Unexpected Delight

Day 3: Budapest

I woke up around 10:30 a.m., shocked that we had slept so late!  We were both feeling pretty tired from the long day before, but nonetheless we headed to Margaret Island.  Margaret Island is an island in the Danube between the Buda and Pest sections of the city.  No cars are allowed on the island, and it is basically a giant park filled with sports fields, a natural area including a waterfall, and walking paths.  We took our time walking around the island and enjoying the beauty around us.

Then we decided to head to the Parliament building.  We took the metro to the building, but sadly they had sold out of tickets for tours that day.  Instead, we headed over to Freedom Square.  Freedom Square features a monument celebrating the Soviet victory over the Nazis.  It is controversial in Budapest today, because many Hungarians remember the Soviet occupation with a lot of bitterness.  The country has only been independent since 1989.

There was a nice café at the square where we enjoyed a leisurely lunch.  I got a Hungarian sampler plate that included various salamis, a hot pepper, onions, cucumbers, bread, and a spread made from feta cheese and Hungarian spices. 

After lunch we decided to check out some other famous baths across the city, so we took the metro over to check them out.  These baths were incredible!  They had at least 7 different pools, all different temperatures.  A really beautiful old building, complete with sculptures of various sea monsters, surrounded the outdoor pools.  Each pool had fountains, jets, and bubblers.  One included a lazy river, and another had a floating chessboard.

We left the baths, changed and showered at the hotel, and dressed up for a nice dinner.  Our plan was to check out the Citadel in Buda.  It is on a hill above the city, and we hoped we could find a place to eat overlooking the sunset on Pest and the Danube.  When we got to the Citadel, we first checked out the Church in the Cave.  It is literally a Catholic church carved out of a cave in the side of a mountain.  It was closed, but a friendly priest let us in anyway to look around.  Wow!  It was so amazing and peaceful.  We hadn’t expected to see it, and we were so glad we got to have a look.  It was different than the Hospital in the Rock, because in the hospital it didn't look like a cave.  All the walls were covered with concrete or brick.  In the church they had left the walls natural, so it seemed simple, and it was very beautiful.

After stopping by the church we began to hike to the top of the hill, where there is a large cross and looked to be a beautiful view.  The hike was a lot longer than we expected.  We were all dressed up for dinner, and poor Lisa was wearing heels.  We decided, though, that the view would be great, so we kept climbing.  After a little while, we realized that we seemed to have missed the cross and were approaching the Liberty statue on the other side of Buda.  Somehow the paths are connected, and there weren’t signs to direct us.  It was a super long climb, but the view at the top was spectacular.  The liberty statue is so giant, and in the darkness she glowed as a symbol of freedom to everyone in the city below.  The view of the city was also gorgeous, with everything lit up like the night before, and the moon was just as beautiful.  We spent some time gazing and the Liberty Statue and the city below.

Then we walked around the opposite way from where we came.  We found the best restaurant!  We were able to sit outside, just overlooking the glowing city below.  It was an incredible view.  I had chicken paprika, another traditional Hungarin meal, and a Hungarian Riesling.  Delicious food, a marvelous view, and wonderful conversation made for a magical evening.  The view was literally breathtaking.  The fact that we ended up there completely by accident made it even better.

We took a taxi back to the hotel, and again fell into bed, ready to sleep until our flight the next morning to Ellmendingen, Germany.