hungary: budapest and vac

A return to Budapest wasn't originally on my plan for the summer, but when I looked at how to get to where I did plan to go, the cheapest way was with a layover in Budapest. I decided to extend that layover by two days and spend time in a city I've long enjoyed.

My flight left Kyiv at 0715, which was plenty early. The only advantage to departing so early is an early landing time. I didn't lose any of the day to traveling, yay! I used public transport to get from the airport to my accomodation, which isn't exactly fast, but is cheap.

Since I walked into my accomodation at 0930 I wasn't able to check in, but I was able to leave my bag, get sorted, and start walking.

Everytime I come to Budapest I like to return to St Stephens basilica. (Or is it a cathedral? I don't know.) It is one of the churches that continues to amaze me, no matter how many times I walk in. The ceiling is amazing, especially the cupola; I'm always trying to capture the beauty with a camera, but I don't think I've ever truly succeeded.

If you want, you can walk to a room tucked behind the altar and pay for a box to light up. Inside the box is the mummified hand of St Stephen. I find it a bit creepy, but that's just me.

After leaving the church I walked to my next sight, a new one for me in Budapest.

I went to a cave with a name I can't pronounce, and don't even want to try. Szemlohegyibarlang. (There are a bunch of symbols over some of the letters as well.) There is a fee for this one, 1300ft, about $5USD. To see the cave you join a tour, I got 'lucky' when my tour group included a large school group. Kids are loud.

This cave has been developed enough that there is little to no challenge physically during the tour. There is a cement walkway to follow, and the open areas are plenty wide. There are stairs toward the end of the walking path, taking you to the deepest point of the tour; there is lighting throughout the cave, you can always see where you're going. The only possibly discomfort during the tour is the likelihood that you'll be dripped on by water coming from the ceiling.

This cave has some interesting rock formations, the one I noticed most looks like a bunch of cauliflower. These formations are all over the cave.

The cave has a natural air purification system, so you never smell or 'feel' all the people that come through the cave. Sadly, there is some mold growing on some of the formations, the guide told me it had something to do with the lights. He said they try to keep it clean, but obviously they can't get it all.

The cave is a steady, cool temperature, which felt amazing after sweating to get to the cave. I think a few of the schoolkids were cold, they hadn't thought to bring an extra jacket for the tour.

After the tour it felt good to step back out into the sun. Since this walk started out downhill then got flat I wasn't sweating nearly as much as before.

I walked back to my hotel and officially checked in, easy to do. I changed clothes, grabbed a few things for an extra bag, and headed to my next sight.

When I realized I'd be coming back to Budapest I made it a goal to try another of the big thermal baths that are all over the city. This time I chose Rudas baths, which is close to the river. Even though each is different, once you've been to one of these baths you know the general way they work. The difference is mostly in how each facility is set up.

I changed into a bikini and put everything else into a locker. From there I walked around the entire facility, figuring out where everything was and where I wanted to spend time. I found the sundeck and the pool on the roof. I found the saunas and the cold pool. I found the swimming pool, the only place where you have to wear a swim cap to get in the water.

After figuring things out I went back to my locker and grabbed a towel, sunnies, cap, etc... I spent time on the sundeck, because I love being in the sun. Then time in the rooftop pool. Then switching among the various saunas. There are a few drinking fountains around the facility, which I appreciated.

Sauna, drink, sauna, drink, sauna, drink. My favourite was spending about ten minutes in the Finnish sauna (90-100C,) then stepping into the cold pool (12C.)

I was in Rudas baths for over four hours, and walked out feeling amazing. Note to self: bring body lotion after spending so much time in water.

As I walked back to my hotel I stopped for dinner. Nothing exciting, but I needed food. I slept well that night. If I lived in Budapest I'd probably end up spending a good portion of a paycheck on visits to baths each month.

The next morning I intended to get up early, but of course that didn't happen. Oh well. I walked out around 1100, and made my way to the Hungarian State Opera. The day before I'd seen a sign saying that tours were available each day in the afternoon. I signed up for one of them, including a photo fee. I skipped the option for a mini concert, as I've attended opera performances before.

After paying for my ticket, I got back on the street and walked to another thermal bath. This one is one I've been to before, a couple times. Szechenyi baths are quite big, especially the outdoor area. I changed into my bikini again, stowed most of my stuff in my locker, and went out to the pool area.

Since this was a weekend, the place was packed with people; I noticed a few groups that looked like they were having a hens do. For the next few hours I spent time in the pools, and spent time soaking up sun. Life is good.

