Budapest, Hungary--Part 2

Budapest, Hungary--Part 2

Some interesting facts about Hungarians:

1)  Put paprika on everything
2)  Love American style shopping malls
3)  Distrust everyone but the Polish (why, who knows?)
4)  Women under 30 are quite striking, despite drinking, smoking, and eating in excess
5)  Women over 30 are the opposite, due to drinking, smoking, and eating in excess

Budapest is quite the city--visually unique, gritty, vibrant, and livable.  The transportation system is amazingly comprehensive, and the impressive Danube river that splits the city in half makes knowing your location unusually easy.  The city is quite decentralized and while it has some reasonably good sights--museums, castle, market hall, and iconic bridges--the sole medal winning sight are the Turkish baths.

The bath house I visited, the Szechenyi, is the largest and most iconic. A quick note on Hungarian swimwear:  Men and women will wear anything.  I saw some of the wildest bikinis, speedos, and overall ensembles I've ever encountered.  There were 80-year-olds with this summer's new two piece, father and son with matching turquoise speedos, and linebacker sized girls with swimsuits I can only describe as resembling a T-bone steak.  Briefs are the Hungarian staple, and tourists are easy to spot, as having the longer shorts.

There were at least ten pools, and each one had different temperatures.  The lap bath was the coldest, required a swim cap to enter, and most reminiscent of pools back in the States.  Bookending the lap area at one side was the 88 degree fun bath, with jets, fountains, and vortexes.  The other end held the hottest outdoor bath, the 99 degree lounging bath, with grizzled men playing chess and levels of stairs for laying.  Inside the complex was a maze

Budapest is proving to be the most difficult city to find a decent meal.  Surely, there is great food here, but I'm not finding it.  Also, I typically use dinner as my only sit-down meal of the day, and this city does not specialize in street food.  So, disappointingly, I ate at McDonald's today.  Some interesting notes about Hungarian McDonald's:

1)  Ketchup is always sold separately and in little containers
2)  A sandwich made of chicken nuggets
3)  There's a breakfast sandwich that's just a 1/4 lb. burger with an egg loaf on it
4)  The McFarm burger, which I believe is made of pork
5)  There are no numbered meals, and you order your meal in stages, with each stage containing healthy options.


Outside of that, Budapest has the second oldest metro in the world, the House of Terror is the best private museum I've visited, and there's very little architecture to take pictures of.  It's a beautiful city in its own distinctive way, and I feel like there's no place like Budapest on this earth.

GRAFFITI AND YOU:  On a wall highlighting the Hungarian struggle against communism in the 80's, 1985 is defined by this man.

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