In the morning, we headed to Great Hall market using tram to try local Hungarian meal for breakfast. The market was only few stops from our stay. We saw lots of local produced and Hungarian specialties spice (i.e. paprika, processed meat) but could not find a local ready-meal. We found out later that all ready-meals are actually located in the second floor along with the souvenir shops. This market in Budapest reminds me to Queen Victoria market in Melbourne. We tried few meals like the goulash and the Hungarian pancake. It tasted okay, slightly on the greasy side for our liking.
From the various souvenir shopping in Budapest, the one that I really adore are the leather bag charms and embroidery cotton top. I have eyes for leathers goods and found the irresistible leather bag charms for around AU$ 10 each. I would think leather goods in Europe is much cheaper than in Australia (definitely) or Asia. Embroidery, on the other hand, is part of Hungarian culture and hence various embroidery on table cloth, vest, tops are sold in the market. I bought the embroidery that is beautifully stitched on 100% cotton top "Made in Hungary" for approx. AU$ 35 (bargaining is recommended).
We visited Budapest Great Synanogue or known as Dohany Street Synagogue but it was unfortunately closed due to Easter break so photos were only from the outside. Weeping willow with names and tattoo numbers of the Holocaust victims are hang and engraved in the willow. Looking at the photo of weeping willow, I just also realised that the Gheto is actually inside the Synagogue complex.
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| Weeping Willow Budapest Synagogue |
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| Bicycling through Budapest |
We cycled from our hotel to Parliament House along Danube river. There is a Holocaust memorial on the pedestrian/bike pathway along the riverside. The memorial is the hundred pairs of steel shoes on the edge of river to commemorate all Jews shot into the river in the second world war. It is an eerie but important reminder. It was also quite a melancholy view because I could easily find kids shoe amongst those victims. There were numerous river cruise ships also stopped along the area.
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| Holocaust Memorial on Danube Riverside in Pest |
It was a cold day of approx. 3 degC during the day so experienced Szechenyi Budapest hot spring/thermal public bath was in our agenda. From our hotel to Szechenyi Budapest is a good 5 km by bike. The terrain was challenging for me, mainly because we had to share roads with motor vehicles. Some main road has bicycle pathway but some not, hence the challenge was not only sharing roads with motor vehicles but also ensuring to obey traffic signs on the main roads. We passed Váci utca as well, which is Budapest main shopping road, but no time for shopping off we went. There is a designated bicycle stop to secure your bicycle in front of Budapest public bath. The public bath itself consisted of changing rooms (separated for male and female), shared indoor and shared outdoor bath. Entry fee per person was approximately HUF 5,000 (AU$ 25) for the whole day. They would give you a bracelet that used as both access pass and locker key so please ensure to keep this safe. The indoor bath had few different area and temperatures with the highest temperature at around 40 degC, whilst only one large outdoor bath is available. By the way, unlike in Japan, all the baths are shared between male and female so you need to wear appropriate bath suit. We enjoyed our thermal baths (we spent total 2.5 h alone bathing :)) especially the outdoor one to warm up from the cool weather. Comparing Budapest thermal bath to Japanese hot spring, I like the Japanese one to better since it is more hygienic and convenient (amenities are provided in Japan).
We left our bike behind in public bath and walked pass the majestic Heroes Square which was empty at night ! (It was very packed during the day) and then took Metro to return to our stay. Oh..what a day!
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| Night View Budapest Heroes Square |
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