Budapest

few quick last things on Paris...crazy but one day I was walking around and some girl in front of me passed out and fell down...didnt see it but the people just in front of me did. her shopping bags were sprawled ont he groudn and she was breathing, but not conscious. it was creepy. ambulance came and took her away, not sure what happened but i think it was some weird neurological thing. anyhoo, one last comment on the difference bw france and iran....it was a big shock in the beiginning as the french girls were so down to earth and had natural tones...verz little makeup, natural tones and short unpainted nails with hair that was just in a pony tail or verz little done to it. in contrast, iranians have tons of bright usuallz makeup on, long painted nails fake looking eyebrows and done up hair. thez also always talk about how others look whereas in france it wasnt too often. not sure for the reason behind the differences but it was very noticeable...it was nice to cut my nails in france and just be myself without worrzng too much what I looked like.

anyhoo, budapest is amazing. very safe feeling and nice mix of beautiful old buildings and relativelz newer uglz as heck commi buildings. the foods not the healthiest and not the best...not enough spices for me...but thez use a lot of paprika which i love. got a gyro on te street the other day which was nice...yoghurt sauce was made with dill which was a very nice touch. went to the baths yesterdaz which were amazing...beautiful outside thermal heated pool with a gorgous building surrounding it. thez also had these pumps that would go on everzonce in awhile and the water would push zoou around in a circle which was prettz cool. it was so relaxing and the locals even plazed chess in the water. mmm, so budapest is actuallz two towns...buda on the left and pest on the right side of the danuble river. buda is hilly and green with the castle and such. pest is the commercial side and more busy. went to an amazing underground hospital today....started out a couple hundred zears ago as a bunch of cave cellars that people used to store wine and such to avoid taxes then thez were rediscovered in the 40s and joined together to be used as a safe hospital underground for the armz and aslo as a secret militarz meeting place with the germans. then in the 50s it was used as a nuke safe area and also a secret hospital. it has been kept a secret until onlz about 5 years ago and this cuople have been cleaning it and keeping it a secret for the last 40 years or so and doctors would go there everzonce in awhile to practice drills in case of nuclear attack. it was super cool and still had lots of original stuff from the 50s. verz neat. apparentlz used t be the state of the art surgery rooms and equipment which was cool to see as now it doesnt look like much, but thez even had an ekg and xray and autoclave. their own generator too and everthing hidden so no one would know it was there. at one point had 600 patients during the war. the guide told us a funnz storz about the different protocols if a nuclear attack occurred...the germans said that u should measure everzthing about it and give the info to zour superiors, and thanks for your service. the russians said u should lie on the ground with ur feet facing the explosion and ur soul would protect u from the attack. and the hungarians protocol called for u to wrap yourself in a wet blanket and try t omake it to the cemetary in time bc it would help clean up later:) lol it made me laugh a lot besides being a little creepz for official protocol.

anyhoo after walking around forever todaz (took me and this aussie girl about 2 hours to find the underground hospital as the signs here are nonexistent and horrible if existent) mz feet are killing me. sleep feels so good after a long days walk) off to the market and bumming around tomorrow then off to the opera at night and leaving for vienna on friday (apparentlz trains are on strike tomorrow so Ill be delayed a day). cheers from budapest!