Beautiful Buda

Day 2: Budapest

I met Lisa at the airport in Budapest.  Her flight arrived about an hour after mine, so I had time to collect my luggage and go through customs.  While waiting, I struck up a conversation with a girl who seemed about my age and knew English.  She works for an exchange program with a nearby university, and was waiting for a student to arrive.  It quickly became apparent that nearly all the Hungarians in Budapest spoke really great English.

Lisa arrived and we took a cab to our hotel.  We stayed on Vaci Utca, which was a great location.  It’s a pedestrian shopping street in the heart of the city.  We went to an Italian restaurant beside our hotel for a late dinner of pizza and beer, and had a great time catching up.  We’ve never really had time to hang out just the two of us, and it was such a gift to spend a few days together in such an amazing city.

Our first day in Budapest was very busy.  We probably fit in 3 days worth of activities.  We began with a hop-on hop-off bus tour after the continental breakfast at the hotel.  Unfortunately we got a little lost looking for the bus to begin the tour, and this proved to be a pattern throughout the trip.  Eventually we found the bus and began our tour.

The first stop where we got off was at the House of Terror.  The House of Terror is a museum comparing the Nazi occupation of Budapest to the Soviet occupation.  I had read that it was very good and was hoping to see it.  Unfortunately, the museum was closed.  We decided to walk down to the next stop on the tour, Hero’s Square.  On the way we stopped by a coffee bar and got lemonade.  It was delicious!  The barista made it from carbonated water, fresh lemons, fresh oranges, simple syrup, and ice. 

At Hero’s Square we enjoyed the monument and walked around the perimeter to look at the beautiful buildings.  There are some famous thermal baths there with a gorgeous view.  Then we caught the bus and continued on the route.

The next stop was in the castle district.  We went to see the famous church of St. Matthew.  It’s really awesome because it has a beautiful roof made of all kinds of different tiles.  The inside was neat too, with some exhibits about the history of the church.  A lot of it was covered because they are doing restoration work on the building.  Beside the church was the Fisherman’s Bastion.  It is basically a series of bridges and overlooks of the beautiful city below.  We enjoyed that view, then continued on to the Hospital in the Rock.

The Hospital in the Rock was awesome!  It is hidden in a cave near the castle district.  During World War II, the Hungarians built a hospital underground into the cave.  It was meant for civilians, but eventually the German army took it over and soldiers were treated there as well.  It was equipped with high-tech (for the time) medical equipment and machinery.  During the Cold War, they expanded onto the hospital to create a secret medical facility complete with a nuclear bunker.  In 2007, they turned it into a museum.  It is one of the most interesting things I have ever seen.  They have the rooms set up as they were, complete with was figures to represent doctors and patients.  They even have authentic medical equipment such as x-rays, sterilizing machines, and surgical tools from the 40s through the 60s.  There are 2 pressure chambers designed to force all the air out of the hospital in case of a nuclear or biochemical attack, several hidden escape ways, and an air ventilation system.  The pipes for the air conditioning and fuel tanks were disguised above ground as sprinklers and rain pipes. 

The Cold War portion of the exhibit included “nuclear attack survival kits” complete with an after solution and a shot that slowed the spread of nuclear radiation in the nervous system.  Unfortunately, the kits didn’t contain the anecdote to the shot.  We also got to see tons of Hungarian issued gas masks and radioactive protective suits, the nuclear bunker, and air raid sirens.  It was such a cool opportunity!

We left the Hospital in the Rock and went to the Gellert baths.  These are famous baths from the Hungarian thermal springs in Budapest.  The springs were actually first found and used by Celtic tribes, then the Romans, then Attila the Hun, and it has continued even into the present.  We had a great time at the baths.  It was unusually hot (90s to 100s) and it felt great to go swimming and relax.  We stayed for a few hours enjoying the cooler water.

We left the baths and went to a café for a beer.  After the beer we headed to the Danube for a night cruise.  The cruise was amazing!  (And, it was included with our hop-on hop-off ticket!)  We took the 9 p.m. cruise.  Everything in Budapest is lit up at night, and it is really a beautiful city with the reflections off the water.  The moon was also perfect – orange and hanging low.  The cruise included a really good informational audio recording that pointed out the different brightly lit sites and explained their history.

The cruise lasted one hour.  We headed back to the hotel, showered, and then went to dinner (yes at this point it was 11 p.m.)  Of course, a lot of restaurants were no longer serving food, but we found a nice one on the square near our hotel and I ordered goulash soup, the typical Hungarian meal.  Around 1 a.m. we fell into bed, exhausted, but happy.