Budapest - Day 3

Being that we were in Budapest we decided to visit one of the famous spas. It was an absolutely gorgeous day as we got a cab over to the Gellert Spa. It is a gorgeous building with beautiful tile mosaics. We arrived, paid our fee and were a little confused about where we were supposed to go. We stopped by the information desk and the nice lady there showed us into the women's area of the spa. We were then put in the hands of the matron in the change room. We ordered around by this women who looked like she could crush us with her bare hands. "COME!" was her favorite and maybe only English word. We arranged to get a quick 20 min massage and headed to the hot thermal pools. They were really enjoyable, apart from getting an eyeful of old naked Hungarian women. I will also say that the massage was really weird but also great!

We left the spa feeling wonderfully relaxed and with a few stories that will make us giggle for years to come. (Our other fellow travelers had a few to add as well). Off to explore Pest some more.

Back to the Market, of course for a little more shopping. I have to admit that I did come home with 4 new scarves and other neat tidbits. Lunch was at a great little cafe where we ate in the sunshine on the patio. It was nearly 20 degrees outside which is very unusual for Budapest this time of year, so we soaked up some sun.

We decided to head back to Hero's Square, it is a very impressive monument to all the great heroes from Hungary.

Back to the Parliament buildings for another look at the beautiful architecture. Not to far from the parliament is a statue of President Imre Nagy, he was executed by the Soviets. Andrea, our tour guide had told us that his statue is placed on a bridge to symbolize the country crossing from communism to democracy and he is facing the Parliament building which is a symbol of democracy and liberty.

We then walked back down along the Danube and stopped at the memorial on the riverbank to the group of Hungarian Jews that were rounded up, brought down to the riverside, shot and thrown in to the river. It was a very sobering tribute, the replica iron shoes of men women and children sitting empty on the riverside.

We had been so impressed with the Gerbeaud coffee house that we stopped again for a treat and coffee. Back at the hotel, we met up with a few of our other ladies and all went to dinner together. After dinner we got our whole group together to present a thank you gift to our trip organizer. She did such an amazing job. Thanks so much, Sherri! We also exchanged stories from the spa and had a good laugh, many of us laughing until we cried..