Beautiful Budapest!

Katie, Naomi (a friend and fellow volunteer we met in Romania), and I spent the past three days walking around beautiful Budapest. This city has an interesting history and one can see the influences of the past Turkish, Nazi, and Communist governments.


Visiting this city was spectacular. The architecture was amazing especially considering the city was in ruins after every major great war. We experienced a special treat one night when we took a cruise along the Danube River and saw all the major buildings, Parliament, Old Palace, Chain Bridge, St. Stephens Basilica, and Central Market, beautifully lit up. My experience with flood management could have been called into use by the local authorities, as the Danube River began to flood shortly after we arrived. At one point we were beginning to wonder if the river cruise was a safe option.


One remnant from the Turkish days was the old Turkish style baths. Once we decided to treat ourselves to a day of relaxation, it was a matter of deciding which one. Two jumped out as being especially nice, the baths at the Gellert Hotel and the City Park baths. We decided on the City Park baths partly because they were cheaper and held the honor of being the largest in Europe. This huge complex had between 5-10 pools that varied in size and temperature. In one of the pools there was a circular partition that had a current to sweep swimmers around the circle. In total the three of us must have spent at least an hour on this water merry-go-round. The fountains that surrounded the pools made it feel like we were swimming in the ancient baths of Babylon.

We had such a wonderful time in the city, Katie is considering making it her permanent home and changing her citizenship. I think she liked the delicious food and fashion of the city.