budapest

It feels good to be in Budapest. It's where we will take a good break from the saddle, fix a lot of our gear thats been nagging us for a while and plan a good cycle route for next stretch of our trip. We also are staying here long enough to have a good relax. A holiday from our holiday.
It also feels like a milestone. We can look at the Europe map and it wonder at how our daily amble along got us so far across. According to our daily tallys we have riden nearly 4000km since leaving Amsterdam. Yay for our bulging calf muscles.
We feel we got lucky with our accommodation considering we didnt know Budapest or its areas. We ended up in a great spot right next to the parliament building (pictured above). We booked a studio apartment through a website of private listings. They are usaully cheaper than a hotel especially if you're sharing and it means you have a kitchen and laundry. Great for two hobos like us for washing the months of accumulated filth from our belongings. Its surprising how quickly I have started taking for granted drying myself with a towel that doesn't smell like socks.
Below is a few pictures from our second day in Budapest. We awoke to a military band and speeches in the square across the street. A ignorant web search revealed it was Saint Stephens day, Hungary's biggest national holiday! Chuck anouther paprika-powdered pretzel on the barby!




Lots of interesting statues dot the city.



Men playing chess in the park

We soaked our limbs in these beautiful thermal pools. It's popular among older men to play chess while sitting in the pools.