Considering taking a Globus tour to Central Europe next summer that visits several eastern European capitals. The brochure states that a city tour is incluced in each city, then the afternoon is at leisure.

Having never been on an escorted tour before, and being somewhat of an independent type of tourist, is it frowned upon to tour each city independently, or is this usually made difficult by the hotel locations and local Globus guides?

We have been on a fully escourted Globus trip (Paris and Loire Valley) in 2001 and went on Monogram tour to Rome, Florence, and Venice in May 2005. If you prefer mainly independent sightseeing, dining, etc. definitely choose a Monogram tour. The escourted tour doesn't allow much time away from the group and the itinerary is very structured. Our Monogram
tour provided much more flexibility. We had 3 days in each city and Globus sets up the hotel reservations and train travel between cities.
Globus also provided a tour guide in each city for a 3-4 hour tour in each city, where you see the highlights. There is a "tour host" at each hotel who is very helpful in recommending other sightseeing spots (some optional tours through Globus available or just on your own) and also dining spots, general information about the city, etc. We foung them to be very helpful. Breakfast was provided at the hotel, otherwise you are on your own for lunch and dinner, which we liked. You are not dining with a group every night. Check the location of the hotel that Globus has booked but we opted for the "A" hotels that were more centrally located and found we could walk to most sites. We had ample free time to explore on our own. Definitely recommend a Monogram tour if you are of the more independent type.

thanks for your response.

sounds like a Monogram tour would be better, but they don't offer the itinerary we're after. we like the idea of covering several countries in Eastern Europe. Monogram only has tours to two or three cities.

Looking at the Globus tour to Central Europe, it goes to each city for two nights. Each morning, they provide a tour, then it says the afternoon and evenings are "at your leisure." If we didn't take the morning tour, we would have the entire day on our own in each city. This sounds sufficient to me since the hotels are near the town centers and we could walk to all the sights, probably seeing more than the bus tours would provide.

Is it considered a no-no to ditch the organized tours and instead tour independently in each city?

Hi. I went on Globus' "Italy's Great Cities" last March, and I too was concerned about being on a tour. Our tour was just like the previous poster mentioned. In each city in the AM we'd have a tour with a "local guide" and go to the top sites in that city. Any transportation necessary between sites (sometimes we walked) was arranged by Globus and already paid by you as part of the package. Addtionally, all entry fees were pre-paid by you as a part of the Globus package, and, most importantly, the group got to jump in line for most of the sites because globus makes a reservation for the group.

In the afternoon, Globus offered optional tours for an additional fee. My husband and I spent each afternoon and evening independently visiting other locations we wanted to see or shopping, and dined on our own (we were on a belated honeymoon). . We found the balance of the whole setup to be great. We wanted to see the main attractions in each city and have a guide tell us about what we were seeing, but we didn't want to spend all day every day and evening with the same group.

I'd caution you to "ditch" the group (especially for the morning tours with the local guide), not because it isn't allowed, but rather because:

1. If you go to the same sites you'll be double paying the entrance fees
2. You'll wait in extremely long lines when you could have jumped ahead with the group
3. These "sites" are very touristy anyway, it's not like if you go to the Vatican in Italy you'll be missing the "local" Italian culture because you're with a group - the Vatican only has tourists anyway
4. The sites that the group sees with the local guide are the main spots for that city that you'd be going to anyway on your "independent tour" and probabaly run into the group.

Again, I found the "at you leisure" time in the afternoon to be sufficient to explore on our own and then to have dinner on our own. This was the time we got to explore the local culture, wandering the streets, stopping for ice cream, window shopping, and people watching. I disagree that on your own for the whole day you'd be able to see more than the group. Sometimes sites aren't close to each other and public transportation and non-group lines to get in are very long. And, you may be spending valuable time trying to figure out how to get around when you've already paid for someone to take care of all that for you.

