Bathing in Budapest
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| My morning run, across the Liberty Bridge |
Budapest was hot. Not Dubai hot but at 39 deg C most of the locals were distinctly uncomfortable. As with most European cities, air conditioning was scarce but the 16 foot ceilings and large rooms of our historic apartment in the centre of the city kept us reasonably cool.
We were in Budapest for three days and we had few plans. As with most cities based on a river the running was good, nice and flat along the river and almost impossible to get yourself lost. Later I even found a rubberised running track that circumnavigated Margaret Island which also was the site of two large swimming complexes.
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| The Mercado Central, an amazing glass and steel market hall. |
On my first run I discovered Kate’s number 1 priority, the market hall. After my run I returned to the Hall with Kate and Ada to buy supplies and wander through the spectacular building. Certainly one of the best we have seen.
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| Mercado Central from the outside. A late 19th Century building boom that made Budapest the fastest growing city in the World as a result of the creation of the dual monarchy with two capitals, Vienna and the now combined cities of Budda and Pesth. |
After the obligatory ride on the observation Ferris wheel, the mercury was starting to rise so we decided to try out one of the local baths. According to the hop on hop off bus commentary, Budapest has over 140 baths with different medicinal properties. Now I am not sure if their claims of curing disease have been proven in a double blind test but we were sure that a swim would be a cure for the heat so we caught the world's second oldest metro to Szechenyi Baths.
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| Szechenyi Baths which was in the middle of the largest green space in Pest. |
Szechenyi is a grand art deco bath complex built in 1913 with 18 pools including healing hot dip pools, circular walking pools and two large general pools surrounded by magnificent buildings. Much to our surprise there was even a lap lane set up, so Ada and I put in a lazy kilometre while dodging people slowly breast stroking. The water was crystal clear despite the fact that the pools were crowded and it was a pleasant place to spend the middle of the day. Kates only issue was fighting off larger more determined ladies for the jets of water squirting out of the walls and floors of the large wading pools.
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| Ada kicking back in our apartment after giving the grand piano a work out. |
We found our apartment on Air BnB and it was excellent. It was huge, stylishly decorated, spotlessly clean and in a great location in the centre of Pest. It came complete with a Grand Piano and a classic European city bike.
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| Hungry girls in Hungary after a long day walking |
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| We wern't disappointed by the food, my duck sausage and lentils |
Our host Stephen was in South America but he was very attentive and provided great restaurant recommendations. Our first night was at Cafe Gerloczy where Ada had a great goulash, Kate a beautiful salad and I had a duck sausage and lentils all washed down with a really good Hungarian sauvignon blanc. His second recommendation was just as good, at Café Kor where I had liver and polenta
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| Our bedroom which opened onto the lounge via a magnificent set of sliding doors |
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| The obligatory dome at St Stephens Basilica |
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| St Matthias, nice and cool on a hot day! |
We visited the labyrinth of caves and tunnels below the castle and the Gothic 14th century Matthias church in the Castle. Both perfect tourist sites to beat the heat, either underground or large stone structures with massive ceilings. The Church was originally built in the 11th Century in Romanesque style but was rebuilt in the 14th Century in the current Gothic style. Much of the Castle area was badly damage or destroyed during the siege of Budapest toward the very end of the Second World War. The reconstruction makes the the area seem very "new" but they have done a wonderful job of maintaining their heritage.
After lunch we decided a swim was in order so we caught the “hoho” boat up the Danube to Margaret Island swimming complex. Ada swims with a squad five days a week and is “into” her swimming at present. While walking there, I told her stories of Hungarian swimming prowess including the famous Hungary vs Russia water polo match from the 1956 Olympics and the also famous Olympic champion Kristina Ecerzegi although I wasn’t really sure if she was really Hungarian.
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| Home of Hungarian champions with some storm clouds building. |
Much to my surprise, the pool was the primary Hungarian training facility and the walls were lined with the names, dates and events of the National, European, World and Olympic Hungarian Champions. I was even able to point out the signage listing Kristina’s five gold medals over three Olympics. The pool complex was great and consisted of diving pools, water polo pools plus 33m and a 50m lap pools. There were about 50 people in the big pool swimming laps without any clear direction for fast and slow lanes. We pick one that seemed right for us and we set off.
Before the long the crowd started to thin out but we didn’t notice the darkening sky until we finished our laps. The cloud on the horizon were black and it became clear that the heat was about to be broken by a big storm. We hurried back towards the tram but the heavens opened before we reach the stop. We were drenched by the time the first tram arrived and it was packed so we decided to walk to the metro. We had to wait for three metro trains before there was space but at least we were out of the rain. We arrived back at the apartment looking like drowned rats.
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| Drenched back in the kitchen of the apartment |
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| The ceiling at St Matthias |
Kate and I said farewell to Budapest with a morning run along Andrassy Boulevard the City’s “Champs Elysee”. It was a a magnificent setting and we ran past advertisements for art exhibitions, concerts and other events which made us realise that we had only scratched the surface of what Budapest has to offer.
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| Some locals checking out my running form |
