We made our way to the Hospital in the Rocks, a really cool underground hospital that was used during World War 2 when the nazis invaded, again when the soviets came into Budapest, and during the uprising of Hungarians in 1956 against the soviets. After this period it became a nuclear bomb shelter. It was absolutely intriguing. To view the hospital, you had to go on a tour. We have no problems with tours, but our tour guide was Mr. Monotone Boring. Luckily the hospital itself had a lot of original items from the 1940s-1960s, so Elizabeth and I were just amazed looking at all the rooms. There were over 70 wax figures set up in the different rooms and scenes were reenacted. There was an emergency room, operating room (where two operations went on at once), 2 showers for the whole place, various sleeping quarters (3 different rooms fitting 60 people in each) and all sorts of medical memorabilia. Pictures weren't allowed, but of course I couldn't let you guys not see!
The nuclear bunker was never actually used (since a nuclear bomb never hit luckily.) The good news is that doctors and nurses and the other personal to run the hospital were the ones who would have been allowed in (if they got there in 15 minutes of the alarm going off.) Elizabeth and I were very reassured by our correct career choices.
After the hospital, we explored the rest of castle hill. We had a picnic in the park near the Mathias church and then went up to the castle. We got some beautiful viewpoints of Pest (in case you didn't know, pest is on one side of the Danube and Buda is on the other side, connected by 5+ different bridges.) Then we went down Vati Utica (a touristy shopping lane) and into the central market (a big produce and meat and fish and touristy item indoor market.) There was a ton of, pardon my language... crap. We didn't buy anything luckily (Elizabeth is very good at keeping me in budget) and got away in time for our evening cruise on the Danube with the Legenda. Rick (Steves) has been our guide this whole trip, but he had some prices wrong in Budapest. Rick, if you are reading this (ya right!), you might want to revisit your Budapest chapter! The cruise was really beautiful, the buildings along the river were all lit up and gorgeous and we saw a decent part of the city we hadn't seen. The parliament building all lit up was worth it. We also got a free drink (gross-o wine) and an audio guide during the boat ride. This audioguide was a little weird since I would think I'd want to just enjoy the tour and not be watching a video with audio guide, but it wasn't half bad. We learned a decent bit about some of the monuments and buildings along the river.
After our cruise, we headed back home since the next morning Elizabeth and I would be running to Margaret Island, which is an island in the Danube in between one of the bridges in the northern end of Budapest. We had a fabulous run to the island and then around it (a 30 minute run around) and got to enjoy the river and nature and a run through Pest and Buda! It was so enjoyable and we somehow made it about 8 miles, even though neither of us has run in about 3 weeks. We have been doing a ton of walking, though, so that could be why it was so enjoyable. We also became a friar and nun on our run (see last photo.)
Photo vomit:
1-6: Hospital in the rocks (1. Before going in 2-5. inside the hospital 6. The alarm siren that I got to practice cranking)
7: Elizabeth in front a statue on the Pest side of the Danube
8: In front of the chain bridge
9: in front of the Fisherman's Bastillion (by Mathias church)
10: the raven (symbol of Budapest) at the castle
11: the Parliment all lot up at night (on the Legenda)
12-13: on our run in Margaret Island (yes, there was this awesome photo-op on the running path)
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