I hope this info is helpful. We had a great time and Globus exceeded our expectations. Again, I was worried about the group thing, my husband and I wanted alone time too, and it all worked out better than I hoped and stress-free because Globus took care of everything.

I agree with the previous poster's points.

I went on a Globus tour to Eastern Europe (different destinations than those you are looking at) earlier this summer. Like you, I am more of an independent traveler; I haven't been on a tour in 20 years. I was worried that the group tours would race past some things too quickly.

The points about not having to wait in line or figure out how to get from one site to another are big ones. At some sites, the non-group lines were quite long.

Also, on my tour, I thought Globus, and the tour director in particular, did an outstanding job of securing excellent local guides. Having done many trips on my own, I can safely say that I learned more from the guides than I ever would have using a book to tour some of the same places on my own (assuming I had the same amount of time there). . On balance, we had plenty of free time to fill in other things of interest.

The optionals are just that, optional. If your tourguide "frowns upon" you not joining in on the optional excursions, then he or she is just being greedy, and consequently, unprofessional. As another poster said, this is definitely not the case with the included tours, where your attendance is expected and generally makes sense anyway (or you probably should have taken a fully independent vacation to begin with). .

However, your point about hotel locations and tour logistics sometimes being structured to push people into optionals they'd just as soon not take is absolutely true-sometimes it's best just to - it up and join the optional-particularly if an expensive cab ride is involved, other times it's a good chance to take the public transportation system.

Thanks for the great responses. It sounds like, even being somewhat of an independent tourist, the central Europe Globus tour may still allow for enough time to explore each city on our own.

When Globus provides a guided tour in each city, with "afternoons on your own", about how much time are we actually on the guided part of the tour? What does this leave for exploring independently later in the day?

I just got back Sunday from Imperial Splendors and think we did exactly what you are envisioning. We did take the included city tours and found them good - but spent most of the time exploring the cities on our own. We got a metro pass in most cities (got and didn't need one in Vienna and didn't get or need one in Salzburg) and used that to explore where we wanted to go.

By and large, we got to each town in time to do things in the evening. We did things like the Black Light show in Prague and an after-dark boat tour in Budapest. The city tour was usually first thing the next morning. It was usually over about lunch time and then we had the rest of the day to explore the towns on our own.

I thought it was the perfect mix. Although on our first trip last year, I was iffy about an escorted tour, there are some advantages. One that I didn't expect was that it was fun to share the trip with the group. Both of ours were very congenial and we would end up running into them even when we were out on our own.

As far as the tour director goes - just let them know if you are skipping the city tours so that they won't be holding the group waiting for you to come. Our TD last year seemed miffed that we weren't taking the optionals - but so what. The one this year was excellent and more than willing to talk to us and answer questions.

My best advice is to get the Rick Steves book(s) for the locations you are travelling to.

Debbie

Another thought - our Globus hotel locations were excellent. You could walk or take the Metro anywhere.

I understand that Cosmos locations are more out of the way. With Globus, you should be OK.

Debbie

Thanks for your insights Debbie.

Can you, or anyone, tell me if the morning city sightseeing tours are mostly drive bys where you see the sights from a bus window? The detailed itinerary for the Central Europe tour has very few places where the sights are listed in all capital letters. This suggests to me that all of the other places mentioned will be seen only through a bus window as we drive by. If this is the case, I'll definately plan on skipping the bus tours.

Thanks!!!

The cities we went to are Munich, Prague, Budapest, Vienna, and Salzburg. If one of those is the same as the ones you are looking at, I can tell you what we saw there.

We did a combination of driving, walking, and going into places. I think the city tours were worth the time.

Debbie

Debbie,

The tour I'm looking into is to Central Europe. It goes to Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Berlin, Warsaw, and Krakow. If you could comment on the hotel locations and the city tours, I'd appreciate it.

Which hotels did you stay in, and how easy was it to get to the town centers from the hotels?

How long were the city tours, were they mostly drive by sights? How much free time did you have after the city tours?

Thanks much!!!

