Many people I know had no idea where Budapest was, so I thought these maps would help. All of the artists in the AIR/HMC Residency stayed at the Medosz Hotel in central Budapest. It was a fabulous location within walking distance to major sites and near the public transit system. Most of my residency time was spent exploring Va'rosliget (City Park) which has a zoo, lake, Szechenyi baths (a personal favorite), Heros Square, historical buildings, and several art museums.
Budapest is well-known as the "Spa City" for its numerous theraputic thermal sp
as scattered across the city. With dozens of pools of varying temperatures both inside and out, taking a bath was a day-long event! The buildings are old and grand, like bathing in a cathedral.
During one of my walks through City Park in Budapest I came across a group of people playing table tennis. There were permanent tables set up among the trees, a magical place where I sat and watched some very talented players. I was noticed soon, my staring obvious, and a couple of very nice Hungarian gentlemen greeted me. We soon discovered that I didn't speak Hungarian and none of them spoke English. I came back to the park almost every day during my residency and in that time I learned a little Hungarian and I taught them a little English. "Charlie" (the very serious looking fellow below) offered to teach me to play and though I didn't compare with the skills most had there (my friend "George", also below, was excellent), I had a lot of fun trying and they had a lot of fun laughing at me.
