July 15

After breakfast in our apartment, we went to a long pedestrian-only shopping street called Vaci Ucta. We walked around there a while and window shopped. We also stopped at a fabulous coffeehouse called Gerbauds. We were serenated by street performers as I sipped on my cappaccino. Then we headed to leafy Andrassy street. It is tree-lined and beautiful. We walked along, passing by the beautiful Hungarian Opera House. Then we went to the House of Terror, a museum in what was once the headquarters of the dreaded AVH secret police. It focuses on the crimes and atrocities committed by Hungary's fascist and Stalinist regimes. We really enjoyed it, but it could have used more English subtitles. Continuing on Andrassy, we went to Hero's Park. It also contains some beautiful, magnificent monuments and buildings. The park also has an amusement park/circus which is similiar to the Miracle Strip in Panama City.
From Hero's Park we walked to this Thai Massage place. Massages and Baths are the thing to do in Budapest- cheap and great! I know it is funny to be getting a thai massage in Budapest, since I will be going to Thailand, but it was a good option for us. I had never had a Thai Massage before- it was not very relaxing, but I did enjoy it. The masseure stretches and contorts your body and pops all your joints (I know- sound maybe like torture, but actually you feel very loose afterwards). We had eaten at an Indian restaurant for lunch, so we decided to end our tour of Asia in Budapest by having Chinese for dinner.