Budapest--2nd Time

Wow--ok so this is really the marathon trip report...(sigh) this will be my final posting....except I don't have some of Shiloh's pics b/c of technical difficulties. So if and when I am able to get a few of them, I will add a couple pics....but I've drug this on long enough and these postings take forever!! So this is it!!

But before I launch into Budapest, round 2, I have to share this one last pic of Krakow. Caro took this one--I just love it! It's taken from inside the Cloth Hall--with St. Mary's in the background. Possibly my favorite thing about Europe is just walking around and seeing amazing things like this all the time.

So anyway, Saturday morning we arrived back in Budapest around 9am--which was a nice normal hour for once. I took a pic of our train as we were walking away b/c it was a sad goodbye (yeah right). Ours is the one on the left....

I did take a self-portrait of the 4 of us in this same spot but quite literally it was the worst picture I've ever seen of myself so of course I am too vain to put it up here. Plus--it's my blog and I can do what I want! :) For this final day all together, I managed to take a whopping 3 pictures (4 if you count the previously mentioned fiasco). So you can see why I wanted a few from Shiloh. So Caro sent me a few....THANKS AGAIN CARO!

We checked back into our hotel and wandered down to the market--the one I had been to the week before but no one else got to see it b/c of planes. Sadly, this pic is blurry but you can get the general idea....

I had the most delish fry bread w/Hungarian sauce! yummm! And we picked up a few souvenirs, etc. This place is so fun--totally bustling w/activity!

Next we headed across the river and went to the Cave Church....

This church was quite literally built in a cave. It was really amazing!!! Here's one on the inside....

Then that night we wandered around, wishing the Christmas market was already open (like the web said it would be), went to a delish Italian restaurant w/amazing electric guitar entertainment (words cannot properly describe), and ended up in McCafe for delish hot chocolate. As you can see, we had a great time just visiting and recapping the trip, etc.

The next morning, Christy & Caro headed home. Shiloh and I slept in, and then after much persuasion, I agreed to go to the baths. I figured we'd seen everything there was to see in Budapest so it was our only option. So....we headed out on the metro (oldest one on the continent).....

....and obviously took a few photos on the way b/c this metro was so much different from all the rest we'd ever been on. :) haha

And then we arrived....here's a view of the Szechenyi Baths from the payment window. We just sat there staring at the grandeur of it all!!! All ages, shapes and sizes crammed into speedos and bikinis. SO MUCH FUN!!!!



I must also make mention that there don't seem to be a lot of razors available in Hungary. :) Of course we didn't have swimming gear so after a little persuasion, we were able to get "appropriate" suits. And our "towels" were more like table cloths.

But it was truly an amazing experience! The baths are all hot springs and are various temperatures. Some have jets, others waterfalls, and some have chess tables right in the water. Mind you, it was winter. But how great to sit in these amazing baths, with such beautiful buildings all around us. :) WE LOVED IT!!!! It was truly the best thing about Budapest!

So afterwards, we wandered back towards the city center and ran into a mini Transylvanian castle--really it was built as a replica. NICE!!! That happens to me a lot--you know just wandering through woods and run into huge, old and amazing things.

And then we walked back to town, through Hero's square or monument (??). It was really amazing!!! I loved these statues in the middle--Hungarians ready to take on the world!!
And that's really it for the pictures I have. Other highlights include going to the Terror museum which was inside the former home of the Black Arrow (i think -- or something like that) party--which was the Hungarian Nazi party, and then later the Hungarian Communist home. Not a lot of good things went on in this building. We missed a lot of what it was all about b/c of the language barrier--but the lighting and sounds and music and feelings were so incredible that we didn't feel like we really needed English to be able to understand everything. It was really interesting!

Since Christy and Caro left, we decided to rebel and go to all American restaurants! haha Shiloh had been in Europe for almost a month so she was ready for some mozerella sticks! :) So we went to TGIFridays for dinner! And then back to the hotel to pack.....

Shiloh left early to go back to Frankfurt for a couple days, but I didn't leave until Monday afternoon--so Monday morning greeted me w/a major rainstorm--so amazing! But then shortly after, the sun came out and so I snapped this little pic--the amazing view of the Danube from our room. So unbelievable!

My flight home was fairly uneventful....I got really sick though. That wasn't too fun. And JFK was a complete nightmare! By the time I got to SLC I couldn't wait to get off the plane....so I rushed and LEFT MY TRIP JOURNAL BEHIND!!! I'm so sad!! I was sooo good about writing in it. :( But in the end, at least I have my blog!

It was truly the trip of a lifetime!