Budapest: Day 2

After another late night, we were both pretty exhausted and Joanie was sick with a very sore throat, but we pressed on. In fact, she even had a Hungarian doctor come to the hostel to check her out, and discovered that she had a viral infection but would be fine. Must press on! Thankfully, for our second night's stay in Budapest, we had an awesome room. It was also owned by the hostel, but it was an apartment on the Danube; not your typical hostel accommodation. Pretty prime real estate, and a nice upgrade for a change.

After settling into our posh digs, we grabbed lunch at a nearby Hungarian restaurant called Mátyás Pince. Turns out, it was one of the most amazingly delicious meals of our trip. Everything was perfect, from the settings to the service to the decor, and of course most importantly the food. Oh man, the food. Just thinking about it again makes me want to go back there right now--reason enough for a return trip to Budapest!

But it got better. After lunch, we got into our swimsuits and cabbed it over to Szchenyi thermal baths, in the park and not far from Heroes Square. Once inside, we met up with the fellas from London once more and had fun exploring all the different pools and rooms on the grounds. We tried a few different saunas, a steam room that felt like it had set fire to my perspiring body, and a very cold pool/bath that actually was quite enjoyable after getting over the initial shock of the chilly temperature upon rushing into the water. After a couple hours of braving the various baths and such, we returned to the outdoor pool area for one last dip with our friends and then said our farewells.

We showered quickly and managed to be ready just on time to meet my grandfather's cousin, Dudi, at our hostel. From there, our trio rode the subway to Ujpest, where Dudi's wife Györgyi picked us up and drove us back to their house for a lovely traditional Hungarian dinner. It was so wonderful to be with family, even though we were just meeting for the first time. They were so kind and generous to have us as their guests that night, and it was just a pleasure to be in their company in their beautiful little house. Though Györgyi didn't speak any English, she was a perfect motherly host, offering us tasty pastry appetizers and an aperitif before serving us a fantastic dinner. And Dudi did his best to act as translator, even though many times the English words escaped him as well. His sense of humor managed to come across, even with the bit of difficulty we sometimes had communicating. By the end of the evening we were sad to say adieu, but I was so thankful for the few hours spent there. It will be a fond memory I keep of them and of Hungary forever.

We returned to our fancy apartment by the Elizabeth Bridge and decided to call it a night, as we both probably needed as much rest as we could get. The next morning, before leaving for our flight to Athens, I walked down to the Chain Bridge and back to get one last hour on the Danube in Budapest. I was more sad to leave this city than any other before, and I will most definitely be back someday--hopefully not too long from now.