areas
and so when we reached the patio, I had a shot of Unicum
and we ordered our cold soups -- apple for me
and cucumber for Suzanne
from this menu
and then I had a second shot of Unicum (an odd thought pattern to say the least)
and recorded the name of the restaurant
and the statue of the girl next to it
as Suzanne
and I
got ready for veal paprikash
and eggplant risotto
to go with our bread.
By dessert, it was colder and so we went inside, where Suzanne took photos of me sans flash
and then with flash
which convinced me to use the flash to capture her with the Tokaji dessert wine
as our chocolate cake arrived
and then the bill which let us know our vacation in Budapest was over.
|
to the house of terror
to see the people who had been terrorized by the Nazis and then the Russians (not a lot of sympathy for the communist days here).
But miraculously, it wasn't raining at this point, so we decided to walk on along Andrassy Ut. and paused for the obligatory phone booth picture
and then marched on past this statue which would have significance later in our walk. For now, it just looked nice
as did the road going ahead
and we saw a sign for the baths that we intended to get to.
We were a little confused and so when Heores Square appeared in the distance, we didn't realize we were there and thought that this was the location of the lesser heroes
but Suzanne consulted the map
as we saw Cafe Kara
and we assumed we had some blocks to walk past this locale to get to the real Heroes Square
so we took a photo of the ice cream cone
and then took some photos of the monument
and the heroes left
with this memorial
and the heroes right
with the caption for the memorial which recognizes our heroes. For a country that has lost so many wars, we were impressed by the number of heroes Hungary claims.
We walked on to what we though was Embassy Row but was in reality City Park
and observed an art installation (though because of our orientation we wondered if this was a magical way of storing row boats for rent)
and then a museum (which we incorrectly identified)
and another piece of the art installation
as we observed the very wet sidewalk and wondered if more rains would fall
but when we passed this memorial of unknown purpose
we suddenly found ourselves in front of Szechenyi Baths
and after a moments hesitation, we walked around the building and past the circus (which seems to be an amusement park)
to the back entrance as recommended by Rick Steves.
We purchased what Rick told us to do and as he suggested, we did a lap of the baths taking photos before settling in. We began with an overview of the outdoor pools
and the snack bar
and back to the edge of the soaking pool (at a very comfortable temperature)
checked out the map of the grounds
and followed the sauna sign
to the room where the hot pools were
with the chemical composition given
and we observed one of the many pools at high temperatures
and the sauna at ridiculously high temperatures
as we passed by the hot pool
and headed back to the soaking pool
recording its depth
and its chess players
and seeing the shower rule
before moving to the lap pool which was kept at a lower temperature (26-28 (high 70's Fahrenheit))
but had a nice sculpture
as we made our way to the fun pool which was warmer
and had a current which sent people around in circles in the middle of the pool
and a fountain.
We then identified the showers
admired the fountain
recorded the temperature of the fun pool (30-34 summer-winter (86-92 F) and put the camera in our cabin (of which more later).
After several hours of soaking in various arrangements, I decided that I needed more photos (and couldn't remember which I had taken) so I came back to the chess game
and a mellow Suzanne
and the soaking pool
before doing the chess games in earnest (as though you, gentle viewer, can make the next move)
and back to Suzanne
and the statues at the main building,
the fountains which give the feeling of a massage
the shower
and Suzanne taking it all in
before taking these pictures of me.
After a few more panoramic pictures
and a photo of this man's bodily decorations
we went back to our cabin to record its size and change. I figure it was 1 meter square which made it a challenge for both of us to dress at the same time
but we liked its number and really enjoyed the baths -- perfect way to spend the last day of a vacation.
