Budapest Day 19

I started this morning with a visit to the spa and my favourite, the hot tub. We then got to enjoy the most incredible breakfast imaginable. The service is so attentive that it seems obsequious at times, but the space is amazing. The outer part consists of a six storey atrium with a domed glass roof. It looks like it used to be the space between two buildings or where another building altogether stood. The inner section that appears to be yet another building annexed to the hotel has several cold buffets, a hot buffet and an omelet station. The seating area is graced by a stained glass ceiling. Everywhere you look you can see repeating motifs or shapes, diamonds in the grillwork but also in the marble floor and the lotus in all the wrought iron balconies that open onto the atrium and the mounted wall lamps. The beauty of the space was overwhelming and almost brought Gila to tears. And that was even before we tasted the breakfast! Before leaving she photographed every minute detail.

Then we met our tour guide, Kate, once again, for a trip to Szentendre, a small community a half hour outside of the city. On the way, Kate pointed out significant landmarks and amusing stories about them all. A former train station, designed by Gustavo Eiffel, was turned into the first McDonalds behind the iron curtain. It is a beautiful space with high ceilings worthy of the name Eiffel. The Hungarians thought that having a piece of American culture was so amazing that it became the place for romantic dates although the local cuisine so bests anything McD can even think of. The Hungarian Prime Minister was so impressed by it that when Bush Sr. came for a visit, the state dinner was held there!  She pointed out a small synagogue in Buda found in a courtyard of a building adorned with Jewish stars. The story is that a religious Jew living in that building was getting on in years and walking to the services on Shabbat was too much for him. Unfortunately, I don't remember where the funds came from, but a small sanctuary was built in that courtyard for him. We passed another large synagogue that did not reopen after the war because it could not gather a minyan.

Apparently, everywhere you dig, Roman ruins are discovered. Under a bridge we saw the remains of a Roman bath. Further on were two amphitheatres. Without the exterior walls they were not as impressive as the Roman coliseum although it was built in the same design and one of them was just a large as the one in Rome. The ruins of a town or community, an aqueduct and a Roman legion camp were also on our route. 

                                                                      The  Romans had built a town called Aquincum on the shores of the Danube where Budapest currently stands. Thus all the ruins. Unfortunately the bus was traveling too fast for photo ops.

Kate also told some funny stories about life under the Soviets. The funniest one was about a car called a Trabant, manufactured in East Germany. 

                                                 

She recalled it when one of the cars came along side our bus. The car was advertised as being very light weight with the remarkable asset that it did not rust. The reason was that it was constructed of cardboard with a thin plastic coating on top. It could rot or dissolve but it did not rust!  It had a two stroke motorcycle engine that mixed oil with the gas. The smoke from these cars continually greyed every surface almost immediately. Pastels colours would be used to refresh buildings and in no time the Trabant would turn them grey. She also told us about an ad that featured a Trabant with the trunk open and vegetables falling from it. A horse directly behind the car was eating not only the veggies but also the car. It was an insurance company's ad that announced that this claim was also covered.

The village of Szentendre was established by Serbs who were fleeing from the Muslim Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth century. They received permission and the land for their community and the architecture and layout of the streets resembled a Mediterranean village not one in central Europe. 

                         

Now it is a perfect tourist destination. Once it was an artist community and today, the shops along the main street all sell Hungarian crafts, from traditional clothing, hand carved secret compartment boxes, sheepskin vests and hats, leather bags, embroidered linens and clothes to designer Italian fashions and vintage soviet hats and uniforms. We were there to help the Hungarian economy and to take advantage of prices considerably lower than those in the city if you found something you wanted.

On our return, we had a short rest and headed out for a guided tour of the famous Hungarian Opera House. Over the top and angepatchked are the best way to describe the building. It was even more ornate than the Benedictine Abbey in Melk. Part of the tour included a short (thank goodness) performance by a soprano. She was so loud it sounded more like shrieking than singing. I only hope she is not one of the performers in the opera we are seeing later in the week.

                       

                       

Having missed lunch because we were too busy browsing and shopping, it was time for dinner. On our walk home we found a restaurant not yet full because of the early hour and enjoyed another Hungarian meal with dessert. If each restaurant had the same dessert menu, we would have already tasted them all and would have been able to pass on this course, but how can you pass on warm plum strudel with vanilla ice cream if you have never had it?

Back at the hotel we packed. Our check out is tomorrow and we will be moving to an air bnb place nearby for our last three days. Unfortunately, the cold that I started to develop a few days ago is doing better than I am. So, after another jacuzzi session, it was off to bed hoping that the cold would be gone by morning.