Budapest

Last weekend was another, um, fieldtrip. I spent three days in Budapest trying to practice my Spanish (with my compañeros Maria (Spain), Mijail (Ecuador), Alejandro (Colombia), Jairo (Colombia), Christian (Bolivia), Elena (Spain), Carlos (Ecuador), and Freddy (Ecuador)). I had been to Budapest four years prior, with Mom and Ruth, and it has changed a lot since then. Or maybe I have changed since then.

We arrived Thursday night, after Freddy's graduation and a quick cocktail. Our flight was delayed due to thunderstorms in Budapest, which abated quickly, but we still saw the debris the next day. Friday was a beautiful day. We took our time as we crossed the bridge from Pest to Buda. Suddenly we were at the foot of Castle Hill, where Elena and I separated from the group to attempt to climb the hill, as opposed to taking the funicular (the others never made it too the funicular and climbed the hill as well, thought via a different route). So Elena was my date for the afternoon. We had some lemonade on the terrace, visited the church, peaked into courtyards, and had a fantastic lunch. That was one of the things that I do not remember about my last trip to Budapest, the food. I know I ate, I mean, even I have to eat. But during this trip I was acquainted with the goulash and chicken paprika that I probably would not have dared to try before. All of it was excellent. And the iced coffee, which actually was coffee with ice cream, was divine.

During lunch we ran into the others, but they still had more of the castle area to see, so we decided to meet at the Gellert Baths later that afternoon. These baths are apparently the most famous in Budapest, adjacent to a luxury hotel. When I was in Budapest last time, the baths were single sex, and sans clothing. This time, they were not. It is fortunate that Elena had recommended that I bring my swimsuit there, just in case. Apparently, the proper way to appreciate the baths are to first get a massage, then relax in the pools, so we each booked half hour appointments. We had time to first relax in the pools, one at 34C, the other at 38C, then head to the steam room (which smelled like chamomile), and jump in the 8C plunge pool. It was very invigorating. Our massages were wonderful and by the end of our three hour experience at the spa we could barely drag our feet home.

Unfortunately it took us about an hour and a half to take the tram the 3km home. This was due to some misunderstandings. While on the platform we tried to figure out how to buy tickets. There was one machine, but it only took coins. So we figured we would ask the driver of the next tram. When it arrived, as I was walking to the front of the tram to ask the driver, the rest of the group got on, and as the doors closed I was left on the platform. Alone. So I went grocery and asked about the tickets. The women gave me change and told me to buy it on the platform. OK, that was easy, get the ticket, catch the tram. I sent an SMS to the rest to tell them that I was fine and would meet them back at the hostel, but at the next stop I saw them on the platform, and they saw me so they got on. None of them had tickets. No one had change. So we got off at the next stop. There was a metro near by with a ticket machine, so we went over there trying to find enough change, almost begging. After we had 5 of the 7 tickets the machine would no longer accept our coins. So we asked another train conductor what to do. He pointed us to the ticket window that is 5 meters away where one can buy tickets with bills. We had seen the building, but thought it was closed since there were no lights on and barely a tiny slit of an opening where the ticket man was. Finally we had enough tickets, so we went back to the tram stop and waited for the next tram and eventually make it back to our hostel. We showered and dressed for dinner, hit a trendy restaurant for some decent food, then hung out at the bar telling jokes in Spanish while we waited for Carlitos (he arrived a day late due to a field trip).

On Saturday morning we were once again at the doorstep of the Gellert Baths, via another route from Pest, to climb the hills of Buda to the reach the citadel. The day was once again hot and I enjoyed the hike. But there is only so much time that I can enjoy a view, and I get very impatient in large groups. I always feel as if we are going too slow and that I spend more time waiting than I do actually exploring. I know I need to relax a bit more, but I'm not very good at it. So Carlitos and I left the group to returned back to the castle (there was more that I had not seen the day before, and he had not visited it at all, the rest wanted to go to the national museum, which I was not in the
mood for at that time). We had a really nice time strolling the palace grounds, having a beer, and finding our lunch at a street festival on the Chain Bridge, which they had closed to vehicular traffic for the afternoon. It was about then when my back started to itch a bit and I noticed my sunburn. From the photos I cannot imagine why I did not notice it before, but it was quite bad. I guess that I had forgot to put suncream on my back, though I had put some on my chest.

Carlitos and I headed to the museum to meet the others, for the museum was supposed to close at 6PM. But when we arrived it was bustling. We had seen the signs around town beforehand, but only then did we realize that it was a city wide museum night. Many museums in the city were open until 2AM with special programs. I was in heaven, it was ideal, I could have not picked a more perfect plan for the evening if I had tried. We entered the museum and met our friends and saw a nice exhibit on Ghengis Khan and his empire. It was about 10PM by the time we left and half of us dragged ourselves to dinner while the rest showered at the hostel. By the time it was out turn to shower we were so tired that we stayed in on Saturday night (well we did only finish dinner at 12:30AM).

We decided to relax on Sunday. Well, I did (try). Carlitos had not been to the baths with us before, so he joined Elena and I on a walk to the Szechenyi Baths in the park. The walk to the park was on a beautiful tree and mansion lined street. The park itself was OK. But the baths were excellent. It took us almost an hour to get in, for there was a bit of confusion as to which entrance to use, which ticket to buy, where to book the massage, etc. But it was worth it when we finally made it inside. This complex had some outdoor pools as well, plus about 12-15 thermal baths, a steam room, and a sauna with an ice machine. It felt so good to rub my sunburn with a snowball while sweating in the sauna. We took massages again, of course, but the coolest thing about these baths were the current pools. I had never seen anything like it before, they were small circular or oval shaped pools with jets at an angle along the wall. It produced a current that whisked you along the wall, all you had to do was keep your head above water. I was out of breathe from laughing the whole time, it was so much fun.

We finished our trip to Budapest with some night photos and a beer. We got a three hour nap before catching taxis to the airport for our early AM flight. I was completely exhausted by the time I arrived back at IHE, but only 20 minutes late for class.