Day 9: From Ruin Bars to the Four Seasons (Sunday, November 20)

I had such a great plan for Sunday, but you know what they about plans (actually I can't remember what they say exactly). But, we started a little later than intended because Rachel was on a roll with her algo homework (and Julia was helping and I didn't want to interrupt them). We knew we needed to see a ruin bar while we were in town, but instead of going to check out the rockin' nightlife they are known for, we walked the other direction across the park to pick up a car on the app and drove to the Sunday Farmer's Market at the well-known Szimpla. It was actually a much better time to go because we could actually see the building on how they have made use of spaces that were bombed during the war but not rebuilt.

We ran into one of Rachel's friends Shreya (on her birthday) and her mom who was visiting from India. They are wonderful and we had a lot of fun chatting, and even started planning our future trip to India. (People should really be careful about inviting us places if they don't mean it -- we will show up!)

The next part of my plan was to take the metro straight out to the Széchenyi Thermal Baths in City Park. The last time we were in Budapest, Jim had had a hip replaced a few months prior and his doctor told him no hot tubs for a YEAR, so we didn't go in. We did however take a picture of Jim hoisting Rachel over his shoulder for some reason long forgotten, but we recreated it nonetheless.

Though Jim had just replaced the other hip less than three months prior, his doctor hadn't given him (forgotten to?) the same warning and he was ready to go! We entered the side nearest the metro stop and were told it was full (though the lobby was empty) and we should go to the main entrance on the other side. It was PACKED full of people. We decided to come back Tuesday morning before Rachel's classes (our original plan) and to head to Menza for some lunch instead. Unfortnately, Menza had a 50-minute wait so we went to the Hungarian restaurant next door, knowing it had mediocre reviews, because I wanted some chicken parprikash. It was actually pretty good.

We had reservations at the Four Seasons for high tea at 4:00 pm so we got tickets for the St. Stephen's Basilica nearby and took Rick Steve's tour of the inside (but not before getting another chimney cake and roasted chestnuts in the Christmas Market outside).

As soon as we saw that St. Stephen himself was at the alter (not Jesus) and that his mummified right hand is on display, we remembered that we had in fact been there before.

We walked over to the Four Seasons for our high tea, which was one of the fanciest things we’ve ever done--from the fancy china place settings, to the harpist playing by our table, to the delicious treats.

We sat there for the full two hours we were allowed. If you only have time for one of the high tea experiences in Budapest, this is definitely the one to go with. It was pitch black by the time we walked out but still pretty early. We walked back to our apartment by the newly relocated statue of Nagy (who is now overlooking nothing in particular). Rachel did her homework, I worked, Julia called Daniel, and Jim went to the Flippermúzeum, a pinball museum he had visited last time and was only a few blocks away--and he brought us back Sunday night pizza!

Rachel went out to a birthday party for Shreya afterward and the rest of us were happy to stay home and play some cards before bed.