This morning we headed off, with raincoats on, for a day of sightseeing around Budapest. After a pitstop for coffee and pastries we headed across the White bridge (Erzsébet bridge) and past Döbrentei square in the direction of the fortress on top of the hill, from this vantage point you can see the whole city spread out before you. After finding our bearings we moved on towards the Royal Palace further along the river.
We got a little disoriented walking through the winding streets until we came across Tabán park where we found another view point and a sculptured map of Budapest, from here we're able to reclaim our bearings once more and continue onto the Royal Palace.
The Royal Palace was the residence of Hungarian kings and Queens of the past and today houses a museum which unfortunately is closed on Mondays, we were however still able to get on-site for a look at the exterior of the Palace. From here we continued our walk along castle hill towards the Matthias Church, the official name is the "Church of our Lady", and is believed to have been originally built in Romanesque style in 1015. The current building was constructed in Gothic style in the second half of the 14th century and was extensively restored in the late 19th century. It was the second largest church of medieval Buda and the seventh largest church of medieval Hungarian Kingdom.
After admiring the church, the Fisherman's Bastion was next. This is a large white wall with towers, Sarah thought it had a very real Harry Potter feel about it. Built between 1890-1905, it is named after both the medieval fish-market once nearby and the Guild of Fishermen who defended this section of the wall during past wars.

Once finished we walked down the hill and crossed the Széchenyi chain bridge to start our exploration back across the river. We walked past Erzsébet Square on our way to visit the St Stephen Basilica, a Roman Catholic Basilica named in honour of Stephen, the first King of Hungary (975–1038), whose mummified fist is housed in the reliquary (this was a little odd to see).
From here it was up Andrásst Avenue and on towards City park which is fronted by "Heroes Square". The big statue in the middle is called the Millennium Memorial and was completed in 1900, the same year the square was named "Heroes' Square". It is surrounded by two important buildings, the Museum of Fine Arts on the left and Palace of Art (or more accurately Hall of Art) on the right.
After a morning spent sightseeing by foot in the cold rain we thought it was time to relax for a couple of hours, so it was into the Széchenyi thermal bath house located in City Park. The Szechenyi Bath and Spa was Budapest's first thermal baths on the Pest side and receives its thermal water from the 2nd St Stephan's well. It's been a permanent bath since 1913 but received a complete reconstruction in 1999 to bring it, and its equipment, up to modern day standards.

We started in the outside pool, which had steam rising from it as the warm waters battled against the cold air, the reward for braving the chill on your way to the pool would be worth it. Bare footed we scampered across the concrete before being embraced by the thermal water, you could almost here our muscles rejoicing as they unwound. There are 3 outside pools, a 38 degree, 35 degree and a swimming pool. After being pounded by the massage jets we moved to the 35 degree pool which has two inner circles, one of which has the jets pointed so as to create a current of water that is strong enough to carry you. We put ourselves in the current and for the next few minutes allowed ourselves to be carried around in a small circle, bumping and crashing into the others who opted into it. Next it was inside where there are a series of much smaller pools ranging from a chilly 20 degrees to a hot 40 degrees, there is also a number of steam rooms and saunas (including an infra-red sauna). We tried them all, it was a little piece of heaven for our bodies, in particular our legs and feet which have carried us over more kilometres than we'd dare to count.

After our relaxing soak, it was time for us to continue exploring. Vajdahunyad Castle was also in the city park so we stopped to check it out. It was built between 1896 and 1908, designed by Ignác Alpár. It is a partial copy of a castle in Transylvania Romania, also called Vajdahunyad, and displays lots of different architectural styles: Romanic, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque.Originally it was made from cardboard and wood for the millennial exhibition in 1896 but it became so popular that it was rebuilt from stone and brick.
After this, we decided that it had been a long and filled day so we started the walk home which would take about half an hour from City Park. We cooked pasta for dinner, updated our blog and retired early with our books in bed.