I'll write a detailed note about the three cities we had in common later this weekend.

Debbie

Re: Warsaw

I was on a different Globus tour this summer that visited Warsaw. We stayed at the Westin; it looks like the CE tour stays at the Sheraton. The Sheraton is in a nice area of town, convenient to one of the main shopping streets and not far from Lazienki Park. It is probably a 30 minute walk to Old Town, but we found cabs plentiful, inexpensive and easy to use.

The itinerary for the day in Warsaw reads just like ours. I suppose every tour director may organize it a little differently, but here’s what we did…. .

The first part of the morning tour was a drive-by: site of the ghetto, present day ghetto memorial, Palace of Culture and Science, synagogue, etc. We got out at Pilsudekleyo Square for a little while; the guide gave some information on historical aspects of the square and we saw the changing of the guard at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We drove to Lazienki park, where we walked to the Chopin statue. Then we drove back in the direction of Old Town, with the guide pointing out various embassies and buildings of interest. We left the bus and started a walking tour of Old Town, where we made inside visits to several churches (including St. John and St. Anne) and the historical museum for a very moving 25 minute film about the destruction of Warsaw during the war. We also visited the main square and the market square. Around noon, we were given about an hour of free time to walk around Old Town on our own, get lunch, shop or whatever. On our walk out of Old Town, we stopped at the memorial to the Warsaw uprising, then we drove back to the hotel, passing the cemeteries on the way – arriving at the hotel around 1:30pm. We were given the choice of staying in Old Town (from the time we broke for lunch at about noon) and making our own way back to the hotel. Our local guide, by the way, was very informative.

We spent our free afternoon walking from the Westin over to Novy Swiat, the shopping street, then down past the embassies, etc., to Lazienki Park, then we spent some time in the Park – enjoyed that very much.

Globus offered two optionals for that evening – a Chopin recital (bus left around 5) in a small palace and a dinner with folklore show. We did both, and they were fine.

We also had a couple of hours on our own upon arrival in Warsaw, which we spent walking around Old Town (our hotel was a bit closer). .

I have some photos posted that will give you an idea of what we were able to do/see in our time there:

http://community.webshots.com/album/409280892suKXuP

(you may need to eliminate some spaces to make this work)

Thanks so much for the Warsaw review. Can't wait to read about the others when you get the chance!

PRAGUE

We stayed two nights at the Dorint Novotel. This hotel was not in the city center but was within a block of a metro stop. We easily took the metro in and out. Our hotel sold individual tickets for the metro. However we saved money by buying a 24 hour pass from a machine in the metro. The machine took only coins (not bills). .

There was an ATM in the Metro station.

Here is a summary of what we did.

First evening:

We arrived at the hotel in the late afternoon.

Dinner was an included buffet at the hotel. (We could have skipped it if we had wanted more time on our own.)

After dinner, we took the Metro into the old city and headed to one of the black light theaters. (It was different and a lot of fun.)

After the theater, we browsed a few stores. We wanted to go to St. Charles Bridge. We found Old Town Square and I ended up suggesting that we just follow the prevailing pedestrian traffic. Sure enough, we followed the throngs of people through the narrow cobblestone streets and ended up at the bridge. Interestingly, our tour group was there on their optional tour. We crossed the bridge and near the end went down some steps to look for the Lennon Wall. It wasn’t nearby so we gave up on it. After that, we called it a night.

Full day in Prague:

Breakfast downstairs was very crowded. However the food was good and plentiful. . .

The city tour started out at the castle area. We walked through the area and learned a lot about the area and St. Vitus Church. (Our tour should have gone inside the church but it was Sunday and we got there too late to go inside.)

From there, we got back onto the bus and drove to the Czech bridge. We walked across since Globus does not have a license to take the bus into the city. We walked past the Jewish section and onto Old Town Square. The Astronomical Clock is closed for repairs but we did see it. The tour ended there. The tour was interesting. It finished before lunchtime.

