Budapest... Day Three, The Final Chapter

So, our last day in Budapest, day three. I know it has been a long journey to get to this point and it has been a lot of writing on my part and a lot of reading on your part. And since I am writing this account of our final day in Budapest two weeks after the actual day, this post should be shorter as my memory fails me. Hopefully, though, I will be able to give that last day justice because it was wonderful and it was full of exciting things, most especially, new things and experiences. Experiences which I could never imagine enjoying anywhere else and at any other time.

We started our morning at one of the most famous baths in Budapest. It was a different and new experience. Some parts were awkward, some were relaxing, and others were just plain interesting. I’ll start with the awkwardness just to get it done and written about. Old men at the baths in Budapest do not wear swim suits. At this particular bath they had one area of baths for men only, and one for women only, and then a communal bath. So, at the start Andrea and I split from one another. She going into the women’s side and I going into the men’s, we agreed to meet up in the communal bath after a half an hour. As you walk into the changing room you are a little thrown off, even though the bath does allow for complete privacy to change into swim suits. These changing areas are not taken advantage of by everyone. To be specific, old men do not feel need for privacy either in the changing area or in the bathing area. All of the younger people, I would say about 65 or so and younger, did take advantage of the privacy. It was strictly men in their late years that as soon as they hit the changing room were stark-naked for the remaining of their time there unless they wanted to go into the communal bath, which required clothing. It must have simply been that these older men were used to the way they did things and regardless of what an American like me would do to try to be considerate of others; they did what they do and enjoyed themselves.

The baths were nice, very refreshing, but the most enjoying part of the experience for me was the steam room. I had brought a book with me and the relaxation I felt as I sat in one of the steam rooms and read was immeasurable. Andrea and I did meet in the middle, at the communal bath, but it was rather crowded. So, we did not stay there long. Neither of us partook in the experience of swimming in the cold pool and then moving straight into the hot bath. I probably should have, but I was excited to get back into the steam rooms. And Andrea had had a problem with her bathing suit, one of the strings had fallen out of place, it took her awhile to sort it out, so she did not get much time in the women’s only baths before having to meet me at the appointed time. She wanted to check that area out further so we separated again. She went to her side and I went right back into a steam sauna. It was nice.

Right next to the baths was one of the three hills running across the Buda side of Budapest and we immediately started climbing toward the top. The top was not only supposed to possess one of the most amazing views of the city, but also a very beautiful monument. We were immediately struck on our ascent up the hill though. About twenty feet up we ran across a church which had been built into the side of this hill. We had not read anything about this church in any of the guidebooks, nevertheless, there it was, and it was a sight to see. An entire church built in a cave on the side of this hill. The church was stunning inside, but what was shocking about the outside was even more entertaining and I can almost picture in my mind the man that was standing outside better than the church inside. There, outside the spectacular, truly divine church stood a man, who neither Andrea nor I could tell whether or not he had any affiliation with church. Nonetheless, he protected the church like it was his namesake. The entire time we saw him he carried a broom, never once did we see him sweep, and as we exited the church, he scolded Andrea rather harshly in Hungarian for taking photographs of the outside of the church. Then at one point as we walked away we saw him march down the hill and really light into a group of women, for what neither me, Andrea, nor the women knew. He was an irate, funny little man.

Making it to the top of the hill was a bit of a struggle, but the view was definitely well worth all my whining. It was so good in fact that both Andrea and I forgot to take pictures of the monument, which lay a top the hill. We were so engrossed in taking pictures of the view.

From our brief, but meaningful stay a top that first hill we trekked for maybe a good forty-five minutes down, winding our way down, taking wrong turns and walking back up, then back tracking. You would think walking down a hill would have been much simpler, but it was not and it almost made me regret making the choice to climb the hill in the first place. But of course, our task was to climb back up another hill, Castle Hill, so we could adventure about it during the daylight. This I was not happy about. I wanted to take the funicular, which carried passengers to the top, but after seeing the prices, Andrea was wise enough for the both of us to make the decision not to take it. We headed up on foot.

These paths leading to the top of the hill were winding, not steep, but long. Off of the paved paths though, was dirt and very steep paths. I was tired and growing very impatient with the whole incessant climbing of hills and I was able to talk Andrea into climbing up a beaten path to the top. There, much quicker but very tired and me acting way too grumpy for the place we had just reached, we enjoyed another spectacular view. My grumpiness disappeared rather quickly as we walked through the ancient archways leading to the castle grounds we had seen the night before. However, in the daylight, the awesomeness of the castle struck you all the more. It made an everlasting impression on me. Not that most of things I have seen on this adventure haven’t, but the castle grounds, the whole quiet, seemingly middle-aged community all enclosed within the castle walls really strikes you as something magnificent, something to be cherished. Before we did started walking, we purchased two front row tickets to a ballet at the theatre. It was giving a performance of Shakespeare’s, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The tickets we very reasonable and we were told because it was Halloween there would be no need to worry about our attire. I was wearing baggy khakis, a t-shirt, and tennis shoes, not quite what you would consider ballet performance wear, but it ended up being very casual and I did not stick out like a sore thumb as I thought I might.

Before enjoying the ballet we walked about the grounds. Andrea did a bit more exploring than me because I felt like finding a warm cafe and writing. Once Andrea finished with her exploration of the grounds and found me at the café, we circled the area in search of an inexpensive place to eat. We stumbled onto a tiny little restaurant serving delicious pizza for me and Andrea and I enjoyed a Greek salad. The best part of the dinner was that we were the only ones in the tiny restaurant and our waitress who spoke English rather well was friendlier than you could ever expect. At one point she pulled her laptop out from the kitchen, sat down with us, and started showing Andrea what seemed like every cool place to see in Budapest and every good place to enjoy at night. Neither Andrea nor I had the heart to tell her that her efforts, well appreciated, were really needless because we already had our tickets to the ballet and we had a very early bus to catch back to the Czech Republic the next morning. So, we would probably never get to see or go to any of the places she was taking pains to search out on the Internet and show us on a map where we could find. The whole experience of good food combined with meeting such a truly gracious and friendly person was great.

After dinner, it was time for our big finale to our Budapest trip, the ballet. I was excited, I have never read the play, but I had seen the movie based on the play with Kevin Spacey, not that that is at all comparable, but nonetheless, I believed I would know each and every scene. I was wrong. There really are a lot of different interpretations of one play. They play we saw was a very, very modern interpretation. It was exciting and once again, like the ballet in Hradec, it was a very modern style of ballet. It was thrilling nevertheless. I was captivated each and every moment. They added a very sensual twist to the play and it worked perfectly. I know the original play involved love affairs and the like, but this play took that part of the play and made it much more up to date, with scenes as you would see in modern day life. I loved it and it was the perfect ending to our long weekend in Budapest.

Plus, we got onto our bus the next morning without a hitch and were back into Hradec without a problem.