Vicariously living through myself: Which do you prefer...Buda or Pest?

I prefer Pest. A few weeks after our trip there I'm finally adding a bit of info about our great trip to Budapest, Hungary. Tessa and I went with two second year students; Nani and Eric. Eric is (was) at IESE on exchange from MIT and Nani is a good friend of Tessa's and a hellofa fanatic about Turkish Baths. Budapest is the capital of Hungary and was my first trip into Eastern Europe. Its different from Western Europe, not as commercial or touristy. Although we did go a little outside of the normal tourist season.Historically this was made up of two cities; Buda and Pest. They were split by a river that runs between them. There are several bridges that span the river including the Chain Bridge.

Statue on the Pest side with his back to the castle on Buda hill.

Chain Bridge

We stayed right in the center of the Pest side and could easily walk everywhere. These building s were across the street from where we stayed and give a good idea of how cool the architecture is when its taken care of. Quite a few buildings are simply allowed to fade and instead of the vibrant colors you see here, they are gray or dark.

The main market in Budapest offered many of the most well known Hungarian food at a discount to the prices offered elsewhere.

Here you see Nani enjoying a regular sausage whereas I couldn't help but like spicy horse sausage. I didn't want to like it and I never thought I would say this but holy cow, that was some good horse.

The public thermal bath we went to was a bit too public for our tastes. Nani could hardly stand the place although she did enjoy the scenery (you'll see what I mean in a second). I think we'll remember those thermal baths long after the taste of sausage has washed away from our memories.

I admit that from afar, this looks like a beautiful way to spend your afternoon. But take a look at the person you're sharing your bath with and then tell me how long you're going to stick around? Although the majority of Hungarian's were fit, I think the baths were a stomping ground for the big and bigger. Easily the most fat people I've seen since leaving the states , however, still less fat than in the states.

Bringing Sexy Back?

Here you see Eric blurring the distinction between big and HUGE.

The architecture was fantastic! So many refurbished extraordinary building set among old and crumbling buildings. Its not unusual to see the two buildings below on the same street. Although the green building is one of the coolest we saw in the city.

Budapest also has the 2nd largest Synagogue in the world after the one in New York. The design was very similar to a church but of course all the religious symbols are different. The plight of Hungarian Jews during WWII is still very much remembered today. Out of every 10 Jews killed during the holocaust, 1 was Hungarian. One out of every 3 Jews killed in Auschwitz was Hungarian. Eric has family in Budapest and they took great care of us. One of the members of his family is an Auschwitz survivor. It was very interesting to hear about her trip back to Auschwitz with her entire family and how her parents didn't make it but she was able to survive and travel back to the place with all her offspring. This synagogue is also interesting because it is the only one in the world that has a cemetery on the premises. This was because the ghetto was right next to this Synagogue and the Jews didn't have much of a choice.

Budapest was a great deal in comparison to anywhere in Western Europe. The hotels are a much better bargain and the food was half the price or less. The people were extremely nice but the overall temperament was a bit depressed. Kind of like when its raining so some external factor isn't allowing you to enjoy your day as much as you otherwise would. But as tourists we enjoyed every day and found the city to be enchanting and exciting.