Day 14: Budapest

I can't believe it's been two weeks. Time is flying.

I started the morning with a long jog, and headed back over to the Jewish District to see more of the area during the day. I jogged by the area's main sight, the Great Jewish Synagogue, and then continued to wander through the area. During WWII and the Communist era, the district fell into disrepair, with many of the buildings abandoned for 40 years. The buildings have gorgeous old facades, but many are clearly still in terrible shape. All of Budapest feels like one big construction zone, as the city continues to renovate major areas in the twenty years since Hungary was liberated. The Jewish district has seen improvements, too, but because of the area's terrible history during WWII, improvements are taking longer. Amazingly, Budapest feels relatively safe, which is impressive given that the city and country have survived through many difficult times.

 The Great Synagogue

The Jewish District has turned into a bit of a bohemian artist community, with many of the old buildings and courtyards converted into "ruin pubs." These casual bars have dumpster-dive furniture and a very eclectic decor, with only enough renovations completed to support bathrooms and bar service. They're very nice in the summer evenings, as many of them have outdoor seating areas, and the decor makes for an very low key attitude. I sensed from my tour guides that so many ruin pubs have started to pop up that the locals are starting to find them a little corny, but I thought they were great and unique to Budapest. As I was jogging, I ran by one that was open, and took some photos.

A ruin pub

The highlight of my day was the afternoon, when I headed over to one of the public thermal baths. Budapest is situated on over 100 hot springs, several of which were converted to elegant public baths. These are quite the public swimming pools. I went to Széchenyi, a very large, clothing-required bath (there are some that are not mixed gender, and thus clothing optional), and it was quite the experience. I went to the outdoor side, where there are three baths of varying temperature. After the amount of jogging and walking I've been doing on this trip, laying in a hot pool of water in the afternoon sun was just what I needed. The baths also offer massages, mud treatments, and beauty salons, among other indulgences, for an extra cost. These Hungarians definitely know how to relax.

The evening's activities were damped by thunderstorms, although on my way back from the thermal baths to my hostel, I stumbled across a new life rule: "never walk into a bar where the bouncer is wearing a bullet proof jacket." I spotted the bouncer while walking past a bar I'd seen advertised at my hostel as "Budapest's Biggest Party Bar." Given that Budapest has a relatively safe reputation, the bouncer may have been wearing the jacket more for image than necessity. But the life rule still holds, and I thought others should consider adding this to their list of life rules.

Off to Krakow tomorrow. I have a 7-hour bus ride to get there, so I promise to organize my photos during the bus ride so I can share them soon!