My final day began with a trip to the famous Budapest market to hopefully spend the few coins I had acquired during the trip. Except for the market, everywhere is pretty cashless out in Budapest; so you could manage quite well without much cash. The market was huge and I enjoyed browsing around the array of stalls that sold everything from fruit and veg to souvenirs. I finally settled on a small picture of the Parliament Building by the river, and this has now taken pride of place by my dressing table in the bedroom.
After finishing up here, I remembered that I still hadn’t been to look at any of the famous Turkish baths. It would have been lovely to spend a day in one, but time didn’t really allow. So, I popped over to the Gellert hotel and went to view their thermal bath and swimming pool. They offer a wide variety of treatments here including therapies to help a variety of medical conditions, pedicures, massages, and there is a sauna. The place was certainly worth a visit with its stunning architecture, even though I didn’t have time to indulge more.
My last trip, before it was sadly time to leave this beautiful city and trek back to the airport, was the amazing Parisi Parish café, which is part of the Parisi Udvar hotel and was one of the few lucky buildings to escape damage during WW II. In 1906, this hotel used to be Budapest’s central savings bank, and the one-of-a-kind experience incorporates elements from Gothic, Moorish and Arabic designs - some aspects of the hotel’s designs were produced by the same people who designed Harrods in London. The café is like stepping back in time and one can almost imagine someone like Poirot stepping in through the doors! The cakes are exquisite here and the experience alone was worth the little extra cost.
