9. Beautiful Budapest (Part 2)

Budapest was a treasure trove of sensory delights, culture and beauty. From the Jewish Quarter where we were staying to the Inner city there was such a difference, including the polished marble paths and buildings. It was just so perfect! Vaci street, the Parlimentary buildings, the banks of the Danube. Buda, the Citadel and Liberty lookouts and the city gardens were all stunning. We adored it all!

6m deep communist facade. A shallow bunch...

Keen to gain some cultural knowledge we headed off to do the Budapest Walking Tour early on our second morning. Somehow ending up on the Communist Tour rather than the general tour we were stoked with our fortune and were amazed by how much we learnt, and the knowledge and passion of our 20 something tour guide. Her detail and enthusiasm for her country and culture was admirable and highlighted how little many of us really learn, or possibly care about Australian history. Despite our frozen fingers and toes we found coffee to warm us up and headed on to join the Budapest main walking tour for the afternoon. Zoltan our guide was just brilliant, a true entertainer and story teller. We had a blast and his assistance with ensuring we could access every part of the tour was just fantastic. The facts were amazing - extended families all living in tiny apartments, even today. The hiding of religious preference during the communist years, the communist attitude we witnessed still alive in the city, particularly amongst so called authoritarian figures. The history of the bridges, the Danube, the market place, even the pixie sitting on the fence down by the Danube. The fact that all monuments, other than the Liberty and Soviet now reside in the cemetery. The Hungarians are a witty bunch!

And the places we saw...  The original chain bridge, the communist facades added to renaissance buildings throughout the city, some only 6m deep (symbolic much?!), the 365 windows of the Parliamentary building. The site of the doomed protest and revolution. The police buildings. The Matthias Church and Fishermans Bastion up on the Buda hill. The bright, colored and spotlessly clean roof tiles on the Market buildings.

On our own adventures over the next few days we sampled local Hungarian restaurants trying their goulash and dumplings. We rolled around the City Park in the sunshine for hours loving the green space, bright flowers, revolution monument and the castle in the middle of the lake. We tried many wine bars as well as another of the famed Ruin Bars, Szimpla. Hero Square and Andrassy Avenue were definite favorites and we loved taking in the embassy's, beauty and perfectly trimmed hedges lining the Avenue. Hero Square was full of people and the monuments certainly worth seeing. Budapest was a great city to simply wander in as it is quite flat and easy to get around; on the Pest side anyway!

Hero Square, top of Andrassy Avenue.

Revolution Memorial, City Park

  

Another of Zoltan's recommendations had been to find the Alexandra Coffee House on Andrassy Ave as it was his favorite and much quieter than the New York. It was fantastic, the ceiling frescoes were incredible and it even served excellent coffee, Melbourne style! Getting inside was a bit of an adventure too, and we took the escalator up- Dickey holding on to the moving sides and me standing behind. The cafe is above the bookstore and once on the second floor there is an accessibility lift up to the cafe level. What we found on the way down was a proper lift, to the ground floor. No wonder the poor staff were looking at us like we were more than odd!

Citadel and Liberty Statue

We loved the Citadel and Fortress and enjoyed taking in the Liberty Statue with a bit of sunshine at the end of the day and the Trabi's lined up at the base of the hill ready to transport tourists to the top. For us it involved finally getting on the right bus, with the help of a tourist to assist me lifting Dickey on. Once at the end of the bus line it was worth every effort between us to get to the summit and see the views! Not an easy trip and we definitely earnt our dinner!











Our final day in Budapest was miserably wet and icy cold. We had made inquiries at all of the famed Bath Houses, and had been assured by staff that Szechenyi Baths was accessible. We decided this would be a great way to escape the weather and spend our final day in Hungary. Sadly it was a total fail and when we returned to our hotel many hours later we were soaked, frozen and disappointed. It was a total comedy of errors from arrival and even trying to get out to the pools from the labyrinth of change cubicles was a challenge with no one to direct us. We had envisaged Cleopatra type bathing, minus the milk, with glorious smells, warm baths, beautiful people and luxurious surrounds. It was not.

Outside view of Szechenyi Baths

Old tired baths, offensive smells and people practically sitting on top of each other, staring at us as we wandered by. Finally we found a mobility lift near the 'exercise pool' and looked around for a way to use it, or an attendant. We found neither and with the help of an elderly patron, (in speedos that had seen better days around 3 years prior) we found a staff member to assist, requesting help for us to get in one of the warmer pools. This was not to be and in a moment of bravery (insanity?!), Dickey inquired about accessibility to the outdoor pools and was assured there was a lift and attendant to assist. Long story short, there was a lift down, but the manual lift into the outdoor pool was out of order. The lifeguard had taken us down in the lift in 8o and rain, while we had only our swimmers on and a towel,  all the while knowing there was no way to get Dickey from his wheelchair into the pool. His plan it seems, had been to 'throw him in'. Possibly one of those 'had to see it to believe it moments' but him miming how he planned to launch Dickey in to the water flabbergasted us and with that we shivered our way back inside, changed and headed to reception to request (demand) a refund. We are pretty care free type of people, used to hiccups and things not going to plan, but this pushed us over the edge and we failed to see the funny side. The whole situation astounded us. The lifeguard thinking his plan was brilliant and laughing his way through the explanation, taking us out in the cold on the lift in the first place, being told it was wheelchair accessible when clearly it was not and most of all them taking our money in the first place. To this day we have no idea what they thought we were going to do at the pools. In short, NONE of the Bath Houses in Budapest are wheelchair accessible, unless you wish to remain in the Hydro pool and I'm pretty sure you could just stay and home and do this. Also the famous bath house's really didn't seem as magnificent as you might be led to believe. We're pretty sure now that it is not a coincidence that the main image you see for all the bath houses is the one above. By all means go to the outdoor pool, it is remarkable, but a word of warning, don't even bother going inside!

Of the whole trip this was only one of a few major disappointments, that was only worsened by the fact that Dickey has no ability to shiver to warm himself up. Subsequently our final afternoon in Budapest was spent with Dickey wrapped in jackets, blankets and in my pink bedsocks socks, sound asleep.
I managed to selvage the afternoon and spent it curled up with a book and a bottle of wine. Not a bad way to finish the week after all! Overall we adored Budapest and in terms of accessibility it is manageable. People are friendly and accommodating and for an old city they are really doing their best to make it welcoming for everyone.

Next stop, Prague!