Budapest with the Boumans, Part II (Thursday, October 6, 2011)

Today we got up to see Parliament, first thing. It's a gorgeous building, one Brian and I had actually already seen years ago, and Brian couldn't wait to get inside again. According to the website, the first tour is at 10:00, and you can buy your tickets when you come. No advance purchase. Well. They didn't tell us that the ticket office opened at 8, so when we got there around 9:40 the next available tour was 2:00! Oh well. I am not sure how interested the brood would have been in the 60-minute tour anyway, so much to Brian's chagrin, we went shopping instead.

The City Market is an big indoor market. The entire first floor is food--cheese, baked goods, meats, assorted lunch needs. The second floor is more like an arts and crafts market, tourist-ized. Lots of little tchotchkes to bring home. We picked out a couple of tiny things (no room in our bags for more!) and put Brian out of his misery.

On the way out, we bought some things for lunch and went for a walk up Gellert Hill, where we climbed to their Lady Liberty statue (It's a woman holding up a palm frond, but we're fuzzy on the details). We could see so much from up there! And even better, we managed to find free bathrooms, avoiding the $2.50 we seem to end up paying every time someone in the family has to go. Now that's liberty. On the way down we happened upon a long slide that Allison wanted to try. She flew down it, so Julie and I each took a turn shooting down and being unceremoniously dumped in the sand at the end. Dusty, but fun. No matter, the dust would soon be taken care of.

Our real destination for the day was the Szechenyi baths, a complex of pools, hot tubs and saunas running through a palace-like estate. We shared the experience with a decent crowd for a Thursday afternoon in October, including a number of men and women of advanced age in very small bathing suits. Always a treat. And believe me, we have no illusions about our own advanced state--we just try to cover it up a bit more... Allison avoided the thermal mineral baths and stuck to the outdoor pools, where it didn't smell "eggy." It was the perfect way to spend a summer-warm October day, especially for our recently pavement-punished feet. Ahh.

By the time we got home there was just enough time to get to the grocery store and turn a few things into Julie's wonderful lentil/sausage stew and a fresh salad. Later, we headed back to our apartment, escorted by 4 Boumans, and we passed a memorial set up for 13 generals who were executed on October 6, 1848, for attempting to overthrow the government. These rebels were trying to overthrow the Habsburg Empire, which we read about with so much flourish in Vienna. The Habsburgs' Austro-Hungarian Empire extended into far lands, and this memorial reminded us that the huge empire, while beloved in Austria, was not so beloved in other areas that it ruled.

After some determined hunting, we were able to find a store that was still open so we could share some ice cream before saying goodbye. We have some great new memories to look back on, and we're happy for Jeff and Julie that they have a couple more months to enjoy yet!

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