Day 3 (and final day) in Budapest

My day is complete. I was offered by three different individuals tonight, while walking from ruin pub to ruin pub, cocaine, heroin and hash. I can leave Budapest now feeling comfortable in knowing that I got it all, in just three days.

Our day started with a long walk up to the Széchenyi Thermal Baths. The walk weaved through neighborhoods and ended at City Park by the 1956 Revolution Memorial. From the memorial we got our day passes with an individual cabin so that we could change in peace. Then luckily we got three pool chairs where we were able to take in the whole situation.

Let me tell you the thermal baths are a very interesting event. The water in the warm outside pool was 105 degrees and filled with people simple laying back on the stairs or enjoying the jets spraying them all over their heads. We chose to stand close to middle and talked about our time so far in Budapest and touching on other cultures that use baths, such as Tyler's experience in Japan.

After an hour and a half relaxing in the baths we had to get back to the travel world and see as much as we could before our final day was over. This meant grabbing Catfish Gyro's on the way back to our apartment where we showered quickly, got our bearings and headed back out.

From our apartment we meandered our way to Vörösmarty ter and to have coffee (dark hot chocolate for me since I don't drink coffee) at Café Gerbeaud which was established in 1858. The ornate cafe would have fit right in inside any major European City. From Cafe. Gerbeaud we made a quick detour down into the Vörösmarty tér train station. This station was beautifully simple and covered in tile.

After looking at the train station we started our long trek across the Széchenyi Chain Bridge and up the Castle Hill to the Budapest History Museum and Buda Castle. The walk up the hill lead through walled roads to towers and gardens. The walk was truly a highlight of the day as it gave you this old feeling immersed in a major city and surrounded by stunning views of bridges, the Citadella and Pest.

The old feeling and beauty did not stop after Buda Castle but was enhanced and extended with the homes and shops along Castle Hill. We walked up to Matthias Church and beyond it to the edge of the walls looking over all of Buda. From there we walked along the perimeter until moving down through Buda until hitting the waterfront.

The view looking out from the base of Mary Magdalene Tower.

Along the waterfront, I was looking for someone selling hand drawn art of any of the amazing buildings, settings or bridges of Budapest. Unfortunately, that search was a failed search as there was not a single person drawing, let alone selling anything.

Views of Széchenyi Chain Bridge and St. Stephen's Basilica.

After our great art search failure we rushed (walked fast) across the Széchenyi Chain Bridge and up Andrássy út to 360 Bar where we hoped to grab a seat, have a beer and watch the sun set while on a rooftop in downtown. We succeeded in a way of all of those three things. We got beers, albeit after the bartender ignoring us for 15 minutes. We had a seat, until we were kicked off for a "reservation" that only sat there for 10 minutes before moving to a different table. And we watched the sunset for an hour (no caveat there).

Once the beautiful ball of red and orange passed beyond the hills in the distance we moved back to the apartment where we changed and went back out for dinner and beers. We decided to check out more ruin pubs and went to El Lato Kert for tacos and beer, to Kuplung for the ambiance and then back to our apartment so that we can get ready for Vienna tomorrow. I am writing this while all four of us sit on the couch watching Anthony Bourdain's No Reservation's Vienna episode and get ready for a new adventure tomorrow.

Distance walked: 15 miles