Budapest...yeah, more like BudaBEST!

As it turns out, Budapest is a completely radical city. Even though Taylor and I spent the majority of our time there lost on various forms of transit, spent 3 nights in three different hostels, ate American fast food a bunch, and almost couldn't find an affordable way out of town, we both really liked it. It is completely livable, has a really strong history of social/political rebellion, and has beautiful architecture. Our first day in town was Taylor's birthday, but we took an overnight train from Belgrade which we didn't get much sleep on, and she was asleep by 11. I checked us into a private room in a college dorm that was completely deserted, so at least we had that going for us. Happy Birthday, Taylor!

OOOOk...on our second day in town we took a bus to the outskirts of Budapest to a outdoor museum called Memento Park. Hungary is one of the few countries to publicly recognize and educate outsiders about their communist past, and this park was a pretty powerful reminder of that. The museum gathered many of the giant statues that celebrated communist brotherhood (huge statues of Stalin, a giant communist soldier, statues of happy workers, cubist statues of Marx and Engels) and put them all in one place. The park itself could have used a little landscaping, I suppose, but the statues themselves were really enjoyable for the both of us. They also showed a film (thankfully subtitled in English) that was a collection of dozens of secret communist police videos instructing agents how to spy on the people. Some really interesting Big Brother stuff. None of the films had credits, so nobody knows who made them, who starred in them, etc. They just know that they were shown at a Secret Police College. Incredibly interesting.

Go Lenin, it's ya birthday, we're gonna party like it's ya birthday...



Oh...and since it's your birthday Lenin, check out my fucking stunt!



Incredibly huge statue...honestly not sure what this one is about, but it's radical nonetheless:



We also went to a Turkish bathhouse right on the shores of the Danube River. Budapest is located above a bunch of hot and cold springs, and they channel them all into these spots. The one we went to was a bit pricey, but it was a real nice way to spend an afternoon, just lazing about, going swimming, sitting in hot tubs, having swim races, reading and falling asleep face down in the grass:



Oh, what? Two stunts in the same post? Yes, ma'am:



Other tidbits of interest;

Look kids, Parliament!



A bridge!




Taylor and I both agree that on a future Europe trip, we will start in Spain, fly to Budapest, and travel further east in Europe or Russia. Totally great city. As I write this, we're on a bus just outside of Bratislava, Slovakia en route to Prague, Czech Republic. Get into it!