Budapest - Sightseeing

I decided to fly to Budapest early to check out this historic city - hey who knows when (or if) I'll ever come back here.  I left NYC on Sunday and arrived in Budapest (via Brussels) on Monday around 12:30pm (that would be 6:30am EST) only to realize my promised international cell service wasn't working (thanks Verizon for not telling me I needed a special SIM card!).  After a failed attempt to buy a temporary phone or SIM card, I met up with a few friends (Scout Bassett, Travis Ricks and Creighton Wong) who also came in early for dinner.  

Tuesday the four of us explored a few areas of the City (great walking tours laid out on Frommers if you ever need a recommendation), but first breakfast at a local cafe.  As we strolled up one of the City's largest streets -- I cannot even pronounce never mind spell it  -- we thought we'd have a few hours before hitting our end goal -- one of Budapest's famous bathhouses.

Budapest is really an ancient city with deep roots.  Funny factoid:  There are actually two distinct areas of Budapest separated by the Danube River -- Buda on one side (which is hilly) and Pest (on the other side) which is flatter.  There is another area Outer Buda which is much hillier than the Buda and was he original City.  


We spent a considerable amount of time strolling down one Avenue, but got a chance to take in a large number of sites. During our tour, We saw some amazing building -- historic buildings to me are very cool -- the Opera House, former mansions which are now consulates -- and toured the National Museum and the Wall of Heroes (if that's what it's called).  I was once told that when in a strange City, make sure to always look up to see the architecture; the frescos et al on the edges of the buildings are just amazing.  The Museum  was a bit of a disappointment as many of its notable pieces of art were on loan to other museum's (I bet one of them is the Met!).    


Finally, our end destination...The Bathhouse -- not a bathhouse out of bad 1970s porn movie, but a large complex of over 20 pools of different sizes/shapes with different minerals - laid out over three floors.  The four of us shared a single locker (this house was co-ed) and headed to just chill.  


More pictures will be posted on Snapfish after the trip is over.