We shopped and then walked to nearby Wencelsas Square.

We then searched for and found U Flecka, a restaurant my friend had seen on a travel show. We had lunch there. There was entertainment (accordian/tuba). .

Next destination: the Mucha Museum. This was another challenge to find. We overshot it, but finally met with success. There, we watched an interesting half hour video about his life and then browsed the collection. (He did Art Nouveau.)

Time was passing so we had to prioritize what we wanted to include in the rest of day. Our first priority was St. Vitus Cathedral which we’d seen but not entered during the morning tour. On the way, we went back through the Old Town square and stopped and bought a necklace I'd seen earlier.

We finally got to the metro and took it to a tram stop which we were able to take UP to Hrad (the castle area). . We didn’t have a lot of time before it closed, but fortunately got in and were able to see all the beautiful windows. It was worth the trip. Unfortunately, the basement with the tombs was already closed.

Back to the tram, then the metro, and then a walk to the Jewish quarter. We found the synagogue, but it was closed even though it was fifteen minutes before closing time. After seeing us look and talk for some time, the guard came over and explained that we couldn’t go in since the ticket office was closed. He did tell us that we could walk around to the exit to get a glimpse of the Jewish cemetery. It was a small glimpse but a glimpse nonetheless.

We did some shopping in the area. Things were closing and we decided we were too tired to try the jazz boat trip that we’d been considering. Instead we’d stop at the Flora Metro stop (the one before our hotel) and try to get an apple strudel at a place that Kathy had seen on a travel show. We couldn't find it so instead spent some time shopping at a large mall.

Debbie

Our tour had 2 nights in most cities. Three nights would have been better but I wouldn't have wanted to skip any cities to get the extra nights. We packed a lot into our time.

Debbie

Much thanks again, Debbie. It sounds like you had a good bit of each day after morning tours to go on your own in each city. This is important to me.

Would you like more details about Budapest and Vienna or have you gotten anything information to get a handle on how much free time you'll have and whether the tour would meet your needs?

Debbie

Debbie,

I would love to have some info on Budapest and Vienna, if you would be so gracious!

Ah, Budapest. Just glancing at my trip journal brings back so many memories. I'm going to edit it ruthelessly, but, still, this will be a long note.

We were in Budapest for two nights. Our hotel is a Radisson SAS Beke which is near the Octogon (sp?) Metro stop. It is also close to the RR station that Eiffel had something to do with.

We reached Budapest at about 3:30. We found an ATM across the street. The bank was confusing as there were a lot of ATM-like machines. I asked a young man which to use and he explained that some of the machines were for paying bills electronically. Back at the hotel, we bought a Budapest discount card (it doubles as a Metro pass) and tickets for a evening boat cruise for that night and a folklore shore for the next night.

We walked down our street towards the West End City Centre Mall. We didn’t get there (didn’t go far enough) but did see a railroad station. Stephen Spielberg is in Budapest making a film about the terrorism at the Munich Olmpics and he has been seen there. We, alas, did not see him. We did, however, see some guys whose job was to enter the intersection when it turned red and hold up billboard type signs. This was unusual and we started to take their photo. One of them had an entrepreneurial spirit and told us we could only do it if we gave them money. We instead kept walking. Dinner was an included fixed menu.

After dinner, we took the metro towards the river for our cruise. When we got out of the Metro, we had no idea which way to go so asked some people who were looking at a map. In retrospect, they were the wrong ones to ask since they needed to look at a map themselves. We eventually realized that we were going the wrong way, asked some more people for help, and got turned around. We hoofed it there and made it on time. The cruise was perfectly beautiful. The river is lined with beautiful spot-lit buildings such as the Parliament. One of the most striking sights was the illuminated Chain Bridge, a symbol of Budapest. Orchestrated with the trip was a video showing the interiors of the buildings and corresponding history. I remember thinking that this was one of the most magical moments of the trip.

