9/21 – Left Vienna for Budapest. Again, I had to find accomodations for 2 night's stay. That afternoon, I took a city tour that took me to the city's main attraction (it is becoming a routine for me once I get to a new place and it is a good way to scout the city). The tour covered the Castle District, the Gellert Hill, the Inner City, the Parliament and driving to some of the famous streets and boulevards in Budapest.

In the Middle Ages, there were two separate towns living here side-by-side: the famous Buda with its lavish palace and well-to-do bourgeoisie and Pest - the city of merchants - on the other side of the Danube River. In 1873 they officially merge creating a new metropolis of Budapest.

Castle District
The Castle District in Buda is the ancient capital of the right-bank settlement. Everything that surrounds it was once only suburbs. From whatever direction you reach the Castle District, you cross the ramparts which completely encircle Castle Hill (Várhegy). The whole area within the ramparts is protected as an ancient monument. The lines of the streets, and the foundations and architectural remains of the buildings retain the atmosphere and memories of the medieval 18th-century capital.

The building of the town began in the middle of the 13th century. At the time of the 1241 Mongol invasion, the town of Pest, built on the plain on the site of today's Inner City and thus completely defenseless, had been burnt down and its population put to the sword. Thus it seemed safer to build a new city protected by ramparts on the other side of the river, on the plateau on top of the steep limestone hill. The Royal Castle was built at the southern end of the plateau.

The Fisherman's Bastion (Halászbástya) is one of the most popular spots of the Castle District, as it offers a grand panorama of almost the entire city and the river valley. The ramparts also afford a view of the Országház (Parliament) building on the opposite shore. The Fishermen's Bastion received its name from the medieval ramparts system which rose above the suburb named Fishermen's Town; furthermore, there used to be a fish-market behind the ramparts. At the bend of the road, stands the statue of Hunyadi (the work of István Tóth). János Hunyadi-the future King Matthias' father-was a famous military commander who in 1456 repulsed the Turkish attack at Nándorfehérvár (today's Belgrade). The Church of Our Lady is generally called the Matthias Church, because its southern tower bears the coat of arms with the raven (in Latin: Corvus) of Matthias (Corvinus) Hunyadi (1458-1490). In the upper court of the Fishermen's Bastion stands an equestrian statue of (Saint) Stephen I (by Alajos Stróbl, 1906), the first king of Hungary (1001-1038) and founder of the State.

Gellert Hills
After exploring the cobblestone streets of the Castle District, we headed to Gellert Hills (Gellért- hegy). Because of its exceptional situation, it offers a panoramic view of the entire city. Up to the end of the nineteenth century this was the limit of the town of Buda, and the hill served as an outpost and fortress of Buda Castle. The Citadel, the fortress on top of the hill, was built between 1850 and 1854 by the despotic Habsburg authorities to control the city after the suppression of the Hungarian War of Independence. The Liberation Monument (the work of Zsigmond Kisfaludi Strobl) was erected in 1947 to commemorate the liberation of the country and in honour of the soldiers of the liberating Soviet Army.

The Inner City
The tour ended at the left-bank settlement of Pest. I met a fellow tourist named Louise from Wales. We walked the lengths of the city's trendiest shopping street of Vörösmarty tér on to Váci utca. The square (Vörösmarty tér) is one of the busiest centers of the Inner City. A glance round the square reveals a big fashion store, several travel offices, some antique shops. To the south of Vörösmarty tér starts Váci utca, which together with the neighboring streets, is the chief shopping centre of Budapest, with many gift and fashion shops. Then we headed to the Széchenyi Lánchíd (The Chain Bridge). The bridge, 380 meters (420 yds.) long and 15.7 meters (17.5 yds.) wide, is supported by pillars shaped like antique triumphal arches. It was the first bridge over the Danube and it not only linked Buda with Pest but also the western with the eastern parts of the country. Finally, we had dinner at the square.

9/22 - I spent the whole morning exploring again the Inner City and Central Pest. The highlight of the day was a visit to Gellért Bath, the oldest Hungarian spa hotel and an art nouveau jewel for a self-indulging bath, spa and massage. The indoor pool is one of Europe's finest, with marble columns, majolica tiles, and stone lion heads spouting water. It is pricey than the rest of Budapest's thermal bath but no other bath gives quite the same feeling of history, and culture soaking all in one. The indoor and outdoor baths are supplied with water from a deep source within Gellért Hill. Its chalky, slightly acidic, hydrogen-carbonate, radioactive water contains many minerals. They say the springs that supply the baths with hot healing waters have been flowing for at least 2,000 years. The water surges from its source at a temperature of 43C. After depositing my belongings in a locker and down the subterranean passage way, the first sign of luxury indulgent was the 33m indoor pool. Lined with marble columns and trailing plants, it resembles something from the heady days of the Roman Empire. Its retractable glass roof is often opened in summer to let shafts of sunlight in on the hedonistic scene. At one end is a thermal pool with hot jets of healing water spouting from statues. Then there are doors either side that leads to single-sex thermal baths. There are three thermal plunge pools of slightly differing temperatures, where naked men rise up (I was at least covered by the traditional loincloth) out of the steam, revealing flesh in all shapes and sizes.

There is also a steam bath amongst the intricate designs of the blue and brown tiled walls. The sauna comprises three largish rooms, each getting hotter and hotter until the third approaches something akin to Dante's Inferno.

The finale was the massage. I came to soothe my muscles after 7 weeks of traveling not to mention a 12 day hike around Mont-Blanc. There was no aromatic oil or Windham hill music in the background that's typical in American style spas. Talking about no-frills here. My masseuse looks a linebacker and after 30 mins of deep massage from head to toe, using only soap lather, I felt like a dough ready to be folded and shoved into the oven. Somehow I felt like a quarterback who has been sacked. Good thing I did not avail for facial treatment! But it was worth the experience. Now I can brag that I had two authentic Turkish Bath experience in this trip - one in Cappadocia, Turkey and here in Budapest, Hungary.

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