Just a brief résumé of our activities (at least the ones I can tell you about) in Budapest.
The apartment is just off the river and just off Vaci Street, which is the main touristy shopping street. It is a great place to visit, really close to the big Central Market Hall and there's even a Tesco Express fairly close, so we have the best of all worlds.
Janice and I were pleasantly surprised by the Castle area and the Fishermans Bastion. The Castle included a Citadel and Liberty Statue. It also consisted of grand buildings of the Habsburg era. On the same hill we progressed to an inner town area and St Matyas Church and the Fishermans Bastion. It doesn't seem to have much connection to Fishing but apparently it was the area of the hill that was defended by the fIshermen. The views across to Pest and the Parliament building were amazing.
The following day we did the trip to Gellert Baths, which is only across the river from where we stay. Lovely building and 12 different baths at different temperatures. Some were indoor and some outdoors. I made a faux par by trying to get into the main swimming pool without a bathing cap and the attendant had to blow his whistle at me and direct me to get out. They must have taken one look at me and thought 'he must have nits'! There were also steam rooms and saunas. Surprisingly I didn't need a bathing cap anywhere else? I thought that there would be pongy sulphur baths but there weren't. After the bathing we indulged in walking round the corner to the Gellert Hotel, through the revolving doors and had a coffee and cake in luxurious surroundings.
We didn't go out to eat all the time. We self catered and one evening I followed an old family recipe for 'pork in cider'.
The next day we did Europe's biggest Synagogue and had a tour guide that could have frozen an iceberg! She stopped people in their tracks by a mere glance and woe betide anyone who took photos without her permission. She did take pride to tell us that Prince Charles and Camilla had been there and also that Jeremy Irons and Greg Wise were once in her tour group. She went all gooey eyed at the recollection of Jeremy Irons. We had to leave the tour a little early to get to our Parliament building tour and we had a heck of a job trying to get out of the Synagogue. We had to force our way out of the entrance because we couldn't find the exit.
The Parliament building was very grand. The best view is from the river as they were renovating the other side by sandblasting and also doing major works around the outside so it was a but of a building site. The insides were lovely and well worth a visit.
Another day we hired a bike for Janice as I was getting withdrawal symptoms from my bike. It was a good sunny day and we cycled north to a Roman site called Aquinicum (rhymes with Ann Widdicombe). It was quite an extensive site of Roman ruins and a museum. We cycle back towards the city and went onto Margaret Island in the middle of the Danube. The Island is mainly car free and is a beautiful green oasis in the middle of the city. We lay down on the grass and had a picnic gazing towards a UNESCO protected watertower. Idyllic!
Rainy day on Thursday but it dried up in the afternoon and we visited the Hungarian National Museum and mainly saw exhibits about the history of Hungary. From knowing very little about Hungary I am almost an expert. The building and the displays were excellent. On the way in we noticed that some sound system was being set up on the steps outside and we were told that a choir would be singing later and the event would be televised and on the Internet and also similar events were taking place around Hungary in an effort to break a world record! When we came out of the museum the singing was in progress. It was a gospel choir and a lead singing man with a group of school children. The performance standard was excellent, we really enjoyed it. I'm not sure whether the record was ever broken?
In the evening we had a meal and went in search of music and dancing but failed miserably. The best we managed was an 'open mic' at an Irish Bar.
The last full day we set off towards what we thought was the park where all the communist era statues had been put. However, we went in the wrong direction and found Varosliget Park and Heroes' Square which had a big column and statues and grand museums near its entrance. We survived a heavy rain shower and then had bright spells for the rest of the day.
Tomorrow Janice flys back and I cycle to Balaton Lake, the largest lake in Central Europe - the adventure continues......! Back to normal blogging tomorrow, so more codswallop.
Photo 1, Gellet Baths.
Photo 2, View of Pest from Gellert Hill.
Photo 3, Castle area in Buda.
Photo 4, Castle area again.
Photo 5, Gellert Baths from the inside.
Photo 6, Fountain that was square shaped but stopped as you approached so people could stand in the middle. It was great fun, running in and out of the fountain. Some childish person decided to ride their bike into the middle!
Photo 7, Synagogue.
Photo 8, Ruins at Ann Widdicombe!
Photo 9, Parkland at Margarit Island in the middle of the Danube.
Photo 10, Gospel choir outside the Hungarian National Museum.
Photo 11, Archangel Gabriel on top of the Millennium Monument (sorry i chopped off the angel at the top, but i put a different angel at the bottom!). It was erected in 1896 to celebrate 1000 years since the creation of Hungary. This is in Heroes' Square.
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