beauty in budapest

after another busy week, i left copenhagen again a week and a half ago and made my way to budapest! there, i met up with tj and colin, two grinnellians who are also on the dis program in copenhagen, at our hostel and soon after met up with aaltan, abby, and sydney, three more grinnellians who are studying in budapest for the semester. 

tj, colin and i overlooking buda and pest

view from the top of st. stephen's basilica,
hungary's largest church building

never mind the fact that it was midnight by the time we all met up, we waited no time to hit the town and experience budapest's never-ending nightlife from the start.

dohany street synagogue complex consists of the great synagogue, the heroes' temple, the graveyard, the holocaust museum and the jewish museum.

the next morning, we met up with abby after a hearty hungarian lunch consisting of goulash and paprikash and spent the entire day walking around the city.

the great market hall

the liberty bridge that connects buda and pest
across the danube river

it was such a nice change of scenery, and a great form of exercise to be walking up the countless hills around the city. i would definitely call budapest the city of panoramic views.

the gellért baths, part of the famous hotel gellért in buda

view from gellert hill overlooking the danube
and was named after st. gerard who was thrown
to death from this hill

view of parliament and margaret island from castle hill

buda castle

matthias church, at the heart of buda's
castle district

fisherman's bastion, a terrace on the castle hill. its seven towers represent the seven magyar tribes that settled in the carpathian basin in 896.

another view of parliament and pest from fisherman's bastion

the next day, colin, tj and i decided to do some exploring on our own and experience the must-do hungarian baths. we began by walking down the beautiful andrássy avenue, lined with spectacular mansions and townhouses featuring beautiful facades and interiors. the avenue led us to heroes' square, one of the major squares of budapest.

another section of vajdahunyad castle
in a different architectural style

the millenium memorial in the
center of heroes' square

vajdahunyad castle in
castle park

after taking a tour around the beautiful vajdahunyad castle in castle park, built between 1896 and 1908, which celebrated the millenium exhibition celebrating the 1000 years of hungary since the hungarian conquest of the carpathian basin in 895, we found exactly what we had been looking for. the szechenyi thermal baths. we slipped into our swimsuits, quickly swam past the indoor sulfur swimming pools and made our way to the heated outdoor pools. from there, we sat, waded, popped into the nearby sauna, tanned a little (!), and relaxed HARD. 

the széchenyi medicinal baths.

inside the thermal baths

feeling rejuvenated, we met up with some more friends later that night for dinner and drinks at szimpla kert (simple garden), the oldest ruin pub in budapest, and easily everyone's favorite bar. it was a great way to spend a last night with friends, new and old, in the unforgettable city.

colin and tj left around noon the next day for vienna. i was to soon follow them there, but before my train departed i enjoyed a lovely picnic-lunch on the grass outside one of budapest's train stations. and with sunny skies, i said a warm goodbye to budapest and a warm hello to vienna!

colin, gilbert, abby, ian, tj and i at szimpla kert