After leaving the baths I walked back to my room and changed again. I also hung up my malong (kinda like a towel, but made of cloth,) and bikini to dry. Then I walked back to the opera house, just in time to start the tour.

The Hungarian State Opera is pretty fantastic. The building itself was mostly paid for by King ........, when he was king of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Budapest was one of the capitals of the empire, but this opera house is smaller than the one in Vienna. The rules stipulated that everything had to be made with materials found in Ukraine. This was mostly followed, the guide told us there are just four places in the building where the materials used did not come from Hungary.

It's gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous. The royal box is on one of the balconies, right in the middle, so the view of the show is fantastic. The king only came once, for the first ever performance in the building, and didn't even stay for the whole show! How rude! The box is not used for seating during performances now, and the guide told us not to sit in the chair when we were there.

The queen's box is on the end of a balcony, pretty much on the side of the stage. It offers a terrible view. Everyone in the theater can look into the queen's box to see who is there, what they're wearing, etc... When the opera opened, and even to some degree now, going to the opera is a social activity, more than a musical activity. It was all about being seen.

We saw the royal stairway, again used for just one person. How awful would it have been if a regular person had stepped in the same place as a royal? At least, that was the thinking back in the day.

We saw the bar area originally built for the upper class folks who came to the opera. Again, the thinking back then was that it would be awful if normal people mingled with the upper class folks.

I went for a walk, into one of the city center areas. I walked along a pedestrian street, and found a magnet I liked. Since I've been to Budapest previously I decided to skip buying postcards.

I didn't have a proper dinner that night. Instead, I had dessert :)

The next morning I was up early again and actually got moving. I showered and packed up, and left my bag in the same place I'd left it when I arrived in Budapest.

I walked to the train station and caught the next commuter train to a small town called Vac.

Vac is on the eastern bank of the Danube River. It is old, and quiet. The heyday of the city was long ago, but the city center is still very pretty.

The street from the front of the train station to the city center was straight. The city center is a pedestrian zone, and since I arrived at 0820, everything was still really quiet. I wandered around the first platz I came to, enjoying the quiet.

I stepped into a church and found it in the middle of a service, so I didn't go any further in. I found a war memorial for World War I, and saw the outside of several museums.

I followed various streets, one of which brought me to another church in the middle of another service. Again, I didn't go in any further. Across the street from this church was another statue. My photo would've been better if not for the cars parked all around.

Continuing down this street brought me to yet another church. This one is HUGE, with a big platz in front. It has columns in front, I didn't recognize it as a church at first. Since I was there early enough, I was able to set up my camera for a photo without too many others in the frame. Yay.

I stepped inside this church and was excited to find it mostly empty. There was no service, at least not yet. I took advantage of the lack of people to take a photo of the lovely cupola, and the altar in front. The pipe organ in back wasn't too shabby either.

More walking brought me to a building labeled collegium, but it looked to be in awful shape. I sincerely hope there are no classes taking place in there. There was a statue of a guy on a horse in front of the building, which means it is an official city. (I have a long running joke with a friend that a city isn't official if there is no statue of a guy with/on a horse.)

I continued down the street and found another church. This one is on the land that used to be a castle. The sign in front mentioned the Gothic wooden altar, which was lovely. As seemed to be my luck for the day, there was another service taking place, so I didn't go in further than the entry door.

I walked around the back of the church, and found the ruins of the castle. Nothing exciting, as the ruins haven't been fully excavated, and there is a fence preventing visitor access to the area. I wonder if the gate is ever opened?

I circled around, getting back to the street I'd been walking earlier. I walked back to the city center platz and continued along the street, eventually getting to another sight in the city. This was the Independence Arch, like the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. This one was smaller, but impressive considering the size of the town. There was so little traffic that I was able to take a time delayed photo with my camera. Yay.

I wanted to see one more sight, but after starting to make my way there I realized I wasn't going to have enough time. Darnit. I wanted to see an old bridge, with carved statues on the sides, but it was too far away. Next time.

When I realized I wasn't going to have enough time, I turned around and walked back to the city center. I bought slices of pizza so I'd have food for later. From there I walked to the train station and bought my ticket for the next train back to Budapest.

An hour later I was back in the big city. I went back to my hotel, changed clothes and grabbed my bag, and walked back to the train/metro station. I rode the metro and took a bus to the airport, where everything went smoothly. I boarded my flight to my next destination, the flight was easy and on time.