16th-19th BUDAPEST, Hungary

The hostel I’m staying at in Budapest is another home-like place! It’s in an old renovated apartment building, and my bed is in a loft, with a ladder to climb up to it.

Budapest is a great city. Vibrant, historical, alive, energetic, buzzing, cultural. There is so much art and music here! The buildings are a bit more darker, grey and ‘somber-feeling’ than the colorful buildings in Prague. The people are friendly, and welcoming.
I went for a walk all over the city on my first day. I saw some great contemporary art galleries - was very inspired! I wondered around some historical buildings and Buda castle. In my wondering about, I came across lady advertising a folk-music / folk dance concert for that evening. I thought that might be good to go to. On arriving at the building where the concert was, the lady who I’d met earlier informed me that I was at the wrong place. Two other ladies - from Austria - were in the same predicament. But she kindly organized for a car to come and take us to the other side of the Danube where the concert was. I befriended the 2 Austrian ladies as we were in this weird situation together! The concert was good - I enjoyed the folk dancing - very energetic! The dancers were accompanied by a gypsy 10-piece string orchestra, with a loan clarinet player (who had amazingly fast fingers!) and a weird sitar-like instrument - and the guy who played it was incredible! After the concert, I was ready to head to bed, however my new Austrian friends were keen to do a bit of sight-seeing. I was happy enough to walk around with them. Budapest looks fantastic at night - we found some really good views of the city. (One view from on top of a very high arch-way, with no rails!). We parted company eventually, and I walked back to my hostel - since the trains had stopped going. Very sore and tired when I finally got to bed!
One must-have experience in Hungary was the Baths! After my day of walking many km’s, I decided to head out to the famous Baths. I really had no idea what they’d be like, but wow!! So glad I went!!
The baths were in an old building / enclosure. As you walk in the entrance, you can see a huge open-air series of 3 pools with steam coming out. It was a chilly day, so it looked quite enticing. (but the people who were out of the pools in just their bathers looked particularly cold as they danced on tippy-toes to the warm water.) After buying your ticket, you enter into the change/locker room. Changed into your swimmers, you head through into another room with 2 smallish pools. One at 20 degrees and one at 40! Another room, another pool at a different temperature. Then there were some saunas amongst the pools. I’ve never been in a sauna before - must admit, I think I used to be ‘scared’ of them! (weird I know). So I ventured in. The first sauna was 30-40 degrees. I survived that, so thought I’d try the next one - 40-50 degrees. Fine! And later, the 90-100 degrees… oooh didn’t last 5 minutes! Anyway, without going into more pool-sauna-degrees-warm-hot-chill-steam-ice details, the whole thing was magical! Felt so good - exhilarating, relaxing, tingling, breathtaking! The atmosphere was fun too. So many people around, lazing in the pools. I was imagining I was back in the Roman period! The outdoor pools were great too - I spent more time there, absorbing the atmosphere, the sky, the gorgeously ornate architecture surrounding the baths, the steam coming off the water making everything look mysterious and enticing.
I came home suitably relaxed (and tingling!). I think these sort of baths should be introduced in Australia!
I spent my last day in Budapest on a bike. I hadn’t made up my mind about what I’d do, and with a vague idea of heading to the “Citadel” (on top of a hill, with great views of the city), I stumbled across a bike-hiring place. I thought that’d be fun as the sun had decided to shine, and it was a much faster way of getting around the city. The view from the Citadel was fantastic. However, I discovered how unfit I was while getting to the top! :P Coming down, was super fast and easy. Until I realized I’d come down the wrong side! I didn’t know how to get back (without a detailed map), so had to head up the hill again! Gr! But it was good to be pumping blood again. The sun soon disappeared, and I soon discovered that it was really very cold. And typically, my fingers and toes decided they’d go on strike. So when I finally got back into the city area I was chilled to the bone. I popped into a café for a coffee - or more to warm up!
I started noticing all the statues in Budapest - after the night with the Austrian ladies. One of them was fascinated with all the statues and kept stopping to take many photos. The statues are larger than life, detailed and very expressionistic. Horses rearing up, life-like figures of men and women in different poses and attitudes, some standing strong and king-like and some just doing everyday things like sitting on a chair watching the world go by. The statues tell a bit of history as well. Centuries old, to modern day statues. I have a whole new appreciation for the art!
I returned to the hostel that evening and one of the other girls there mentioned she was thinking of going to the opera that night. I had been contemplating it as well, and so we decided we’d go together. That was incredible! Partly because, the ticket was 2 Euros! That’s about $4!!! Amazing! The opera house was stunning inside. We had a standing ticket, and not the whole view of the stage, but it was still a wonderful experience. They played Bela Bartok’s ‘Bluebeard’s Castle’ and it was a fantastic performance of a really intriguing piece! Very modern staging too, they used computer graphics and interesting mirror-like large panels to reflect the computer images and stage scenes. I’ve actually never been to an opera before - so it was a brilliant first-time experience!