For 2022, Christmas and Hanukkah overlapped. It doesn’t always happen that way, but we got lucky and were able to experience both Christmas and Hanukkah in Budapest this year. Note: The featured image today is of the Hungarian Parliament building lit up at night. I took it while sailing on the Danube River.
Christmas Markets
Germany gets all the press for its Christmas markets. Theirs are some of the largest in Europe and everyone will tell you that you just have to go there. What we did not realize, is that Christmas markets are a thing across Europe, not just in Germany. We wandered through several, mostly to eat, but also to see the trinkets and to people-watch.
City Park was built in 1896 and is the biggest park in the city. In the winter, they offer ice skating. You can’t go wrong doing it or watching it.
Széchenyi Thermal Baths
There are hot springs that run under the city of Budapest. These natural springs are the source of the thermal baths. Inside there are hot tubs of this water that the Hungarians belief have healing properties. I have no idea if that’s true or not, but it sure was fun.
Szechenyi Thermal Baths are the largest in the city and are located in City Park. Their huge outdoor pool is a combination of chlorinated water and the natural hot spring water. On Christmas morning, with the temperature in the low 50’s we bathed with the Hungarians. It was SO fun! Everyone was laughing and clinging to their loved ones while being swept along in the gentle, warm currents.
Since Hungary is an inexpensive country, we were able to buy a special spa package. We had access to the dozens of different baths that this facility offers for four hours, a luxurious private room that was nicer than some of our hotel rooms, chocolates and drinks, 45-minute massages for each of us, robes and towels to use, and swim caps and flip flops to keep. This cost us barely $100 each. In America the massages alone would have cost us at least $65 each.
Hanukkah in Hungary
The largest and oldest synagogue in Budapest (Dohany Street Synagogue) lights up at night. Since it was Hanukkah, there was a menorah by the front door too. In their rear courtyard is the Raoul Wallenberg Holocaust Memorial to the 400,000+ Hungarian Holocaust victims. It is also known as the Tree of Life memorial. The weeping willow design is comprised of hundreds of thousands of small silver leaves engraved with the names of the victims.
As I turned from the memorial, something caught my sight behind me and across the street. A family in their front window lighting their menorah. People are the same all over the world. The peace and stillness of the Hanukkah flame warms souls in Hungary the same way it does in America.
A Dinner Cruise Down the Blue Danube
On Christmas night, we took a dinner cruise down one of the most famous rivers in the world. If you can’t make it to Budapest, here are some suggestions of amazing American rivers to visit. While the food was better than we expected, it wasn’t as good as the meal we had at Rustico the next day. The piano music was enjoyable but the really memorable part was the view. Half a dozen people had told us that you just have to see the city and the Danube lit up at night. Now I know why.
May the gift of light imbue your 2023 with hope, peace and love.
January 22, 2023 at 6:34 pm
I really enjoyed reading this post, what a special Holiday Season for you and Michael. The Christmas market looks marvelous. I love that you caught that family lighting the menorah……so many adventures in one post.
January 23, 2023 at 1:50 pm
It was nice to see how another country celebrates the same holidays. There were just enough differences to make it unique, and just enough that was the same to remind us how similar all families are anywhere in the world. Thank you for continuing to follow. It means a lot.