Ah...Budapest. I love this city. It is unique. I won't say fresh because it has even worse pollution than Prague. It is different. I think I fell in love with it because I went for two runs while there. I crossed the Danube and ran past Parliament, past castles and onto Margaret Island where I ran through ruins and past peacocks. Absolutely delightful. And then on my return to the hostel, my lungs were quite jealous of the bicyclists wearing N95 masks. Budapest: a delightful place to visit, but maybe not to live. Hungary is certainly struggling as a nation. Deeply in debt, its history in the last century is one of being consistently on the losing side. It has a high unemployment rate and the average Hungarian wages are about 500€ a month. Discouragement is present but as in most cases, the younger generation is more optimistic. But the people are a bit dour. An American living in Prague said, "Americans tend to be more cheery and happy. I would say the Czech tend to lean towards the more annoyed." Hungarians tend to be a bit more dour. Perhaps it is their diet. It gives new meaning to the Soviet Bloc. It's reflected even in the toilet design. There is a shelf with a small hole at the anterior aspect of the bowl. Who builds a shelf in a toilet? It is a terrible design. Is it just to admire their handiwork?
Budapest is actually two cities. Buda and Pest were unified after the construction of the Chain Bridge across the Danube. It has beautiful architecture. The Castle and Matthias Church and Fisherman's Bastion are in Buda. Buda has many hot water springs and hills whereas Pest is flat. Pest is home to the Parliament, St. Istavan's Basilica, Heroes Square and the more urban, metropolitan aspect of the city. We walked across the bridges at night and it was a beautiful site. The city really knows how to illuminate its landmarks. One of the challenging parts of traveling to former Soviet Block countries is that they aren't able to meet the European Union's standards to use the Euro so you are introduced to new currencies. The Hungarian Forint (HUF) is rather interesting. 1 USD equals about 200 HUF. It is a strange sensation to get a 20,000 bill from the ATM.
We went to the House of Terror. It is located in the former Arrow Cross headquarters which was later used by the communist party's secret service. It is one of the most interesting, artistic and unique exhibits commemorating a dark time in the world's history. We walked in to see footage of the Nazis and Communists marching down Andrassy Utica set to heavy metal music. First hand accounts of atrocities were chilling. It was very well done. Perhaps a few more things could have been translated to English but I was thankful for the parts that were. It is a very heavy place though. I wanted to go because you can tell a great deal about a country by how it commemorates its history, both the good and the bad.
Perhaps one of the best things about Budapest is the baths. Our City Spy map gave the best description of the baths.
"In actual fact the best thing that ever happened to this city was getting invaded by the Turks. I wish no disrespect to any people who suffered this bloody time, but it could have been worse. It could have been the bloody Brits that invaded and I can say with absolute certainty that they wouldn't have left behind them those wonderful baths... If you don't spend a good amount of time up to your tits in warm, pungent water then you are foolishly not enjoying one of Budapest's best amenities. Thermal baths are among humanities finest luxuries."
I couldn't agree more. I was actually dreading going to the baths because that meant bathing suits. I didn't pack a bathing suit so I was going to have to rent one. And I really hate bathing suits. I like being covered...a lot. I took a deep breath and pushed past my body image fears and insecurities and went to the baths. I am so incredibly thankful that I didn't allow my fears get the better of me. I would have missed a wonderful experience. But that is often the case with our silly insecurities, isn't it? The thermal baths are truly glorious...wonderful...transcendent. Are these words too much? I also went to the sauna, which was a first for me. However, I must say that if one must loose their sauna virginity, the Turkish baths in Budapest is a pretty great place to do so.
We went to the opera. We could either pay to see the inside of the opera house or a pay a bit more and see an opera in addition to the magnificent and detailed interior. We saw Norma by Bellini so it was in Italian. We met at intermission and asked, "So what do you think it's about?" I had to rewrite my plot several times as scenes revealed different aspects of the characters' relationships. But its about druids, Romans, secret marriages, betrayed lovers, attempted child assassination, and fiery deaths. All set to beautiful music. Although it would have been nice to know what was going on, the power and beauty of the music was transcultural. That is the real reason why English speaking Americans can watch an Italian opera in Hungary. As the music swelled, so did my emotions. Music is a powerful form of expression and can speak to a deeper level much better than words can.
The following day (after a delicious community breakfast with Casey and Andrew in our otherwise creaky and disappointing hostel) Melissa and I hiked up to the Citadella to check out the Statue of Freedom as well as mock the statue and other tourists. We made our way down to the Gillert monument marking the spot where St. Gillert was stuffed into a barrel with stakes and pushed down the hill into the Danube. The monument did not reflect his interesting death. Then over to the castle again. We spent a long time wandering about trying to get to the other side of the castle without having to a) hike back down the hill just to hike up again b) pay to walk through a festival or c) pay 100 HUF to ride an elevator. All of this to take picture of Mathias Church and the Fisherman's Bastion and more importantly, further cement our good fortune in the love department by climbing and touching a statue. Melissa later reflected, "I can't believe how far we walked, all to give the horse's testicles a little tickle."
Things I Didn't Expect When I Woke Up
Budapest Edition
Watch an Italian Opera with Hungarian Subtitles
Enjoy buying a sausage
Go to a giant market to buy produce for dinner
Run through ruins
Feel like Rocky running past Parliament
Plunge into 18 degrees Celsius water after emerging from a 50 degree Celsius sauna
Eat a pastry and drink a latte in the famed Gerbeaud's where Princess Di, Brad Pitt, Madonna and Antonio Banderos have dined as well.
Scale a statue to touch the magical horse testicles in hopes of good luck in love
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