Budapest

March 1 & 2

Buda and Pest makes Budapest

Not a whole lot to tell but wanted to share some pics and this is the easiest way to do it.

We arrived in the rain, with forecast of continued rain until we left so we figured it was going to be limited sightseeing. Our dinner was at Monk’s Bistrot, a very highly rated restaurant but when we entered at 7:00, we were the only ones there. The owner said he thought it was because of the coronavirus- that people were not going out, even though Hungry has yet to have a confirmed case. Nonetheless, our dinner was delicious and we enjoyed the views of the castle area lit up at night.

It cracked us up because so many people thought we were nuts for going to Turkey and Jordan but the biggest threat seemed to be in Budapest as a large protest with extensive police presence, including plenty in riot gear, passed by the front of our hotel!

The following morning we woke to rainy skies but were all up earlier than expected. When we finished breakfast and stepped outside, the rain had stopped and some blue sky was poking through!

We made our way along to our first stop, “Shoes along the Danube,” a memorial to the Jewish citizens of Budapest, lost to the holocaust. Jenny couldn’t understand how people could smile and have their pictures taken next to this heart wrenching memorial – obviously clueless in its meaning.

From there we walked around the Parliamemt where we considered a tour but the next one was an hour later and confined inside with a large group of people crammed together – we took a pass but enjoyed the immense grandeur of the behemoth.

About this time, we had kept watching a tram going by and noticed on the map that it went near to the areas we were headed. After some difficulties securing tickets, we figured it out and hopped on – for two stops before it terminated. Oops!! Off we got and looked closer at the map finally figuring out the routes; we mastered it for the rest of the day!

Our next stop was to the Buda side of the river to the famed Castle Area. It was a beautiful historical area that we enjoyed walking around and the only area where there were crowds.

We continued walking from there further along the Castle Area until we decided to head back down as Jenny wanted the iconic picture of the Parliament Building (that is located on the Pest side, from the Buda side).

Our stroll continued, including a nice stop for lunch.

Crossing back over to Buda we went to the Market hall in search of a famed chimney cake , a cinnamon sugar stack of yumminess!

So after 8.7 miles, we called it a day. Too tired to make our dinner reservation, we ate in the hotel and were all asleep by 8:30 to get as much rest as possible for our long trek back home tomorrow – hopefully an uneventful one!

We enjoyed Budapest a lot. Thought it a beautiful city, at least what we saw of it but felt a bit of that cold personality like we experienced in Latvia and Lithuania. It was though, a nice stopover and we are glad we took the time to see it!