Well, even with my handy-dandy sleeping pills we spent a restless night. At least when we hauled ourselves out of bed it was again to beautiful sunshine and another nice breakfast, this time hosted by Paul.   A quick note for those who have used Booking.com…which I have used many times in my hotel searches/bookings in Europe. We have learned that they tend to be bullies when it comes to those hotels that list on their website and take an average of 40% of the nightly fees from the hotels. From now on, if I find one that is of interest on Bookings.com, I will see if I can book directly with the hotel…allowing them to keep their proceeds and not have to share with a third party.

Ok, now back to the day, I had booked a private tour of the city with Andrea (www.privateguidebudapest.com), who was recommended by Rick Steves.   Since she was open to having up to six people, we invited Cathy, Stephanie and Angela, the three young ladies that we met Saturday night at Mazeltov to join us.

Andrea met all five of us promptly at 930, with a driver to take us to the Buda side of the river, which we had yet to visit.   While I had originally asked for a ½ day walking tour, Andrea suggested we get a driver due to the distances between the sites, which ended up being a great thing as we would have wasted a lot of time if we had been walking.

Our first stop was to Gellert Hill, which overlooks the city and is a great way to get a birds-eye view of the layout. This hill and the baths at its base, were named after Bishop Gellert who was brought in to tutor the Kings son in 1000AD. Unfortunately, the locals were not happy with that arrangement, so they put Gellert in a barrel with nails poking in the sides, then rolled him down to the river.  Not a fun way to die. At least he got a hill and some baths in his name for his contribution.  

Andrea walked us through the stormy Hungarian history, where it seemed like everyone had invaded this country except for the Spaniards and Brits. Between the Mongols, Romans, Russians, Germans, Austrians and Turks….everyone else had had a go at ruling Hungary.  After Gellert, we continued on the Buda side and drove to Castle Hill.

Our first stop was Matthias Church, which was quite interesting. The tiles on the roof were very colorful and inside went one step further, as every part of the church was painted with either a color or a motif. Not the normal somber presentation that is normally expected in a church. Surrounding the church was the Fishermans Bastion, with spires and a wall that seemed to nicely frame the hill. We were able to climb and again have a great view of Budapest.

Our last stop on the tour was to City Park and Heroes square back on the Pest side, which has a monument and 14 statues commemorating some of the personalities that contributed to Hungary's history. This is also where the Worlds Fair of 1896 was held, so there is a zoo, pond (summer) or ice rink (winter) and many other buildings including an art museum (currently being renovated).   

After learning the details about the Park and Square, our tour had come to an end. Andrea was a great guide and we learned so much more than if we had attempted to see these three areas on our own. It was also nice to have Angela, Cathy and Stephanie join us...made for a very nice morning. 

 We parted ways with Andrea and the girls and headed to the famous Szechenyi Baths that are also part of the Park.   We paid the fees, rented bathing suits (Albert assured us they are well sterilized) and went in search of the Wellness section where we could book massages. We were in luck, as there was an immediate opening for two Thai massages. We changed into little white pajamas and for the next 45 minutes were stretched, pounded and poked in twister like moves that I didn’t know I was capable of. It sounds painful, but it actually felt great.

After we found our cabin, which sounds much bigger than it really is…more like a small closet, where we changed in our bathing suits and headed into the 45 degree weather to the pools. There are three main pools, with the largest in the middle used for lap swimming. The two outer pools are smaller and are very hot, which felt great after the massage. There are many more pools inside the complex, all naturally heated by the thermo-waters which flow naturally under the city.   After relaxing and enjoying the baths, it was time for the hotel and a rest before dinner.

In the "what a coincidence" category, one of my friends, David who is a pilot for Emirates happened to see my post on Facebook and was working a flight to Budapest and had a 24 hour layover. We arranged to meet him and his travel partner, Adrian for dinner at a fun restaurant that had local music and folk dancing. It was great catching up and we had to laugh at our luck of being in BP at the same time. We did a nightcap at Szimpla the ruin bar, before calling it a night.   Tomorrow….Salzburg!