Fun Times in Buda

I met a couple of great people at the hostel in Budapest - a 5-month RTW tripper from Australia, and a Korean university student heading to Denmark for her semester of study abroad. The three of us ended up hanging out together in the Buda side for the next couple of days.

Before that though, I had some logistical matters to take care of, the most important one being to book my train ticket to Slovenia. I heard wonderful things about the country (notably Lake Bled area), and decided to take a detour. When I got to the main station, I took #720ish. They were still serving people in the #650s... Damn. At the rate they were handling customers, I would have to spend the whole morning waiting around at the station...
But then, my BRILLIANT mind came up with another idea – head to the local station. I figured that since the train was leaving from there (for some reason, the only train to Slovenia does not use the main station), I should be able to buy tickets. And I was completely right! HA! There were only like 5 people ahead of me : ) Sometimes, I think I might be a genius!

So, onto Buda.
Compared to Pest, Buda is the older, quieter, and more picturesque side of the city across the river. It's a pretty small area to walk around, with a castle/fort (did not go in) and a main church (couldn't go in b/c I was wearing a tank top) in the center. Since the whole area is on top of a hill, you get beautiful views towards Pest to admire. The Parliament building stands out.
And then when I looked down, there was a swarm of Asian tourists carrying black umbrellas. Kinda looks like a bunch of bats:

As a Japanese, I do have sun aversion, but I don't think I can go that far... (Plus, I'm probably way too far beyond repair already.)

That night, Narelle (the Australian girl) took us out for a night-time photography lesson. She's a part-time professional photographer. With tripod in hand, she taught me how to take some beautiful photos like this one:

The following day, we headed to the Gellert thermal spa for some relaxation in the hot springs. Like Bath in England, this place is like a warm indoor pool more than anything, which was a bit of a disappointment. I was hoping for something more "Asian"... Also not very pleasant were...
(1) Walking thru long corridors of wet floor. I'm afraid of foot fungus.
(2) Fat, pushy European women – if they wanted to sit in one particular area, they made sure they got it by whatever means. How rude!