Day 51: Budapest

The events of today were evenly split into two camps, a very frustrating morning and a much more positive afternoon. Let us begin.

Phase 1:

9:30 - Today was a welcome break from our running schedule, so we were able to get an earlier jump on the things we wanted to see. Our plan this morning was to: 1) Take our laundry to a laundry service, 2) Tour the Jewish Synagoge, and 3) Tour the Budapest Parliament buildings. After lunch we were going to do a bit of shopping and otherwise take a slow afternoon. The timeline was a bit tight, but we left the house early, optimistic, and energized. Our first setback sprung on us right away. The laundromat did not open until 10:00, an hour later than our guidebook advertised (thanks a lot Rick).

10:00 - After sitting on a sunny but chilly park bench killing time we went back to the laundromat just as it opened. There was a bit of a line, and after listening to some stereotypical American woman explain exactly how many loads of laundry and at what temperature she wanted her clothing washed, we dropped off our stuff and made straight for the Synagogue. The next tour was at 10:30, but it wasn't too far away.

10:25 - We arrived only to find that there was a line up for tickets. When we got our tickets we were told to join the 11:00 tour, which was no big deal. We were asked to wait inside the synagogue for the tour to commence. We passed through security and started waiting for our tour.

10:40 - While milling around, a tour guide called for anyone waiting for a tour to follow him. We entered the Synagogue and were directed into the back of the 10:30 tour, a full 10 minutes late. Needless to say we both felt a bit aggravated. What we caught of the tour though was pretty interesting. This is the second largest synagogue in the world, after one in New York City. It survived the war because the Gestapo set up a headquarters here so the Nazis left it alone, and it was also in the heart of the Jewish Ghetto so the Allies left it alone. As we learned in Auschwitz, 600,000 of Hungary's 800,000 Jews were killed in the Holocaust, and 1 in every 3 victims at Auschwitz was a Hungarian Jew. Many of the Hungarian Jews that were murdered were killed in the waning months of the war, a lot of them dying from starvation, disease, or cold temperatures in the ghetto surrounding the synagogue. Over 20,000 Jews that died in the ghetto and were discovered upon liberation by the Soviets are buried in a mass grave in a garden beside the synagogue. Today the synagogue is only filled on high holidays and otherwise caters to a very small portion of the local Jewish population. Along the tour we had a chance to take the following pictures:

*A memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, shaped like a Weeping Willow tree

*Individual victim names are inscribed on each leaf

*Mass gravesite for the Jews that died in the Budapest Ghetto

11:45 - We next hopped on the subway and went to the Parliament Building. It was built in 1896 to celebrate Hungary's 1000th Anniversary. It has an ornate interior and what is described as one of Europe's grandest vaulted ceilings. When we got to the location where we were supposed to buy our tickets, we saw the following sign:

*"There aren't any tickets left for today"

Stymied again, we settled with taking some pictures of the exterior and headed for lunch.

*Disbelieving our luck

*All these European countries seem to be rocking huge flower gardens late into the season, baffling us

12:20 - We arrived at 'Most', a restaurant just down the street from our apartment. It was mentioned all over the reviews we read of the apartment as being a great local spot with a 3-course daily lunch special. To our dismay, there was nobody inside when we peered through the window and we found the door to be locked. With heads hung low we turned for the street.

Phase 2:

In hindsight, this was the moment that our luck changed for the rest of the day. Knock on wood, but we may yet look back at this as being the point where things finally improved in Budapest. As we headed back to the street we saw their advertised hours indicating that they were in fact open. Upon closer inspection, we noticed a second door leading to what we had first presumed was an Indian restaurant. In small font below "Tandoori Specials" was "-Most". Turns out that the restaurant has a bar section facing the road which was locked down and a larger section in the back of the building. We both ordered from the Tandoori lunch special menu and ate delicious if not large meals.

**Side Note

One of the songs they played over lunch was the 'Woo Hoo' song that many Canadians will remember from those Vonage commercials a few years back. It reminded us of watching TV with Jackie's Dave who would then sing it for the next half hour or so.

**End Side Note

After lunch we went back to the apartment and kicked back for an hour or so, reading and posting to the blog. We then headed out to the Great Market Hall to look for some things for dinner and from there explore more of Pest. The following are shots Jackie got in and around the Market:

*Exterior of Market Hall

*Opposite Market Hall, gross American chains dominate tourist locations across Europe

*Main throughway in the market

*Very strange pumpkin

*Selection of produce and peppers

*Handmade lace cloths are a popular tourist souvenir

*Liberty Bridge, outside Great Market Hall, which connects Pest with Buda across the Danube

We strolled along Vaci Utca, one of Pest's busier pedestrian roads stopping into some shops but ultimately finding ourselves back at the cheese market from Saturday where we purchased another two cups of hot mulled wine. There was also a lady feeding pigeons so we took her photo to show some of our readership what Europeans look like:

*Our mulled wine

*Pigeon lady (with pigeon food in the air)

Here are a few more pictures from the day:

*Our handy "Ampelmann" tote bag from Berlin stuffed with our purchases from the market

*A sheep's head shaped cake at the cheese market

*Nearby ornate apartment complex

*Rundown church

*Decorative cabbage

We ended the day at home. Jackie attempted to make carbonara with a side of carrots without any salt, pepper, or cheese. While the results were tasty, the dish definitely suffered as a result of the missing ingredients. Tomorrow we are planning on hitting the House of Terror Museum in the morning (detailing the Fascist and Communist regimes that impacted Hungary during the 20th Century), then attending the opera in the evening. Apparently, the performance is going to be about passion, scandal, and politics in 13th century Genoa, performed in Italian with Hungarian subtitles. It should be amazing.

Hello! (Hungarians will often use the term Hello in both greeting and farewell)