September 14 - September 17

We took our EasyJet flight to Budapest, Hungary and started the short journey from the airport to the city centre. I had been to Budapest once before but I had not seent he outskirts which are what you might expect of a former Soviet Bloc city. The scary looking communist projects gave way to American style strip malls and then the metro line startion. Upon arrival to the station and downtown areas we realized the bus used for the airport run was probably the nicest in town, a new Volvo. All the other buses we saw were 1980s vintage electric Ikarus models which I loved. At the metro station we managed to communicate with an older lady and she told us what ticket we needed for the train. After passing the validation machines and several armed guards we guessed what direction our train should be coming from and headed downtown.

We were conveniently dropped off near a hostel that I had stayed before but I was in for a surprise. I stayed with 4 friends in a dorm-style room earlier this year but this time Jessie and I were put into a former law office suite. There was fine wood work, art and furniture everywhere and the kitchen and bathroom looked like they were out of a home magazine. It was a nice surprise for 2 nights of relaxation and a break from normal hostels.

We met for a walking tour the next morning after guessing on some good breakfast foods at a local grocery. We learned that Budapest was home to the first underground metro in contenental Europe. It was built for a 19th century worlds fair and we took a ride on it from downtown to the Turkish baths.

We learned a lot about the city's history and I got to see a lot of what I missed the first trip. Chief among which was the House of Terror. It sounds like a bad roller coaster ride at Disney but was is actually the notorius location of Nazi and Soviet headquarters for over 50 years. Located on the nicest road in Budapest, it was converted to a museum to teach and recall all the horrific tortures, executions, spying and interrogations that took place under the rule of these two groups of facists. Great learning experience and I loved the military tank parked in a pool of black water and the official limo.