Hashing in Budapest...

I tried contacting the Budpast Hash before we arrived, but had no luck. While walking around one night, Jimmy approached a fellow that was wearing a hash shirt. He told us where the start was that Sunday. We didn’t have running gear with us, but we figured we could walk. We misjudged how long it would take us to get to the start and ended up having to take a taxi. Anyways, it was a small group that gathered with three walking visitors, so they decided to take us into the hills and go hiking instead.

I can’t remember the name of this area, but it was beautiful. I wasn’t so fond of the climb back down the steep path on the left, but at least I survived to tell the tale. What a fun way to end a great visit to Budapest.

After our hike, we had a circle for down-downs. Ironically, an American hasher that was visiting relatives just happened upon us and joined us for a few songs. Afterwards, we hitched a ride back into town and went to our favorite ruin pub with a few hashers until it was time to grab our luggage and head to the airport.

Interesting Sights in Budapest...

We laughed when we came across this Dutch pizzeria (in case you’re not aware, Den Haag is the Dutch name for The Hague). Not surprisingly, it was decorated in orange.

We saw several murals, but this was one along the tram tracks was definitely my favorite.

Jimmy was quite excited when we happened upon the grand opening of Hungary’s first Hooters Restaurant. Of course, he somehow still contends that its a great family restaurant while playing with his own hooters.

They have scary big burgers and hot dogs in Budapest!

5-Star Partying...

We were amazed by the great deal we got at the Corinthian Hotel. We knew that our rate included breakfast and happy hour, but in actuality there was free food and drinks served on the concierge level all through the day, which was perfect for us cheapskates.

One afternoon, the sun shone just right to create a reflection in my wine glass. Of course, I didn’t take just these two photos; I took a whole bunch with Jimmy warning me when the next tram was coming by. That evening, an Irish guy asked us why Americans were so fixated on trams, which gave us a good laugh. He was with us when we nearly crashed a high society wedding; we’d been invited inside for a beer after chatting with a buddy of the Canadian groom, but made a quick exit when we were surrounded by security (apparently the Hungarian bride parties with Will and Kate when she’s in London).

Spa Time in Budapest...

After cycling, we visited Szechenyi Thermal Baths, which is the largest medicinal bath in Europe. Built in 1913, its water is supplied by two thermal springs. It has 3 outdoor and 15 indoor pools of varying temperatures.

We preferred the much smaller Rudas Bath. This centerpiece of the bath was built in 1550 with its Turkish dome and octagonal pool. Surrounding it are four thermal pools ranging from a cool 82° F/ 28° C to a toasty 107° F/ 42° C. Since it was a Turkish bath, I thought we’d get a massage like the one I had in Turkey. Boy, was I wrong! While Jimmy enjoyed his massage, my masseuse looked like Attila the Hun and seemed to take pleasure in beating me with his bar of soap.

Budapest Cycling Tour...

When we arrived for our cycling tour, we discovered that the other riders were a group of seven Danish guys. Being the only woman along, I was a bit intimidated, but luckily I was able to hold my own even on the hilly Buda side of the river.

The parliament building was built in 1904 along the banks of the Danube on the Pest side (Buda and Pest were originally separate cities, but united in 1873).

Budapest only has a few cycle lanes, so we spent much of the tour either with traffic or dodging pedestrians on sidewalks.

The Buda side was very scenic. Here is Matthais Church, built in the 14th century, and the Fisherman’s Bastion, a terrace with seven towers. We stopped for lunch at an outdoor cafe in a park. Jimmy enjoyed the traditional Hungarian stew, while I had the grilled veggies.

3rd Best Bar in the World?

Our favorite ruinpub was Szimpla Kert (Simple Garden), which was also the first when it opened in 2001. We enjoyed drinking a beer while sitting in the bathtub in the back corner of this room, one of the many funky rooms scattered over two floors.

We went back with some hashers and had a beer while sitting in this car in the courtyard. Lonely Planet named this the 3rd Best Bar in the World in February. Not sure if it really is, but it definitely is one of the most interesting bars we’ve ever visited.

 We especially liked the bike racks. 

Renewing Ruined Buildings...

Our walking tour ended at a ruinpub, a bar set up in an abandoned building.

