Gellert Thermals

This morning at 10am, I was scheduled to visit the Gellert Thermals. Why 10am, I have no clue. It is open all day. After presenting my letter to the cashier, she closed her window to give me a tour of the facilities and then said I could partake of the baths if I chose. The entire bath area including the pools have been refurbished to their original luster, which I must say is impressive. What is more intriguing is the stained glass panels view from the lobby, but you cannot have access to a view unless you pay admission, a whooping 3,800 Ft for a cabin or 3,500 Ft for a locker. Even then, photography is not allowed. After sharing this information, she added "It is too expensive for the average Hungarian, so you will find mostly tourists here. If you live in the hotel, you can have access for free." If you do not stay longer than 2 hours, you do get a refund of a paltry 300 Ft. Zippo, that is the only refund and certainly not an incentive to whisk in and out again. Outdoors, the pool does look larger than I had realized from peaking through the fence. There is a wave pool every hour. On a higher level, there is a thermal pool with a view of the bridge if you sit at the correct angle. At other contortionist moves will reward you with a view of Gellert Hill and the Citadella. Still the cost has not been justified for me. This may explain why by 10:30, when I made it to the men's thermals, there were only seven men around in the two large pools, while one was getting a massage. By 11:15, I had reached my quota of boredom. The guest list increased by three men, but decreased by two. Yes, the ceramics walls look lovely and crispy new. Yes, it is clean. The locker room attendants still have that "What do you want?" attitude dripping from their pores making guests feel like burglary intruders into their private domains.

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The Underground Transportation Museum - 3 Stars

This is the second in my museum series, if one could call the Citadella a museum. The Underground Transportation Museum is located in the Deák Metro station, appropriately enough since it only houses the history of the metro (subway) lines in Budapest. I have passed this place thousands of times in the last five years, have been curious about it, but never bothered to go in. There is another transportation museum in Budapest, which is outdoors.

The ticket office directly outside should not be confused as the ticket office for the museum. This is the ticket office for the metro. The museum ticket office is immediately inside, not that it much matters since it looks just like a metro ticket office and the tickets are identical. Entrance for adults is 185 Huf, less than $1.00. Your receipt for entry is an individual ticket for riding the public transport in the city. There is no difference whatsoever. It is not certain if you have regular metro tickets if you could use this in lieu of buying one, but it would make sense. The ticket seller validated the ticket just like one would when going on a bus or tram.
It is basically is the history of the subway (metro) system in Budapest. It is impressive when you find explanations and other information in English in any foreign museum. Though we were not expecting this here, it was a pleasant surprise to discover everything had been translated. After reading all of the information available, goggling at the old subway cars that were on display from different eras, we had only needed one hour for a thorough tour. I ward it three hearts out of four. It is concise, educational, informative, and there was English. Transportation is not in my top ten categories of favorites, but this was well worth an hour and you cannot haggle over the cost of admission. I give it three stars!

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