Buda-Pest (aka Budapest)

So today we headed into Budapest, we only had one evening here, so it was short stay for sure. The reason I titled this post the way I did, is because I learned something new about the city during my trip, which for years, I've always called Budapest (just as it looks). Well let me start by saying, that everytime our tour leader Carly would announce Budapest in conversation, she would say it as "Buda-pescht", and all of us would look at each other and make comments about how it was funny that she was saying it wrong.....well turns out, WE were the ones who have been saying it incorrectly.

So basically, Budapest used to be two different cities (Buda and Pest), divided by the river called the Danube River, and when they decided to unite, that is when it became the city we now know as Budapest. I just thought that was an interesting tidbit of history for you, and a lesson that just because us Americans say a word one way, doesn't mean it's necessarily the right way!  LoL

Anyways, so when we drove into the city, we met with a local guide who hopped on board to take us on a driving tour of the city since we had such limited time for the day. We drove through and saw Heroe's Square, Drove past the Danube River on both the Buda and Pest side, Passed by the famous Chain Bridge with it's beautiful lion sculptures gracing the entrances on both sides, saw the Buda Castle across the river, and walked up Fisherman's Bastion to get a better look of the whole city from a height!

Views from the Top

Buda and Pest separated by the River Danube

Heroe's Square

Fisherman's Bastion

Beautiful Buda Castle

The Charles Bridge and River Danube

After our driving tour, we still had the full evening to ourselves, although we could've gone back and seen some of these sights up close, majority of us decided to take in the relaxing side of Budapest, and head to the Thermal Baths that Budapest is known for. They have various spas and pools of different temperatures for you to get into, and just swim, lounge, and relax in. The baths were a bit disappointing to me once I arrived, although it was a beautiful building, and it was neat to go into the various pools, to me it resembles a bunch of swimming pools, and nothing special,however, the pools may have had "medicinal" features to them which I just didn't know about (because supposedly that's why they're so special, they're intended to be healing),  but either way it was still a good way to relax and kick back with the rest of the group members, and at least now I can say that I have "been there done that", when asked if I went to the thermal baths of Budapest right?!?!?   We actually went to the most popular of them all: Szechenyi Baths