Budapest, Day2

Day two in Budapest was much better, and possibly my favourite day of our stay. We had looked into getting grand prix tickets as the Formula 1 race was on at the Hungaroring, but general admission tickets are the same price as Silverstone tickets and the circuit isn't as exciting. Instead, after having a mosey around the St Stephen's area, we went to Szechenyi Baths which is housed in the most gorgeous yellow Neo-Baroque complex.

Szechenyi Bath and Spa was the first thermal baths built on the Pest side of Budapest. Budapest, you see, is spilt by the River Danube into Buda and Pest. The Baths are located in the City Park area of the city (Városliget), which is easier to get to by tube, though we found that a taxi there worked out at only £2 more - bargain!

My favourite pool was the outdoor thermal one, which has a lovely water temperature of 38°C. It's like swimming in a big, toasty bath!

After four hours there we headed to the Zoo, which is just across the road. As it had giraffes, it won my approval immediately. For 1990 HUF a ticket, it's quite good value.

Here's the thing to note about the currency, everything seems very expensive because of the numbers involved... 1990 HUF is only about £6.50 though. Although we referred to it as HUF, officially the currency is called the Forint.

At the Zoo, we had some Kürtőskalács, which is Hungary's oldest pastry. It's also quite tasty! We tried cinnamon, but you can get other flavours.

Afterwards we walked to the very impressive Heroes' Square, which is also in the City Park area. Construction began in 1886, but it wasn't completed until 1900, which is why part of it is known as the Millennium Memorial. Here you can also find the Museum of Fine Arts and the Palace of Arts, though sadly we didn't get chance to visit either.

From the very impressive Heroes' Square, it's a short walk to Vajdahunyad Castle where you'll find the famous Statue of Anonymous. (If you touch his pen, you receive good luck; I found this out *after* we visited the statue!) There's also the Church of Ják here and several museums.

The Castle area is an interesting blend as the buildings are in four different architectural styles: Romanic, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque. This is what I really loved about Budapest - there are so many different styles and it's all so pretty!

After a very long but amazing day, we ended the evening with dinner at the yummy MO restaurant, which is just near St Stephen's. x