Budapest PART 2

Things went from normal to bizzare in the last part of our stay in Budapest. We did go to Chabad for friday night and services and dinner, and while services were quite crowded, dinner was not. The Rabbi briefly asked where we were from and introduced us to the group, but otherwise everything spoken was in Hungarian and no one talked to us.. not my usual experience with Chabad! We did, however, REALLY enjoy the food.. probably ate more in that meal than we had in a few days combined.
Saturday morning we walked over to the Great Synagogue. Gorgeous building and a fair number of congregants. I was happily enjoying things when all of a sudden... the organ whirred into life and the ark covering electronically lifted up. I guess I should have beeen more specific when I inquired as to the 'denomination' of the synagogue. It was interesting experience with the organ and choir and all.. so I guess I can chalk it up to that.
In the afternoon we set off for Gellert Hill in Buda, and walked up a very big hill. The climb was hot, but the view from the top was great. Next we climbed down and walked over to the Buda Castle area. We got partway up the hill when we stopped to listen to some Celtic music. We were then approached by a young guy who recognized our MEC bags and said ''Hello Canadians, I'm Ilan from Montreal''. Well, it turns out that he has friends in common with Jordana and is also an observant Jew. Random. We ended up spending the rest of the afternoon with him, seeing more sights and listening to his wealth of knowledge of Jewish Budapest. We walked across the Chain bridge which had been closed to cars for the day and was full of vendors and performers. He also pointed a memorial to the Jews who had been drowned in the Danube - pairs of bronzed shoes of different shapes and styles, lined up along the river edge. Very striking. Ilan then said goodbye to us and told us perhaps he'd see us at the Bryan Adams concert (free) in Heroes Square that night.
Back to the hostel to shower, change, eat some dinner and then indeed we walked over to the Bryan Adams concert. The crowds were massive and we had to watch from one of multiple stages and we could not get anywhere close to the stage. I recognized all of the songs and had fun singing along. There was something especially fun about seeing a Canadian perform in Budapest on the night before Canada Day. After the concert Jordana tried to get one of the security guards to pass on the message of 'happy canada day' to Bryan Adams, but no one was interested in humouring her. Oh well. Next we noticed lights and music coming from a big outdoor area nearby known as the lake as it gets filled with water later in the summer. The sign said 'official afterparty' so we checked it out for a bit and got to do the Macarena while we were there. Got bored after a while and decided to check out Margit Island, the island between Buda and Pest. It was still early (as far as going out is concerned) so we picked up drinks in the Supermarket and decided to walk to the island. Eventually we got there and did what we had been instructed.. follow the crowds as they get off the bus. The first bar we checked out was full of cool lanterns and outdoor tables.. but relatively few english speaking people and so we opted for a different bar. There we ran into some guys from our hostel, as well as a large crowd of guys who were in Budapest from the UK for the weekend for their buddy's stag. Their buddie had been dressed in a leprechaun suit for the occasion. Um.. okay. After talking with them for a bit they announced that their stag leader (a girl from Budapest that they had hired to take them around) said it was time to get on their bus and go to a different location. Somehow, we got included in this, and onto the bus we went. Found ourselves next at a huge outdoor venue called Zold Pardon (or something like that). Really funky place. Danced and danced and danced.. and eventually the sky started to get light. Sometime around 5am we realized we needed to head back to our hostel soon to pack up our bags and catch the morning train to Zagreb. With the sky entirely light, we found our way all the way back without the use of a map. Bizzare night, but all in all, Budapest is a terrific city.