The Gellert Baths, Jewish Quarter and the hike upto the Citadella – Budapest & Eger, Part 7

This post is the continuation of a series documenting our travels to the Hungarian cities of Budapest and Eger in the autumn of 2022. We had spent our anniversary partly in Eger ( A Day in the elegant town of Eger – Budapest & Eger, Part 5 ) and partly in Budapest where we did an evening cruise on the Danube after a great dinner up on castle hill ( Buda by night & a Night cruise down the Danube – Budapest & Eger, Part 6 ).

The prediction for the day after that was for a severe fog early in the morning. I woke up the next morning to go up to castle hill for sunrise again ( Enjoying a sunrise at the Fisherman’s Bastion – Budapest & Eger, Part 4 ) only to be disappointed by looking out of the window. I could not see anything beyond a few feet out – forget about the parliament building across the river, that morning it was impossible to tell that there was a river flowing so close by!

We always plan for such contingencies and this time the contingency plan was visiting one of the famous thermal baths of Budapest. Hungary’s Carpathian basin is a thin crust over a vast reservoir of hot water – so the joke is that if you dig anywhere in Budapest you will find a hot water spring! Making full use of this the city has more than 2 dozen thermal baths. The two most famous are the Szechenyi Baths, near Heroes’ square that we had visited previously ( Heroes’ Square, Vajdahunyad Castle & Pest by night – Budapest & Eger, Part 3 ) and the Gellert baths which are on the Buda side ( hence closer to our hotel) and mainly an indoor baths perfect for that cold, foggy autumn morning. So we decided to pay a visit to the Gellert baths.

We had prepared for visiting these baths by packing swimsuits, thin towels and slippers in our luggage – those are compulsory in all thermal baths and if you don’t carry your own buying new can be exorbitant! We got up and got ready and went to have breakfast with our duffel bag packed with our thermal bath provisions in it.

Enjoying our breakfast before our visit to the Gellert Baths

With our tummies full we set off to the tram stop on the street in front of our hotel and use our 7 day travel pass to take the tram for the short ride to the Gellert Hotel where the baths are located. It was a chilly autumn morning and we were glad that we didn’t have to walk it to the baths.

A foggy morning on a tram stop in Buda

With our Duffel bag for the thermal baths waiting for the tram

We reached the Gellert baths just as they opened and we were the first to buy our tickets and get our wristbands. We bought swimming pool tickets which gave us access to gender segregated changing rooms which can be locked using your wristband ( Being from Mumbai we are paranoid about keeping our measly valuables unsecured – the lockable cabins made us feel better in that regard!)

The Gellert Hotel that houses the Baths on that fogged out morning

The lobby of the Gellert Baths is posh with stained glass ceilings, a painted dome and mosaic tiled floors. We were glad the fog had given us the chance to experience what most would consider a must do experience in Budapest.

The posh looking lobby of the Gellert Baths

Painted ceilings make the Gellert Baths a beautiful place

On the way to the lockers and change rooms of the Gellert Baths

Obviously I hadn’t brought my SLR to the thermal baths so we were glad that we had phones that could capture the atmosphere of these baths. We changed into our swim suits and headed straight for the indoor thermal baths which are in 2 sections – each pool has water at different temperature and salt contents. We tried all of them and settled into one which in the words of Goldilocks was not too hot, not too cold, just perfect! The Gellert baths had just a few people when we entered but more people decided to use the fogged morning as a good time to visit them, but it never got uncomfortably crowded. In fact the pool which we settled in had only us for a good half an hour or so!

The temperature written clearly on the pool walls at the Gellert baths

The baths get more visitors as the morning wears on

The swimming pool section of the Gellert Baths

Enjoying a relaxed morning at the Gellert Baths

We spent a great couple of hours letting the therapeutic thermal springs work their magic before deciding to take a look at the outdoor part of the baths too before leaving. As we peeked outside lo and behold the fog had disappeared and it had becoming a clear autumn morning. As it was off season the wave pool that these baths are famous for was closed. We enjoyed the sun in the outdoor thermal pool for a few minutes before deciding to end our time at the baths and enjoy the pleasant change in weather by exploring more of these beautiful city.

At the outdoor section of the Gellert Baths

We quickly used the showers in the baths to wash off the salts and rushed to our lockers to change back to our clothes relieved that our locked cabins were secure and we hadn’t lost any of our meagre belongings kept there.

Couldn’t resist another photo of the lobby

Happy us after enjoying the Gellert Thermal Baths at Budapest

The grand entrance of the Gellert Baths

The sunny weather made us rush back to our hotel to dry our wet towels and swimsuits, collect my trusty DSLR and set out to explore the Jewish Quarter in Budapest that held the largest synagogue in Europe – the appropriately named, Great Synagogue. We rode the metro that we had used to great effect saving time and energy for getting around the city to get to the Great Synagogue.

We reached the Great Synagogue and found a small crowd in line to get in. The better half had been after me to buy a Trdelnik – a chimney cake and we took the chance to buy and eat one before buying tickets and entering the huge monument.

The better half enjoying a Trdelnik outside the Great Synagogue

The building was built in 1859 with 2 towers and a rosette window that was more like a church than a typical synagogue. We followed the directions and I wore the better half’s knitted cap to cover my head as is needed in a synagogue and entered the interiors which just took our breath away!

The twin towers and the rosette window of the Great Synagogue

Huge Chandeliers, beautiful painted ceilings, balconies in 2 levels on either side, a huge organ at the end. This was more opulent than most churches and more opulent than any synagogue we had seen. There were sections marked for free tours in different languages that happened at fixed times and seats in the rear for people like us who just wanted to see the Synagogue at our own pace. We sat and gawked at the rich architecture all around, took photos and walked to the front where the surviving torah scrolls after WW II are kept.