On the way back to the hotel, we walked down Vaca Utca which, during the day, is a major shopping street. At night, it was a lovely area full of tourists.

Tuesday - September 6 - Budapest

This morning was a city tour of Budapest.

Our local tour guide is a local professor. One of the early stops was Hero’s Square which gives a history of the country in statues. When we got off the bus, local vendors gathered around our group. I bought a sweater set (it started at $25 and I got it for $15) and a set of postcards for a dollar.

We drove past his house on the way to Matthias Church and Fisherman’s Bastion. On our way there, he told us that Buda is considered older and a sleepy town. Pest is for the younger set and has more nightlife. We got off the bus and walked along a street of lovely stores. Near the church and bastion, we stopped and were given information about them.

We were given free time to go into the church. Fisherman’s Bastion is on a hill and offers a spectacular overlook of the city. It was perfect for photos.

Some of the people from our tour are going for a lunchtime cruise on the river. We didn’t chose that so have the rest of the day free. The bus dropped us off downtown. We walked through a lovely park and then down a major shopping street. We both treated ourselves to a gelato.

Our goal was to end up at the Old Market. Oh my word! We could have spent all day there and did spend several hours. The lower floor was full of produce, paprika, and other foodstuffs. The upstairs was full of tourist souvenirs. We browsed through all the walkways while looking for the best prices on the things that caught our interest. After checking everything out, we stopped at the upstairs food court. My friend bought lunch but I was iffy about the choices. Instead I bought a Coke and ate some things that I had in my bag.

We discovered loads of sweater sets like the one I had bought at Hero’s Square and also cardigan type sweaters. We each bought one of those. I also bought a set of paprika, two leather purses, two fabric purses, two coin purses, and a chess set. I probably would have bought more but I again ran out of local currency.

We took the metro to the Opera House for a quick peek. We then caught it again for a brief visit to the Museum of Fine Arts.

We then took the Metro to the nearby Baths. We had debated on whether to go to the more touristy and upscale Gellert Baths or the one that the locals frequent. We ended up deciding to go to whichever was more convenient and it was the locals one. We paid and then went a circuitous route to figure out where to go next. We wanted to find out where they did the massages and asked many people who didn’t understand what we were asking and kindly directed us not necessarily in the right direction. We finally found the Thai Massage, but it was all booked up. Oh well. We then did much more looking to find the changing area. You could either share a dressing room and rent a locker or rent a personal dressing room which would be locked by an attendant. We did the latter. The attendant was a nice young man who spoke English. Halleluiah. He explained the procedure of how we could change, leave our things in the changing rooms and then call him to lock them for us. The young man came back and told us all about the option for MEDICINAL massage. It was cheaper than Thai massage and he recommended it. We were all for that. When we asked him where it was, he thought for a minute and then said he’d show us. He led us out of the changing area and into the pool area. It was huge! He was in flip flops and we were barefoot. I could hardly keep up with his pace. The area around the pools was floored with small, slippery, uneven tiles. I felt about a hundred years old as I tried to keep up. We kept going past the pools into another building filled with room after room of smaller thermal pools (think huge hot tub). . The massage area was in the depths of that building. We would never ever have found it on our own. After signing up and getting an appointment time to return, we went back outside to explore the pools.

The first pool was warm. In the center, was a circular area much like a really fast lazy river. You would get into the flow and go around and around without the use of floats. I suppose you could call it a non-lazy river. Inside the circle of that was a neck deep whirlpool area. If you got into that, you’d try to get a spot on a submerged bench where you were sprayed by jets of water spouting out of the seats. This water was also really warm.

After trying out those things, we went inside the building where the cabin attendant had led us so that we could try out some of the smaller thermal spring pools. The first thermal spring that we got in was really warm. We sat there for a while and then went on to the other rooms. One included a small rectangular pool packed with people in an exercise class. We tried out another thermal spring in the next room. The springs were marked with temperatures and I remember seeing 32 and 34 degrees Celsius on some. Eventually it was time for our massages.

