Where Bathhouses Aren’t Gay and “Wiener” Isn’t Dirty

Now that I’m staring down the barrel of the proverbial gun and returning to Seattle in less than two weeks, I’m traveling as much as possible. Well, almost. I realized retrospectively how I could have bough myself three more days on the road. Oh well, c’est la vie.

As you may have been able to deduce from this title, I spent some time in Budapest in Vienna this past week. I like to think I’ve gotten fairly good at touring cities in a few days, but, man, three days in Budapest wasn’t nearly enough. A week and a half would have been much better. Alas, my professors insist on giving exams. Budapest used to be two cities – Buda and Pest – so I should have realized I’d need to double my time there relative to other cities I visit.

I spent my first day on Castle Hill. I would say the weather hindered my ability to take in the sights, but I know what the weather has been like in Washington. So mine could have been much worse. I didn’t take many pictures, afraid the rain might damage my camera, but it wasn’t unbearable. Not only were Buda Castle and Matthias Church impressive (the church was closed for renovation, but the outside is the most interesting part, anyway), but the hill gives a view of all of Pest along the Danube.

Under the castle is a series of caves formed by Budapest’s hot springs and later connected with a series of tunnels to be used as a military fortification. Today, the labyrinth is a sort of prehistoric art museum. Between the dim lights, percussive music, and name “labyrinth,” I kept expecting something to jump out at me, be it that weird thing from Pan’s Labyrinth with eyes in its hands or David Bowie flanked by a horde of Jim Henson-designed goblins. I’m not sure which would have scared me more.

On the second and third days, I walked around Pest, seeing the many sights there. The Great Synagogue is the largest in Europe. City Park houses a zoo, a circus, an amusement park, and another Castle. St. Stephen’s Basilica marks the first time in my life I saw the mummified hand of a Saint. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a chance to make it to one of the city’s famous thermal baths. Oh well, one can never see everything. I guess that just means I’ll have to come back.

Vienna has to be the Christmasiest place I’ve ever visited (I originally wrote “most Christmasy” there. The grammar check changed it to “Christmasiest.” I had no idea that was a word). At least it has the most Christmas markets per square mile of any city I’ve ever seen. Schonbrunn, the summer palace, also has a labyrinth – this one like the hedge maze from The Shining. Unfortunately, it’s closed during the winter.

Even for royalty, I think having two palaces about two kilometers apart is excessive. Evidently the Hapsburgs didn’t agree, though. Though Vienna being the seat of the Austro-Hungarian empire for so long does mean it has a lot of culture. Much like Salzburg, Mozart is everywhere. But there’s a bit more variety, such as Strauss, the Vienna Boys Choir, and the Schonbrunn Symphony.

Unfortunately, the trip as a whole had to be cut shorter than I would have liked. Seriously, it’s like professors are under the impression that I’m here for school or something. My next trip is going to be profoundly different from anything I’ve done so far, though, so brace yourselves for one hell of a post in a week and a half.