The structure was damaged in WW II but not destroyed because the Nazis used it for their own uses – They kept horses in the nave!! The original chandeliers were melted to make bullets but since then have been recast and the structure has been restored to its glorious best!

The grand interiors of the Great Synagogue in Budapest

The marked sections for free tours at fixed times

Pleasing symmetry is always a joy to photograph

The majestic painted and gilded ceilings and huge Chandeliers at the Great Synagogue

Us after a visit to the Great Synagogue in Budapest

The entry to the Great Synagogue also includes a visit to the Hungarian Jewish Museum which explains all aspects of Jewish life & rituals. There is obviously a section dedicated to the horrors of the Holocaust which is always a sobering experience.

Jewish religious stained glass is not as common

A room at the Jewish Museum at Budapest

Outside the museum is a garden which has graves and two sculptures by the artist Imre Varga. One angular sculpture representing the forced march of jews to concentration camps and the other is called the Tree of Life which is a weeping willow cast in steel with each leaf having the name of a Holocaust victim. There is also a huge stained glass window with a fire and a snake representing the Holocaust.

The garden with graves and headstones outside the Great Synagogue

The Varga sculpture representing the forced march to concentration camps

The tree of life sculpture outside the Great Synagogue

The huge stained glass window outside the Great Synagogue

The better half poses outside the Great Synagogue in Budapest

With that we exited the Great Synagogue compound and walked around the Jewish Quarter for a few minutes before it was time for lunch. We decided to splurge and have lunch at the famous New York Cafe which was close by.

The New York Cafe originally built in grand, over the top Neo Baroque style in 1894 was a place where famous artists, writers and musicians came to have an overpriced cup of coffee. In the years of Communist rule it was neglected but now is back to its grand best.

We stood in line for half an hour to get seated but then we were in it more for getting a view of the interiors as much as the food. So we had no option but treat it as yet another crowded sightseeing spot and wait for our time to get seated. We finally were guided inside and got our seats in that opulent interiors fit for a palace.

The opulent interiors of the New York Cafe in Budapest

The menu at our table at the New York Cafe in Budapest

We ordered a cold coffee for the better half and an Irish coffee for myself. We also ordered a pasta with tomato sauce for the better half and my favourite Central European dish – Goulash, a spicy meat curry /soup served usually with fresh bread or potatoes. The food was good but obviously overpriced, but it’s not every day that you get to eat at a place like this, so we didn’t really mind!

With our beautifully presented coffee at the New York Cafe

The Pasta with Tomato sauce

My favourite dish – Goulash

We enjoyed our meal at leisure and then spent more time taking photos of the interiors before walking out satisfied.

More photos of the interiors of the New York Cafe in Budapest

We couldn’t resist taking a few photos of ourselves too

We then returned to our hotel to rest our legs for some time and enjoying the now clear views across the Danube from the comfort of our room.

Enjoying the views across the Danube from our room at the Park Plaza

I casually asked the better half if she was up for a hike up Gellert hill to a monument called the Citadella as a pre dinner walk. She gladly agreed and so we set out in the evening and again rode the tram to the Gellert Hotel which was where the hike started.

Riding the tram in Budapest to Gellert Hotel

The Gellert Hotel and Bath where we had been that morning

We had brought a flash light as we were unsure of the status of the lights on the path up. As we started up we saw that there were no lights most of the way up. We were contemplating aborting when we saw that there were a fair number of people starting on their way up. So we gathered enough courage and switched on the flashlight and walked up the thankfully clearly marked path up.

As we continued to walk up we were glad that we hadn’t aborted as the views from Gellert hill were superb and different from the ones from Castle hill The twinkling lights of the city and the lit up bridges across the Danube made it worth the effort.

Views over the Danube from up Gellert Hill after dark

We continued to climb till the top of the hill where the Liberation Monument is located stopping ever so frequently where the view opened up to take photos.

The better half poses on Gellert Hill

The Liberation Monument – a lady holding aloft a palm leaf

The Liberation Monument which tops Gellert Hill in Buda

We then sat on a bench at one of the view points and enjoyed the view for a few minutes and even got our photo clicked by a kind fellow tourist before starting our hike down.

Up Gellert Hill in Buda

Getting our photo clicked on top of Gellert Hill

We then gingerly made our way down the hill and reached back down without incident. It was a spur of the moment hike which had been a bit risky but great fun all the same. We got down to the river and decided to have an early dinner there at a traditional Hungarian Restaurant there.

We went to the Szeged restaurant which didn’t have any one seated. Usually that’s not a very good sign but we decided to risk it anyway. I had avoided traditional Hungarian restaurants because they rarely have vegetarian options. I had expressed my desire to eat Chicken Paprikash – a traditional Hungarian dish before leaving and this was our last dinner in Budapest. So the better half compromised by having a dessert dish as dinner while I ordered my Chicken Paprikash. I also enjoyed one last glass of Hungarian beer.

Our trepidations about the empty restaurant turned out to be unfounded. It turns out we were just too early for dinner. The food was excellent and the restaurant filled up as we were having dinner.

enjoying a tall glass of beer

Finally eating Chicken Paprikash on our last night in Budapest

The decadent crepes with chocolate sauce

It had been an eventful day which had started out with a depressingly fogged out morning but ended with a great clear night in Budapest. We still had a half day left in Budapest and hoped to make the most of it.

We had seen most of what we had thought of seeing and even managed to do stuff which we hadn’t planned on. Fog was again forecast the next morning but we were hoping against hope that it would stay away and the better half would get a great morning up on Castle hill. We also planned to visit the open parts of the Buda Castle grounds and the interiors of the Matthias Church which we had only seen from outside.

If we would get our wish is topic for another post, some other time, some other day.

Till then,

Bye!