Even though we had been back there once, we had fits trying to find it again. We walked in and out of a number of rooms a number of times. That place was like a maze. We kept worrying that we’d end up in a men’s locker room. Keep in mind that this is a large complex and very popular and very down-to-earth. We were by no means on the older side of the people there. People seemed very comfortable with their bodies and there were lots of not-so-young-men in Speedos who you’d just as soon not really look at if you know what I mean. Somehow I think that if we did end up in a men’s locker room, that no one except us would have really cared.

Anyway, we persevered and eventually did find our way back to the place where we’d signed up for massages. The attendant motioned us to wait on seats until it was our time. My massage was my first and likely my last. It was very deep and hurt. I was never so glad to see 15 minutes end and was extremely thankful that I had not splurged on a longer massage! My friend's was OK though. When we left, she asked if I was OK because my back was red. I was hoping that there was no permanent damage from our adventure!

We headed back to the hotel. We were going to walk to the next Metro stop but the walkway was closed due to reconstruction of the millennium pond. We backtracked to the stop by the baths. On the way, we saw a large number of men playing chess in the park. One interesting thing about the trains in Budapest is that stops are announced by a troll of music rather than a buzz.

After a quick change in the hotel, we walked to the Metro again. We caught the Metro at the Octogon stop. That area is beautiful. It is the oldest Metro stop and the walls are covered with beautiful woods. We took it a stop where you could transfer to other lines. There we went down and down again and then through a lo-o-ong corridor to the line we wanted.

Our evening’s entertainment was a Hungarian folklore show. We had a little trouble finding it but consulted the compass and made it on time. The show was very entertaining. I loved the gypsy violin music. The costumes and dancing were fun.

On the Metro, we were asked to show our tickets. Throughout our use of the Metro, we’ve noticed that it is more or less on the honor system. Our guide had pointed out earlier in the day that there would be more checks today since it is past the grace period of a new month and they are trying to catch those who do not get a new month’s ticket. They tend to target tourists.

Wednesday - September 7 – Budapest to Vienna

After breakfast, we had some free time before our bus left for Vienna so took a walk. First stop was the nearby railroad station. Now that we know that it was designed by Eiffel of Eiffel Tower fame, we thought we should pay more attention. We also went into the McDonalds just to take photos. Speaking of McDonalds, this one has a sales window on the sidewalk. It also has a kiosk just inside the door with a limited menu. From there, we went to the large West End City Centre Mall. We headed there the other day but didn’t go far enough. This time, we almost missed it again and went too far. On the way, we realized that to cross the busy street, you are supposed to go down into the Metro and back out on the other side. The stores were closed, but we walked around for a while. It was a large multi-level mall similar to the one in Prague. From there, we walked back towards the hotel.

Ah, Budapest. Just glancing at my trip journal brings back so many memories. I'm going to edit it ruthelessly, but, still, this will be a long note.

We were in Budapest for two nights. Our hotel is a Radisson SAS Beke which is near the Octogon (sp?) Metro stop. It is also close to the RR station that Eiffel had something to do with.

We reached Budapest at about 3:30. We found an ATM across the street. The bank was confusing as there were a lot of ATM-like machines. I asked a young man which to use and he explained that some of the machines were for paying bills electronically. Back at the hotel, we bought a Budapest discount card (it doubles as a Metro pass) and tickets for a evening boat cruise for that night and a folklore shore for the next night.

We walked down our street towards the West End City Centre Mall. We didn’t get there (didn’t go far enough) but did see a railroad station. Stephen Spielberg is in Budapest making a film about the terrorism at the Munich Olmpics and he has been seen there. We, alas, did not see him. We did, however, see some guys whose job was to enter the intersection when it turned red and hold up billboard type signs. This was unusual and we started to take their photo. One of them had an entrepreneurial spirit and told us we could only do it if we gave them money. We instead kept walking. Dinner was an included fixed menu.

