The Adventures of Julie

Saturday, July 19, 2008

More adventures from the road...Budapest to be exact

We arrived late at night, into what could otimistically be called the less touristy side of town. As we walked past graffitti, drunks, a couple of back packers sleeping on the platform, and boarded up buildings, a man in a black trench coat, with a black goatee, and smoking a ciagrette approached us. "Hey", he said in exactly the same tone that one would offer weed, complete with a raspy voice, "need a hostel." We politely declined.

In truth we were couchsurfing, again. this time staying with a women our age, named Eszter, in her tiny studio apartment, in the heart of Budapest. With the generousity and kindness we had grown used to couchsurfing, she insisted we take the bed, while she slept on the floor. She made us a delicious traditional Hungarian dish for dinner, informed us all about the city, (she used to be a tour guide in the city and has a real love for Budapest) took us on a bike tour, and up on the hill overlooking the city, for an amazing night view of the city.

Budapest is yet another beautiful European City, complete with the requisite castle, dozen or so imposing cathedrals, a town squre, and a river. We explored the city, finding the highlights to be St. Stephens Cathedral, where, I kid you not, you can view St. Stephens holy hand. There are pictures of the hand, and a story about its journey through history, and of course the hand itself, which for an extra 100 florints they will even light up for you. We thought this was even better then the church with the skull of a local dead martyr hung suspended over the sanctuary, or the Infant Baby Jesus church where they worshipped a doll dressed up in fancy clothes.

Another highlight was the thermal baths, a huge complex of pools, indoor and outdoor, small and big of different temperatures, where one could soak themselves for hours. The building was a marvel of architecture, with marble statues, soaring ceilings, and murals. And unlike Korea, you do wear clothes and get to merge with the opposite sex. We also enjoyed biking through the city and just taking it all in. The city is beautiful.

(For more information on couchsuring, go to www.couchsurfing.com. The idea is simple, anyone can join and either offer up their couch for a traveller to stay, or a traveller can search for a couch in the area they are visiting. It is totally free and it works like ebay in that you leave references, so it is self regulating. We have had a great experience staying with different people as we travel. We have couchsurfed in Moscow, Krakow, Warsaw, Brno, Budapest, and Eger.)

Pictures: Click on the blank picture to be taken to a picture of the baths we visited. The picture of the building is a picture of the outside.

by jewel30 at 10:18 AM |