This particular ruinpub was in what appears to be a courtyard, but was really just the open space between two abandoned buildings. It had previously been located down the street, but had to relocate when that building was renovated. These bars operate with government permission as they are licensed and are bringing people back to areas in need of redevelopment.

Later, we went to several other ruinpubs. One of the things we really liked was the crazy collections used as decorations. Here you see bikes and old TVs. This place also had meat grinders stacked along the bar counter.

Jewish District Walking Tour...

We went on a free walking tour of the Jewish District. We were very surprised by the Moorish architecture of the Dohany Street Synagogue, Europe’s largest and the 5th largest in the world. Unfortunately, we never made it back in time to tour the inside.

In the rear courtyard of the synagogue is the Memory Park that features this Memorial of the Hungarian Jewish Martyrs. This weeping willow bears inscriptions of the names of the 400,000 Hungarian Jews that were murdered by the Nazis.

Around the corner was this monument to the memory of Carl Lutz, a Swiss diplomat who saved over 50,000 Jews during the war by issuing rescue passports.

Off to Budapest...

We caught a train from Split to Zagreb. From the outside, the train looked modern, but apparently the rails haven’t been updated since they were installed around 1890, so the journey was shockingly slow. The air conditioning cut out along the 7-hour trip. At one point Jimmy commented that he wondered where the cowboys and Indians were. We spent a night in Zagreb with Narcissa and Hrvoje. We had dinner at a microbrewery, then hung out on their new rooftop terrace. The next morning, we caught another train without air conditioning to Budapest, Hungary.

We checked into the Corinthia Hotel, a 5-star hotel built in 1886 that was offering a deal we couldn’t pass up. Our room was lovely with his and hers closets.

We had a tough time with the denominations of the Hungarian Forints. Ten thousand forints was about $47 or € 36. A 500 forint beer might sound expensive, but was actually less than $2.50.

Another Day in Split...

While spending the afternoon designing a historic adventure game for the kids for next summer, we happened upon one of Europe’s oldest synagogues from the 16th century.

In the evening we discovered an absinthe bar. We were really impressed how elaborate the process was with this dedicated pink fairy.

Medieval Artisan in Split...

This fellow looked straight out of medieval times with his scraggly hair, leather clothes and a hefty sledgehammer. It was fun watching him make us a bunch of necklaces out of circles of brass.

Another Night in Hvar...

The restaurant where we ate dinner might possibly have the best view in town as it was upstairs so the views were unobstructed. While there, a ship pulled up similar to the one we’ll be chartering next summer.

Hvar was much busier than when we were there four years ago. The port was full of fancy yachts. The most impressive was the Prana at 169 feet long (the 33rd largest sailing vessel in the world). Built in 2006 in New Zealand, you can charter it for a mere € 185,000 per week.

Exploring Hvar...

We may not have been impressed with our accommodations, but did take advantage of their laundry services and scooter rental. We rode out past the city center and found a lovely coastal hotel for lunch. 

 After lunch we stopped for a swim.

 It was pretty cool riding through the city walls.

Next Stop: A Croatian Island....

We took the express bus back to Split, which cut a whopping 30 minutes off the long journey. We were impressed that the travel agency had someone waiting for us with catamaran tickets to Hvar, which were sold out by the time we arrived. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to work miracles with a place to stay. The place I found was about as far from town as possible; it was so dark walking back up the hill at night that Jimmy used his iPad to light the way.

My favorite food in Croatia: the grilled octopus

Hanging Around in Dubrovnik...

We found a shortcut from our hotel to the travel agent’s office which included going up and down a lot of stairs.

Why nap in a hot bus when you can
snooze in the luggage compartment?

We didn’t mean to order a lemon beer, but we loved it! It was amazingly refreshing on a hot summer’s day.

Kayaking in Dubrovnik...

The next morning we took a 5.5 hour bus trip to Dubrovnik so that we could meet with our travel agent. Luckily she was able to book us into a decent hotel for two nights. The first evening we drank a beer at a bar along these cliffs. The next night we went on a sunset kayaking trip. The paddling as we went on the far side of this island was more challenging than I’d expected, but made sense as we were then in the open Adriatic Sea.

The scenery was beautiful. I didn’t bring my camera along; these photos were taken the evening before.

Dubrovnik’s Old Harbor

Dubrovnik’s City Wall at Night