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The tram stopped right next to the bridge leading to Margaret Island. The island is used mainly for recreation, with miles of walking trails, gardens, fountains, a small zoo, and even some ruins of an old church. Of course, the park wouldn't be complete (at least not in Hungary) without a public bath area. These types of baths can be found all over the city and are more like water parks including an extra large swimming pool. The baths also usually include some spa services and different temperature pools of natural mineral water.
We crossed back over the bridge and into Pest once again. Somehow during our time on the bike we'd lost our only map of the city. It did get quite bumpy for a while there when Mario kept taking the bike off-road! Anyways, it's pretty easy to find a tourist map around this city. After a couple tries, we found a bar and grill that had the usual tourist brochures and one included a good map. Back on track, we were headed in the direction of a falafel restaurant we'd seen an ad for in the paper the other day. We decided to jump on the tram again, as it also was running down the road we needed to walk on. We probably should have felt bad about not getting any ticket to be validated again, but we didn't really think it was a big deal.
We took the M1 Yellow Line metro 4 stops to City Park. The Yellow Line is the oldest underground in continental Europe dating back to 1896 (London's is the oldest in all of Europe). It did seem pretty old and smaller than most subways, but not anywhere near as bouncy or noisy as the subways in Russia!
Inside City Park, we walked around the outside of the Vajdahunyad Castle and the small artificial lake. The castle is somewhat strange looking since it is made of up of many different architecture styles (including baroque, Romanesque, gothic and tudor) and modeled after 21 different buildings found all throughout Hungary. Behind the castle is a church that also seemed pretty unique looking.
We went back to our hotel and cooled off a little before heading back out for dinner. This time we'd picked out a sushi restaurant from online. We took a nice stroll down Vaci, the main pedestrian-only shopping street. We had a light meal of sushi rolls and then stopped off at another small cafe for a raspberry and vanilla crepe for dessert. It was a great way to end our time in Budapest. Day 176 - Budapest < | Index | Photo Galleries | > Day 178 - Gyor © 2007 Blue Ocean Studios, LTD. All rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Services | About | Contact Prints | Return Policy | View Cart World Travel Galleries | World Travel Blog | Links |
After our small breakfast at the hotel, we got ready for another day of touring in Budapest. On our agenda for the morning was Margaret Island, a small island set in between Buda and Pest in the middle of the Danube River. Since the island was a pretty far walk from our hotel, we opted to take the old style tram that runs on tracks up and down the river front. We thought we'd have to pay for the tram either at the stop or once we were inside, but didn't see anywhere to pay. Later, we found out that we should have pre-bought one of the metro/bus tickets and validated it once on the tram. They have these little machines you can stick a ticket into and it writes the timestamp on the ticket. Not once have we seen anyone checking any of the tickets (even on the metro!). We also noticed most locals aren't validating any tickets (maybe they all have monthly passes?). Either way, we weren't too concerned about our free tram ride. 
We had noticed that there was a large bike rental center on the island, and thought that sounded like a pretty good way to tour. We ended up renting one of those 4 wheel bikes with a canvas roof for about $8 per hour. It did end up being pretty fun and a much faster way to circle the entire island than walking. We managed to make a circuit of the major attractions on the island and back in 1 hour. One of the highlights of the park is Hungary's largest fountain which makes the water dance to music every hour. 
On our way to the tram, Mario spotted a Burger King. He decided that would really hit the spot, and make up for the horrible non-edible burger in Eger. Especially since he wasn't sure about his taste for falafels! I tried to tell him falafels are good but I think something about the restaurant being called "the Hummus Bar" scared him off. He enjoyed his Burger King meal and then we hopped on the tram for my falafel. We found the restaurant and I finally got to have my falafel dream fulfilled! It was delicious, with onions, cabbage, spices, falafels (of course), and hummus packed into a fresh pita. Mario tried a bite and he even wished he'd had a falafel instead of his hamburger!
Right outside City Park, we stopped to see Heroes' Square. The square is lined with tall columns with copper statues in between each one and on top. In the center of the square is a 36 meter tall column with the Archangel Gabriel. This square was built in 1896 to celebrate 1,000 years since the settlement of the Hungarian people in the Carpathian Basin. 
We checked out the Szechenyi Baths, built in 1908 and one of the largest spa and bath complexes in all of Europe! We didn't have our bathing suits with us, so we only looked in through the windows. You have to pay to get into the pool area plus any additional fees for spa treatments. This place has 9 pools as well as steam rooms and cold water tubs. Most people we saw looked like they were treating it as a relaxing day at the beach - sunning on pool chairs and swimming in the largest outdoor pool. 