Hungary Trip: Budapest Spa

Two more days in Budpest and since I got here I wanted to visit this big spa with a 76 degrees spring! The Hungarian name: Szechenyi Bath. I was driven by curiosity and I had one surprise after the other. 

You are given a plastic watch that allows you to get into your private changing room. 

The large pool welcoming you has a large fountain and a sign announcing the temperature of the water is 37-38 degrees Celsius. 

I got in and enjoyed the warmth of the water. There were streams of spring water coming from different spots in the floor and in the walls of the pool. 

Then I saw some people setting up a table for a DJ in a corner and a cameraman. They announced something in Hungarian and next thing a group of people got into the pool and started dancing to the music. I asked the cameraman what was the occasion. They are filming here twice a year for a TV channel. Two young American girls were singing along and dancing to the music of ABBA in Mama Mia and the BG's. 

The dancing group and the guys playing chess on the ledge of the pool!!

I went upstairs to try the thermal baths. There was a small pool of shallow water for people to wash their feet before they get in. This sign above it announces the content of the various salts in the baths:

This is why people used to come here for healing for many centuries. 

The thermal baths made me think of all the stories and movie scenes of Roman baths. 

This is the large cool water pool for swimming laps. Decorated with the ubiquitous statues. 

I left this great spa calm and relaxed!

Hungary Trip: The Country Side

I visited my in laws in Felcut. They have a large garden in the back of the house. A large peach tree. A chicken coup. Anna calls it the zen garden. 

They have built a new football arena In Felcut. The Pancho Arena, part of the Puskas football academy. I was most amazed by the timber work. 

The small hotel in Biscke had a museum mini farm in the back. 

We took a drive to Tata with a beautiful lake and an old castle turned into a museum. 

We also strolled around Tatabaya and saw this big bird watching the city. 

Tatabanya also has the Jubileum Park where they had a festival on August 20. 

A visit to the Alcsuti Arboretum:

The visit in the grand city of Budapest was all different from this country side. 

Hungary Trip: Shoes Monument

On my way to the parliament tour I heard about a Shoes monument erected in the memory of those shot into the river. 

I walked south on the bank until I found this touching display of bronze shoes. 

Plaques are in Hebrew English and Hungarian. 

They were asked to take off their shoes before they were murdered. 

Hungary Trip: Parliament

I am quite impressed with Budapest and today it is the amazing parliament. 

This building is one of the largest government buildings in the world. It was built in the 19th century at the time when Hungary was three times bigger than what it is today. 

A couple of photos of the model of the building from the museum down below. 

The guided tour started down at the basement and we climbed up over 120 steps to the top. The staircase is all lined with pure gold decoration. 

The exact center of the building is the dome where the crown is kept under the watchful eyes of two guards. 

This Grand Hall has a staircase with 96 steps. The number 96 is important in Hungary as the country was established in the year 896. 

No photos are allowed under the dome. The grand chandelier has more than 200 light bulbs. For maintenance the crew has to go over the ceiling. 

We also visited the assembly. The seats of the ministers and members of coalition and opposition. 

The voting system is electronic:

Outside the assembly room in the hallway facing the river they have these numbered ashtrays for mp's who go out to smoke their cigars. 

What an outstanding building!!

Meteor Showers and our Common Humanity

Have you ever seen a meteor shower?  I am sure you have heard of this amazing sight in the sky.
A meteor shower can be seen in the skies this August! 
Every time I hear about the vast space beyond us, I wonder why we happen to be on our small blue planet.  Why is this the one and only planet with the diverse amazing life forms in the whole wide universe that we can see beyond?




This is a photo of meteor showers taken from a telescope in the Negev, the southern part of Israel.




This photo is from the NASA website:

"In this 30 second exposure, a meteor streaks across the sky during the annual Perseid meteor shower Friday, Aug. 12, 2016 in Spruce Knob, West Virginia.

The Perseids show up every year in August when Earth ventures through trails of debris left behind by an ancient comet. This year, Earth may be in for a closer encounter than usual with the comet trails that result in meteor shower, setting the stage for a spectacular display."

Does anyone comprehend the terms "debris left behind by an ancient comet"?  Star dust?  I feel that these are real things that are much bigger than everything happening on our small planet.  

At the same time I read that many people on earth, those who live in large cities, as many as one third, never get to see the stars. Never get to see the night sky, or the milky way.

Just for comparison, I happened to attend an evening organised by the Daniel Pearl Foundation as Rob Eshman, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief TRIBE Media/Jewish Journal, lead an interactive dialogue with two Daniel Pearl Fellows: Amal Khan (2016 fellow), and Aoun Sahi (2010 fellow) journalists from Pakistan.

These two young Journalists presented an image of Pakistan that was different from what we hear in our media, or that I ever heard about.  They were surprised to find out the Americans are just as humans as their Pakistani families.  They stressed that in the eyes of the average Pakistani Americans are some kind of evil mutant of humanity.  They are fed mis-truths about Israel and "Jews" are so misunderstood, they are not even considered human.

The Pakistani's image of the west is mostly from popular TV programs: consumerism, lack of family values, etc.  

My question to Amal was: Is there any way that they can attempt to show science and nature programs on Pakistani TV?  Pakistani kids can certainly watch the night sky and witness the milky way.  As we all know kids have innate curiosity, and I am certain that watching a meteor shower will stimulate enough kids to comprehend that universe beyond.  Future generations should be taught basics of life and biology.  We cannot leave education up to politicians.

Aoun mentioned that they do not have enough teachers and educators to raise an informed future generation.  I'd like to suggest using the parts of the internet and TV media that is geared toward basic education: 

Websites like Kahnacademy.com

TV shows like Cosmos.

We have to begin somewhere in teaching common humanity rather than historic and political differences.