Budapest: The Wonders on the Danube
As the leaves slowly turned yellow, we embarked on an adventure that was a fitting end to yet another dreamy summer in Europe. I had the privilege of celebrating my birthday across two countries, and the day ended with our journey to Budapest, Hungary.
Some years ago, I had spent a few days in Budapest. I remember falling deeply in love with the city, and had promised myself that I would return. And I did! We decided to spend three whole days exploring this beautiful city known for its many attractions. Among these, three signature Budapest experiences made our trip very interesting.
On our very first day, we woke up early in the morning to visit the Szechenyi bath, which is the largest medicinal bath in Europe. It is more than 100 years old and its water is supplied by two main thermal springs. The architecture of the place was impressive, and we first explored the outdoor pools. All the pools had different temperatures and people were relaxing in them. We also saw a couple playing chess in the pool. What fun! As we entered the building, a whole new world of pools, saunas and steam rooms opened up. The place was huge! The various options available were mindblowing, and one can very easily spend a whole day here. Budapest boasts of many such exquisite thermal baths. We spent all morning relaxing like the locals, and I thought, “If the start of this trip is so amazing, I can’t wait for the rest of it!”.
While many European cities are famous for their nightlife, Budapest stands out because of its ruin bars. These unusual drinking joints situated inside neglected pre-war buildings of the old Jewish Quarter have become Budapest’s trademark. Their creative decorations give them a chic style. We are not party people, so we decided to check out the unique farmers’ market in the most popular ruin bar, Szimpla Kert (yes, we are old souls trapped in young bodies). This beautiful bar reminded me of the Japanese art of Kintsugi, since it breathed a new life into the old building that had witnessed the horrors of war. I am not sure how much I liked the decorations, but I laud the creativity and love the concept of these bars. They make the Jewish quarter very youth-friendly, and definitely make Budapest effortlessly chic.
When I visited Budapest last time, our tour guide had told us that we had only explored half of what Budapest had to offer. The other half lies underneath the cobbled streets of the Buda district and it buries with it many secrets of the past1. One of the most thrilling experiences of our trip was the walking tour we took through Buda’s mysterious caves. There’s a whole labyrinth of caves underground still unaccounted for! Most of these caves were naturally created by the flowing waters of the thermal springs found in Budapest. These natural caves were later expanded and also repurposed to act as shelter during World War II. We walked through a maze of passageways and natural limestone caverns and also explored the manmade parts of the labyrinth. We had booked a short tour, but it was long enough to have our mind blown!
Our guide explained that the manmade caves were originally built to provide protection from fires. Apparently, family homes owned caves on multiple levels but didn’t disclose all of them to the government so they could store grain in the other caves (and avoid paying tax for it :D). Many private caves also had wells for pumping out drinking water. When plague struck their neighborhood, people stopped using these wells. Since Buda used to be a wine-growing region, people (including children) substituted delicious local wine for water. In the 1970s and 80s, people used to also host parties in their private caves, and the smoke circulating through the ventilation ducts caused quite a nuisance to the neighborhood. Our guide was full of such interesting facts, and walking through these caves while learning about their history was an unforgettable experience.
Left to Right: Ventilation duct and an old well
If someone had told me five years ago that I’d be living the European dream and exploring the world with the love of my life, I’d probably have burst into laughter. But here I am, doing just that! Even though the path that led us here has been challenging, the most rewarding aspect has been our love for travel: we have discovered ourselves better in unplanned adventures and unexpected places. Budapest was absolutely worth the many days we spent there, and will forever be one of the most unique trips we have ever taken!