Budapest, the capitol and largest city in Hungary, is filled with charming streets, ancient old everything, and a rich turbulent history. I was enamored at first glimpse, not just with it's beauty but also it's perseverance. It's considered one of the most beautiful cities and also one of the largest in the European Union. Budapest is split into the Buda and Pest sides seperated by the Danube River and geographically very different from each other. We stayed on the Pest side in the heart of the Belvaros or inner city. With this being the only place that my partner, Pit, had not been to we wanted to see sights but also wanted to just take in the city and get a feel for it's essence.
St. Stephen's Basilica was one of those sights. It was not only grandiose but it housed the mummified hand of St. Stephen himself. He was crowned king by the pope in 1000 for being the first Magyar to accept Christianity. It was built between the mid 1800s to early 1900s but underwent major renovations in the 1980s after WWII seriously damaged it. Churches are almost always free to visit and the bells, on the hour every hour, are a welcomed sound throughout the city. I love church bells and this one was of significance because it was a gift from some private German citizens after the original one was taken by the Nazis and never recovered. We were lucky enough to even see an organ concert there; pretty special because they don't happen that frequent. There is something to be said about the accoustics in a place that big, it gave me chills. The organ was accompianed by a flute and an opera singer for some of the songs, which was an added treat since I truly appreciate the opera.
The hills of Buda have been there forever but the surrounding castles got there start in the 13th century, thats right a long long time ago. The land known as Buda has had many inhabitants and lots of war in its history. One of the things that has stayed constant throughout the years are the bath houses. Some are reminants of old Turkish baths but most are from or were redone in the early 1900s and even more remodleling happened after WWII. Think public pool but on a much grander scale and with lots of guys in speedos and no shame. They had indoor and outdoor pools, thermal baths, and saunas. These thermal baths are said to have magical properties and are heated to perfect bath tempurature naturally, coming straight out the hills and from the depths. The Gellert Bath was the first to introduce a mechanical wave pool too. The changing rooms were separated by gender but not with very clear directions. I was almost naked, wet suit off, about to get dressed when a group of 4 guys walked through our lady side. No one seemed to mind so I didn't either, luckily I'm not a shy one. The look on their faces was priceless, not sure if it was the tattoos or the peircings but I'm pretty sure they'd never seen anything like it.
The baths were not the only thing to survive all the years of turmoil. Budapest has many underground cave systems with much still being unexplored. We were lucky enough to visit 2 of them, the Pàlvölgyi and the Szemiö-hegyi caves. They say it can get chilly down below but it was downright cold in the caves. They were so interesting and foreign. Being that far below ground, 30 meters with another 26 meters you could go if you were an actual caver, felt different than being on a mountain top. I'm an avid hiker and living in the Pacific Northwest, am very lucky to have the Cascades, the Olympics, and Mt. Rainier real close to explore aytime I want. Being below the ground felt clastrophobic and some of the passage ways were tight and we weren't even in the difficult parts. We got to see sea shells and a sea urchin from a time long ago, crystals that had formed who knows when, and lots of earth, in all shapes and colors. The caves were beautiful and mysterious with so much unknown and so many layers.
Budapest, like most of the European Union, offers squatters rights if a building is uncared for or unattended too. A person or group of people can come in and make it theirs. This is an amazing opportunity for creative spaces to come to life and actually get used and cared for without being purchased. The "squat bars" are like nothing I've ever seen. We visited two while there with one being on the rooftop of an abandoned building. Trying to find the entrance can be challenging since it's not alwayas marked that well. We found the doorway and walk through only to find two large men security gaurds. They pointed up the stairs and we were off, passing the empty floors that get used in the winter, and finally we make it to the roof. We didn't know what to expect but we were lucky to find the 10th Annual Budapest Short Film Festival happening. The other, much like the Griswalds building in Olympia, is a front facade and open in the middle. They had a little food stall in the front and again security gaurds. I think this is to keep the quite, so neighbors don't complain. We ordered our drinksand walked through. It is an open courtyard with some accessiblity to a second level on one side. Who knows what happens when it rains but I'm sure its full just the same. Dark and dingy but full of cool lamps, lots of plants, some old Trabants turned into seating areas, and everything inbetween. This one even had a old black and white movie playing on an empty wall. These places are hubs of creative juices but somebody was making a killing.
There was just so much to see here. We spent 4 days walking around exploring, people watching, and that was still not enough time to fit everything in. I would have loved to see the countryside too but that gives us a great reason to come back.
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