Scenes from Budapest

We spent the day enjoying Budapest’s wonders. Actually I should say Buda and Pest, the two parts of the City separated by the Danube and joined by 8 bridges. Buda is the older of the two, and they say Pest is more lively, but both have a rich heritage, and a vibrant buzz – Budapest is hopping. We walked the streets, crossed its bridges, admired its architecture, sampled some its wonderful food, enjoyed its street music (including klezmer) and then late in the afternoon took the waters at the Gellert Baths, one of the many thermal centres in the City. I am told that 70 million liters of 21-78 Celsius warm thermal water spring forth daily from Budapests 118 natural thermal springs. The Gellert is one of Budapest's oldest and most opulent baths, and we enjoyed the hot pools (36 and 38 C), steam baths (followed by cold plunges) and saunas. A visit to the baths is a throwback to a more leisurely time, a opprotunity to indulge oneself and just relax. They say that taking Budapests thermal waters has great health benefits, and even if it doesn’t, boy did it feel good.

At night we all went out for a great Italian meal, taught the restaurant how to make a Tom Collins (Wes’s favourite cocktail, which I now enjoy - just google it and make one for yourself) then Vince and I took some photos from the Castle promenade, which is just beside out hotel. As you can see, day or night, Budapest is the best.