Overwhelmed by the energy of the city we decided to take it all in right in the center of everything. In a main square, near a lovely fountain, we found a sidewalk cafe, and had extremely overpriced drinks and a bite to eat. Then we ventured across "the Duna" (Danube) and up towards the expanse of sprawling elegant museums. We took this queer little funicular up the hill. The line was not short, and there was a fair amount of pushing to get the best seat, and yes, we totally won that battle, sorry Hungarian kids, foreign tourists first! The sun was back as was the sweat attack once up at the top of the hill. We took some great pictures, bought some nice trinkets, Mylo dunked his head in a drinking fountain which disgusted some onlookers, even the carriage jockey had to squirt off his team of horses with a hose trying to alleviate the unbearable heat. That made me happy, I worry about horses, their line of work seem at bit slavish and depressing.
There was a wedding party followed by a parade of guest that we watched filter past, on their way to a decadent party no doubt. We were not jealous of those poor sweaty people in their frilly dresses and heavy suits. We made our way to the Castle, and cruised the surrounding cobbled square, perhaps one of the most picturesque places in Europe. A spectacular view of the city, the Dona, and the "birthday cake" parliament building. (I didn't make that up, the Hungarians authored that insult for their most well-known piece of architecture).
We decided to walk down the hill this time, we wound through cobbled switchbacks and meandered through the surrounding neighborhoods, which were surprisingly silent compared to hustle and bustle near the museums. We paused only to use a public toilet that cost two Euro! It was much like an outhouse, yet with a bathroom attendant. (yes, we were perplexed by this also). We eventually made it down the hill where we looked at the birthday cake from across the river before heading back towards our hostel. We decided that there was no need to see the building close up as half of it was covered with scaffolding. Apparently it needs constant renovation...like the Golden Gate Bridge, I was glad to know it wasn't just America that was filled with shotty tourist attractions. We made another stop at a cheerful little music and craft fair that was just starting up. There looked to be some delicious smelling grilled treats, which we considered making our dinner, but ultimately decided to eat gelato and drink wine at a cafe along side the river. You never know with me; sometimes I prefer the plastic cup and paper plate dinner to the the crystal glasses and linen menus, especially when I sweaty and tired, but this day had been such a wonderful day- it needed to be toasted with the proper glassware. We each got a delicate ornamented ice cream sundae, which has yet to be surpassed both in flavor and presentation. The "fudlare" in Hungary is about the best their is in my mind. It was the perfect end to a perfect day of sight seeing!
On our way back towards the hostel we encountered a bit of rain, so Ashlee and I ducked into Zara to do a little shopping until the rain passed. Mylo went to look in another shop next door. I was amused that there was a man at the doors whose express orders seemed to be to bag people umbrellas. (Since then I have discover this to be a universal practice in many rainy cities, but this is the first time I had encountered it and it made me feel quite fancy.)(I bought a white dress that I was pretty excited about at the time, now when I see pictures of me in that dress, I wonder what I was thinking). By the time we had had a look at every garment in the store the rain had ceased enough to continue back to the hostel.
That night we had plans to meet up with Janie, her X, and one of his friends. We found them at an Irish pub just around the corner. We sat at metal tables outside where we had lovely view of the whitewash buildings and a impressive church in the middle of the square that sparkled intermittently as the moonlit night sky was interrupted sporadically by fast moving clouds. Our round of beers hadn't even arrived when we heard the thunder, we expeditiously gathered our things at once, as buckets of rain started to fall upon us. As the night progressed inside the typical Irish pub; complete with dark wood, darts, sticky floors and a stale basement smell, the beers continued to arrive one tray at a time. We talked European politics, and exchanged heated opinions (The Hungarian national pastime I gather, i.e drink and debate). I, however, was beat and could barely stay awake- we all were, well, except for Mylo and the boys.
Ashlee and I decided to head back and call it a night. Janie and her friends ended up heading back to their place across town, and Mylo had an adventure of his own which will be recounted in Part 13.