After dinner, we took the metro towards the river for our cruise. When we got out of the Metro, we had no idea which way to go so asked some people who were looking at a map. In retrospect, they were the wrong ones to ask since they needed to look at a map themselves. We eventually realized that we were going the wrong way, asked some more people for help, and got turned around. We hoofed it there and made it on time. The cruise was perfectly beautiful. The river is lined with beautiful spot-lit buildings such as the Parliament. One of the most striking sights was the illuminated Chain Bridge, a symbol of Budapest. Orchestrated with the trip was a video showing the interiors of the buildings and corresponding history. I remember thinking that this was one of the most magical moments of the trip.

On the way back to the hotel, we walked down Vaca Utca which, during the day, is a major shopping street. At night, it was a lovely area full of tourists.

Tuesday - September 6 - Budapest

This morning was a city tour of Budapest.

Our local tour guide is a local professor. One of the early stops was Hero’s Square which gives a history of the country in statues. When we got off the bus, local vendors gathered around our group. I bought a sweater set (it started at $25 and I got it for $15) and a set of postcards for a dollar.

We drove past his house on the way to Matthias Church and Fisherman’s Bastion. On our way there, he told us that Buda is considered older and a sleepy town. Pest is for the younger set and has more nightlife. We got off the bus and walked along a street of lovely stores. Near the church and bastion, we stopped and were given information about them.

We were given free time to go into the church. Fisherman’s Bastion is on a hill and offers a spectacular overlook of the city. It was perfect for photos.

Some of the people from our tour are going for a lunchtime cruise on the river. We didn’t chose that so have the rest of the day free. The bus dropped us off downtown. We walked through a lovely park and then down a major shopping street. We both treated ourselves to a gelato.

Our goal was to end up at the Old Market. Oh my word! We could have spent all day there and did spend several hours. The lower floor was full of produce, paprika, and other foodstuffs. The upstairs was full of tourist souvenirs. We browsed through all the walkways while looking for the best prices on the things that caught our interest. After checking everything out, we stopped at the upstairs food court. My friend bought lunch but I was iffy about the choices. Instead I bought a Coke and ate some things that I had in my bag.

We discovered loads of sweater sets like the one I had bought at Hero’s Square and also cardigan type sweaters. We each bought one of those. I also bought a set of paprika, two leather purses, two fabric purses, two coin purses, and a chess set. I probably would have bought more but I again ran out of local currency.

We took the metro to the Opera House for a quick peek. We then caught it again for a brief visit to the Museum of Fine Arts.

We then took the Metro to the nearby Baths. We had debated on whether to go to the more touristy and upscale Gellert Baths or the one that the locals frequent. We ended up deciding to go to whichever was more convenient and it was the locals one. We paid and then went a circuitous route to figure out where to go next. We wanted to find out where they did the massages and asked many people who didn’t understand what we were asking and kindly directed us not necessarily in the right direction. We finally found the Thai Massage, but it was all booked up. Oh well. We then did much more looking to find the changing area. You could either share a dressing room and rent a locker or rent a personal dressing room which would be locked by an attendant. We did the latter. The attendant was a nice young man who spoke English. Halleluiah. He explained the procedure of how we could change, leave our things in the changing rooms and then call him to lock them for us. The young man came back and told us all about the option for MEDICINAL massage. It was cheaper than Thai massage and he recommended it. We were all for that. When we asked him where it was, he thought for a minute and then said he’d show us. He led us out of the changing area and into the pool area. It was huge! He was in flip flops and we were barefoot. I could hardly keep up with his pace. The area around the pools was floored with small, slippery, uneven tiles. I felt about a hundred years old as I tried to keep up. We kept going past the pools into another building filled with room after room of smaller thermal pools (think huge hot tub). . The massage area was in the depths of that building. We would never ever have found it on our own. After signing up and getting an appointment time to return, we went back outside to explore the pools.

