Tuesday, June 11, 2013


Days 27 and 28

Budapest Finale

This will be a long entry because we did a lot in a short amount of time.  There are many pictures!  IF any picture looks interesting, you can click on the picture to enlarge it!

The river (the Danube) continues to rise!  They are trying to limit the flooded area and we are amazed at the amount of work they continue to do.


Our last days in Budapest were excellent - good friends, good fun, and good food!  This is a biking city with lots of bike paths.  Unfortunately, many paths are under water, and once we left the area near our bike shop, the crowds of people looking at the flooding clogged the dry sidewalks along the river.


Not everyone rides solo.  There is the beer drinking option where you have a designated ‘steerer’ and the rest of the riders pedal and drink beer.



We didn’t see TV monitors for ESPN, but if nothing else, you get to claim the whole designated bike lane.



Once upon time, there was an empire in Central Europe called the Austrian-Hungarian or Hapsburg.  The church above is one of several examples of the Austrian-Hungarian empire that existed until the end of WWI. They, along with Germany, lost that war, and the empire collapsed.

The spectacular structure (above) and other beautiful medieval architectures (below) can be seen within what they call the Castle District.  



From the Castle District, you get great views of the Hungarian Parliament Building on the other side of the Danube.  If you don’t make it to London to see their parliament, this one is almost as big.  We learned hey were happy to have become a democracy after years of Soviet rule as well as being under Nazi control (World War II).



We found that getting around to see all the sights is best accomplished from an open-topped tour bus.  The head-set for each seat lets you choose your language, and the sombreros keep the sun out of your face and tell people it’s finally sunny weather.



The beauty of the city is in lots of places.  If you like to take pictures, this is a great place to be with a camera.  It’s probably one of the prettiest cities in the world.   


Opera House - like many buildings, this one is decorated with beautiful statues and/or gargoyles


The facade of the upper four floors has etched ‘grafitti’



One of many buildings with domed roof(s)


Devilish ornamental light fixtures 


Gellert Bathes just beyond trees

There are over 50 mineral bathes in Budapest. We went to the largest and most famous one on our last afternoon in this city. It was quite an experience!  

And the food was excellent, too.  While there were lots of outdoor eateries along the Danube, our favorite place was TomGeorge Italiano.  One night, Dan and Jan wanted something other than goulash.  Italian food sounded good, so even though we were in Hungary, we tried the italian restaurant with the non-italian name.  The food and wine here are five-star but the price is reasonable.  Over a few nights, we tried many things including the ‘Strangled Priest’ pasta dish.  



There is only one thing you need to be wary of food-wise in Budapest.  Hungarian paprika tends to be very spicy - hot!!



We head home today and Jan and Dan head to Prague so they get some more vacation.  Even with the rain and swollen rivers, our journey and our company was great!

We will come back for a river cruise some other year.  It was a great idea, but it was an unfortunate time this year because of the floods. 




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