Ian Stewart

So after Slovakia, we headed for Budapest, Hungary. Emz might be sick of me using the country's name as a pun and jokingly saying,'Emz, are you Hungary?' I still don't think the joke gets old.😂 Anyways, Budapest! Probably one of the most beautiful cities (certainly large cities) that I've seen in Europe! Really picturesque! I didn't realise that Budapest is actually 2 cities (Buda and Pest) that are separated by the Danube River (one of the largest rivers in Europe). They're basically one large city now, but it was interesting to note. Buda is on the far more hilly side whereas Pest is on the flat plain next to the Danube, so running in Buda felt like running in Simons Town where everywhere you go is up! The first day we visited something that is truly a historic legacy. It is a stretch of railway that is run by CHILDREN aged 10-14 years old! It was a programme started by the Soviets in the 1950s apparently to try to get children more interested in the railway so that they might eventually start working in this field. That's the official reason anyway. To me, it sounded more like child labour and just a way to get more people to work! Anyways, I think now it is a prestigious thing for the kids to do and the train line is still running today! The kids do everything! They take your money, issue tickets, check the tickets, do the accounting and do the signalling on the train! This train runs 7 days a week so apparently only the academically strongest child applicants are accepted to do the work as they have to miss school for short periods during the week to do their transportation duties. What was also really cool was we were on the steam train line which added to the experience to be going on something so historic.
That evening we walked down to the Fisherman's Bastion which gives great views of the city from the Buda side and it really was beautiful!
The next day we went to a public bath house which Budapest is famous for! These large bath houses I'd honestly thought were a thing of the past but in Budapest, they're still thriving! A ticket to the bath house gives you access to these large outside pools as well as many smaller indoor pools plus saunas and steam baths, all at varying temperatures. It really was a must visit! We spent a couple hours there until all our fingers and toes looked like my late Nanna Molly's digits.🙈 After this, we walked around the Pest side of the city. This side was also really pretty with many street lined cafes and bars, old tram lines and we also went and saw the largest synagogue in Europe. One would think we finally saw something positive w.r.t. the European Jewish community's plight during WW2, but - even though the synagogue made it through the war- it was at this synagogue that the dead (from starvation) Jewish people of the ghetto were found when Budapest was liberated by the Soviets. Sadly most bodies were not even recognisable by the end of the war as the Jewish community were not allowed to bury the dead.
That evening we then went and watched the Bokke thrash Romania and then went and had goulash for supper, a typical Hungarian meal. The food was okay, but nothing exceptional. Overall a great city though, but we would say the people in general were some of the unfriendliest we've met on our travels.Les mer