You’d think I’d already seen most of Budapest by this point. But, oh, there was so much more.
At the ruin bars the night before, Ngoc and I made plans with some other Californians (Ngoc is a Californian as well) to go to Budapest’s famous baths in the afternoon. But first, we had our own adventure for the morning. We started out with putting food in our belly. I took Ngoc to my little Doner Kebab spot I found my first day in Budapest. My cashier friend was there and glad to see that I’d come back (he was my first friend in Budapest). Our goal that morning was to make our way to Margaret Island, which sat in the Danube between the Buda and Pest sides.
Walking along the Danube river, on our way to the island, we stumbled upon these copper-colored shoes decorating the pavement edge. We stopped and curiously studied them. There were dainty women’s heels, men’s oxford loafers, little children’s boots – all different sizes and styles. They looked so real, but were rusted and worn. I couldn’t tell if the shoes were metal statues or actual shoes that were somehow preserved and made to look rustic. Ngoc and I had no idea what they symbolized until we found a metal plate reading, “To the memory of the victims shot into the Danube by arrow cross militiamen in 1944-5.” Researching it later, I discovered that “Shoes on the Danube Bank” was created by the sculptor Gyular Pauer in honor of the Jews who were killed in World War II. Arrow cross militiamen had ordered Jews to take off their shoes and shot them into the Danube so that the river could carry their dead bodies away. The monument represented the shoes that were left behind. It was amazing finding this piece of history along our way. (And I found out the very realistic shoes were made of iron.)
Further along the Danube, we found ourselves right in front of the Parliament. The Parliament building was even more magnificent up close and personal. There were so many intricate designs, such as little gargoyles on white spires and wood-shuttered windows. Somehow this and its red dome all came together in perfect harmony. I decided that the Parliament was the most beautiful building I’d ever seen.
To get to Margaret Island, you cross over one of the bridges between Buda and Pest that has a halfway point leading onto the Island. As Ngoc and I turned into the entrance of the island, our California friends spotted us from the tram stopped at the bridge and jumped off in pursuit of us. So, without phones or internet, we were able to meet up with our friends by accident. How convenient! Together, the four of us explored the park of Margaret Island. The island was home to several water fountains, green fields of residents playing frisbee, and bikers enjoying the beautiful cloudless day. It was the perfect summer hangout.
It was time to check out one of Budapest’s infamous baths. Budapest isn’t called “the City of Baths” for nothing. It is the only capital city in the world that is home to thermal springs that carry healing water. It was hard to image natural healing water in such an urbanized place so I was curious what these baths were all about. Our California crew decided to visit the Széchenyi Bath on Pest side. The walk to the bath was much longer than the map made us believe (most hostel maps aren’t drawn to scale) but the walk was actually quite scenic. We passed large, ornate buildings that housed apartments and followed a pretty, tree-lined walkway that ran through the middle of the road. The trees acted as a nice shade in the summer heat, but we were still boiling like eggs on asphalt. The long street suddenly opened up into Heroes’ square, which was decorated with towering columns and statues of horse-drawn carriages. Getting to the baths, we got a little lost, but after some wandering around we found what we were looking for.
The baths kind of surprised me. Since the waters came from natural thermal water, I expected the bath to look more naturalistic with rocks and stones holding pools of water. Instead we came across what looked like an elegant hotel pool. The bath was highly populated with people, many of them being old men in little speedo bathing suits. The pool consisted of natural thermal water, therefore, it wasn’t chlorinated like I was accustomed to in the U.S. Regardless, I enjoyed this Hungarian pastime. The water was indeed hot so we didn’t stay long, already overheated from the outside air. Our bellies were also aching for food. Outside the bath, we found a little local food hut where they were selling lángos, a Hungarian specialty. Lángos is like a pizza bread topped with sour cream and cheese. Ngoc and I also ordered some chili sauce on top. It was good, but very filling; I couldn’t even finish it all. But I was glad to have given it a try. I’ve found that the Hungarians have a liking for sour cream and cheese.
Too lazy to walk all the way back to our hostel, we decided to take the metro. While Catrina and her brother already possessed tickets, Ngoc and I had a hard time figuring out how to purchase a ticket from the machines in the station. So when our metro showed up, we decided to just hop on without tickets. Bad idea. While some European cities are lenient with their ticket system (like in Prague, where I never paid for one ticket), Budapest actually has patrol on their metros who check for tickets. And it can be a huge fine. Naturally, a patrol lady walked right up to Ngoc and I. Ngoc and I tried to be casual, pretending to look for our tickets in our bag. When we got to our stop, we hopped off, thinking we were off the hook. But the patrol lady followed us off. We were screwed. I kept digging through my bag, starting to panic. Luckily Catrina saved the day. She crouched behind Ngoc and I and stuffed her and her brother’s tickets under our arms, which we casually showed the patrol lady as if we had them all along. Take that patrol lady! So lesson of the day: DON’T go on the metro without a ticket.
Tonight’s hostel event was the big one: Sparty. The Sparty event was a huge party at the very bath we visited during the day, except for this time there were colored lazer beam lights, music, and drunk partygoers. Our hostel walked as a group to Széchenyi Bath, this time taking a different route. On this particular route, we walked along the edge of Vajdahunyad Castle. This beautiful castle is the most legitimate looking castle I’ve seen yet, moat and all, but it is actually not a historical castle. It was built in 1896 for the 1000th birthday of the Hungarian state. Regardless, it blends Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque and Renaissance styles of architecture, resulting in a beautiful structure that is worth seeing.
My night at Sparty was my wildest night yet. Ngoc and I hopped in the ‘whirlpool,’ which was a circular portion of the pool blocked off by rounded concrete where a natural current was produced from people inside it swimming in circles. Naturally, within the chaos, I lost Ngoc – along with our other Australian friends – in the swirling water. My last image was of poor little Ngoc getting passed around the arms of drunk European men in the whirlpool. We did in fact find each other by the end of the night.
After swimming around water that had been highly populated by people both day and night, I took a shower at the hostel. I recommend it.