The first pool was warm. In the center, was a circular area much like a really fast lazy river. You would get into the flow and go around and around without the use of floats. I suppose you could call it a non-lazy river. Inside the circle of that was a neck deep whirlpool area. If you got into that, you’d try to get a spot on a submerged bench where you were sprayed by jets of water spouting out of the seats. This water was also really warm.

After trying out those things, we went inside the building where the cabin attendant had led us so that we could try out some of the smaller thermal spring pools. The first thermal spring that we got in was really warm. We sat there for a while and then went on to the other rooms. One included a small rectangular pool packed with people in an exercise class. We tried out another thermal spring in the next room. The springs were marked with temperatures and I remember seeing 32 and 34 degrees Celsius on some. Eventually it was time for our massages.

Even though we had been back there once, we had fits trying to find it again. We walked in and out of a number of rooms a number of times. That place was like a maze. We kept worrying that we’d end up in a men’s locker room. Keep in mind that this is a large complex and very popular and very down-to-earth. We were by no means on the older side of the people there. People seemed very comfortable with their bodies and there were lots of not-so-young-men in Speedos who you’d just as soon not really look at if you know what I mean. Somehow I think that if we did end up in a men’s locker room, that no one except us would have really cared.

Anyway, we persevered and eventually did find our way back to the place where we’d signed up for massages. The attendant motioned us to wait on seats until it was our time. My massage was my first and likely my last. It was very deep and hurt. I was never so glad to see 15 minutes end and was extremely thankful that I had not splurged on a longer massage! My friend's was OK though. When we left, she asked if I was OK because my back was red. I was hoping that there was no permanent damage from our adventure!

We headed back to the hotel. We were going to walk to the next Metro stop but the walkway was closed due to reconstruction of the millennium pond. We backtracked to the stop by the baths. On the way, we saw a large number of men playing chess in the park. One interesting thing about the trains in Budapest is that stops are announced by a troll of music rather than a buzz.

After a quick change in the hotel, we walked to the Metro again. We caught the Metro at the Octogon stop. That area is beautiful. It is the oldest Metro stop and the walls are covered with beautiful woods. We took it a stop where you could transfer to other lines. There we went down and down again and then through a lo-o-ong corridor to the line we wanted.

Our evening’s entertainment was a Hungarian folklore show. We had a little trouble finding it but consulted the compass and made it on time. The show was very entertaining. I loved the gypsy violin music. The costumes and dancing were fun.

On the Metro, we were asked to show our tickets. Throughout our use of the Metro, we’ve noticed that it is more or less on the honor system. Our guide had pointed out earlier in the day that there would be more checks today since it is past the grace period of a new month and they are trying to catch those who do not get a new month’s ticket. They tend to target tourists.

Wednesday - September 7 – Budapest to Vienna

After breakfast, we had some free time before our bus left for Vienna so took a walk. First stop was the nearby railroad station. Now that we know that it was designed by Eiffel of Eiffel Tower fame, we thought we should pay more attention. We also went into the McDonalds just to take photos. Speaking of McDonalds, this one has a sales window on the sidewalk. It also has a kiosk just inside the door with a limited menu. From there, we went to the large West End City Centre Mall. We headed there the other day but didn’t go far enough. This time, we almost missed it again and went too far. On the way, we realized that to cross the busy street, you are supposed to go down into the Metro and back out on the other side. The stores were closed, but we walked around for a while. It was a large multi-level mall similar to the one in Prague. From there, we walked back towards the hotel.

I knew the post was long but didn't realize that it was that long. Sorry.

I apologize for it going through twice. I didn't think it went through at all.

Debbie

Long? More like an Epic Novel, But I LOVED every word of it! THANKS for your Wonderful input (I really do mean it) and please feel free to post more about your trip(s)! Suddenly Budapest is now on my "Must See" places, and I THANK YOU (Debbie) for opening my eyes too it!

Thanks again for the Budapest review. I'm really enjoying reading about your experiences and the reviews are going to be quite helpful as I plan our trip.