A wonderful weekend in Budapest

 I went to Budapest for the weekend (Saturday morning to Sunday evening) and had a great time. I took the Railjet trail to Budapest and have to say that they have a great rail system - super fast and quiet! I stayed at Mamaison Andrassy Hotel which was a great place that allowed me to check in at 10:30 even though official checkin was at 2pm.

My first stop was the Great Market where I visited a delicious Langos stand - I got the Langos with sour cream and cheese. Hungarian fried dough - how can you not love that?!?

This is the first McDonald's in Eastern Europe

 

Budapest is divided into Buda and Pest by the Danube River.  Across the river are a series of bridges which provide great views day and night.

Chain Bridge

I crossed over to Buda to check out Castle Hill with its palaces and churches from the Austro-Hungarian empire. Most of this area was reconstructed after being devastated during the World Wars I and II.

Panorama of Pest from Castle Hill

Fisherman Bastion

View of the super elaborate Parliament - built with the London Parliament building as a model

Matthias Church (they charge for admission in Hungary - didn't go in)

Royal Palace

Turin - symbol of the Hungarians

After my tour of the Royal palace, I found myself in an outdoor concert with food stands galore.  It's true what they say - you won't go hungry in Hungary.

Parliament - really impressive

Statue of Imre Nagy - he tried to lead the Hungarian uprising against the Soviets in 1956 but the rebellion was crushed by the USSR and he was killed and buried face down in an unmarked grave

I happened to attend a wedding at St. Istvan Basilica (and didn't have to pay to enter :)

opera house

I know they say Vienna is the city of music but I was really impressed by all the public music throughout Budapest.  I must have passed by more than 5 different musical events just walking around town.

Dinner was fabulous - there will be a post to follow with pictures of food.

After dinner, I went for a walk along the Danube.  The views were spectacular.

Day 2 - I knew it would rain so I planned non-rainoutable events - stop #1 - Szechenyi baths.  Hungary has a long tradition of baths because of the 100+ hot springs that course underground.  The baths range from 26-40 C with some cold plunges at 20C.  The experience was fantastic!  It was so relaxing.  Highlights were  an outdoor pool with a current pool where you can just allow the water to carry you around the outside of the pool and (my very favorite) a peppermint steam room at 45C - this was so refreshing. I think all steam rooms should be infused with peppermint! After soaking in the many pools including some medicinal ones, I had a 40min massage - very thorough but not as deep tissue as the Chinese massage parlors in NYC.

Szechenyi baths

Hero's Square with moments commemorating the great of Hungarian history

My next stop was the House of Terror - a museum commemorating the atrocities committed by the Nazis and Soviets in this house of torture and imprisonment.  The visit was very sobering.  Hungary suffered a lot during those years and so quickly in succession from one police state to another.  The Jews suffered doubly also.  Both the Nazis and Soviets used intimidation, torture, prisons and work camps.  The unlucky who found themselves in work camps under both regimes said that conditions were even worse during Soviet rule.

the iron curtain

outside the Museum of Terror

I tried to end my day by visiting the Great Synagogue - 2nd largest synagogue in the world (the first being in NYC). However, they didn't accept credit cards and I didn't have enough Florints to pay so I just took some pictures from outside. 

Great Synagogue

    

the tree of life commemorating those who died in the Holocaust - before Nazi occupation 5% of Hungary and 25% of Budapest was Jewish, now it's about 1% of Hungary mostly in Budapest

Holocaust memorial along the Danube where Jews were shot into the Danube