Fighting4Sanity

When something finally clicks its like a lightbulb going off in your head.  For us, this happened with getting a handle on the Budapest Mass Transist.  On our last visit to Budapest we walked everywhere.  We walked down the street to the Pegseg (bakery/coffee shop), we walked several km to this castle, or that.  Walked into city center for shopping or to meet friends, walked home after a night of drinking.   We did look into the public transit at the time, however managing the paper tickets, getting our head around the schedule was just a bridge too far for us, especially considering we both grew up in cities/towns that didnt require mass transit to get around, not to mention the lack of infrasture for it!  Budapest has made this sooo much easier with their BudapestGo app.  Aside from being able to purchase a pass that is valid for 2 weeks, all you need to do is scan a qr code with the app to board any of the mass transits (bus, trams, and metros).  It also has a route planning feature allowing you to pick where you want to go and it will help you find the combination for services that will get you there the fastest.  It has been a revelation for this trip.  What would have likely been a 2 hour walk down to the Pegseg and back was 20ish minutes round trip.  Want to go into city center, 30 minutes each way instead of likely hours of walking.  

This morning we did just that, we hopped on a bus and ran down to the Pegseg to pick up pastries and coffee for everyone.  Since we are all still recovering from jetlag, we opted to spend the morning climbing Gellert Mountain (its really more of a big hill) to see the Citadel.  Along the way we discovered several flower gardens and of course had to get some pictures of the flowers.

Apparently the gardens are part of a Zöld Budapest project which is aiming to increase the green spaces around the city.  Of course, a fountain was also found and splashing ensued...

Unfortunately our trip to the Citadel was cut a little short.  Turns out the entire complex is currenty closed for some very past due renovations.  I wasnt able to find an estimated completion date.  

Our next stop on the amazing transit system was to the center city for the Szechenyi Baths.  These are natural spring water baths.  The entire region is covered with these natual springs and numerous baths come built around them. 

The baths contain pools of various temperatures ranging from 20c (approx 65f) to 40c (approx 104).  We spent a little time in all of them.  One of the highlights was going from the hot bath to the cold bath, to say it was a shock is an understatement.  From what im told that kind of shock is good for the system. 

One of the great things about being in the center of the city, is that there are a number of really cool things to see that are really close at hand.  Within a 5ish minute walk from the baths is Heroes Square.  This large square is home large statues of some of Hungaries most notable historic figures.   These figures date back to the late 900ad's.  

And to cap of the evening, our friends came over to cook us an amazing hungarian meal called lecsos.  We all contributed including a last minute run to the grocery store for a missing ingredient (gotta love mass transit).

I love that I was able to enjoy a meal with dear friends.  We laughed and joked, and maybe helped show my family what it is we love about this country.