Day in Budapest

Up early, skipped breakfast and waited for the van to pick us up at 0645. Dropped off at the Opera House we had just saved a fifteen minute walk. Naturally we got on the wrong bus at first and then took the last two seat on the right bus. Discovering an intermittent wifi on the bus we settled into a two and half hour ride to Buda, Pest was the second stop!

Riding through the flatlands of Central Europe we saw few livestock and plenty of wheat and market gardens. The guide warned us that we would only be inspected at the Border - as we enter Hungary - on the way back, so the journey was very calm and settled. Crossing the Border we did notice that Hungary, although a member of the EU appeared to be a poorer and grimier state than Austria, but only in the suburbs and countryside; the City was spotless.

The first stop was the touristy Castle and the church of St. Mattias. Everything looked new and rebuilt, but to original sixteenth century architecture. That fact was not surprising considering that Budapest has been rebuilt after every invasion or revolution - perhaps every fifty or hundred years or so. The last rebuild after WW2 but the revolution of 1956 did produce a boom for the trades too. Anyway, as in Vienna the streets are spotless, very little litter on the streets, if none. But the 'taggers', as in Vienna; more so in Vienna, have produced marvellous graffiti art.

We didn't have time to enter any of the buildings, but naturally we were taken to, what we call "the brother-in-laws" knick-knack store to waste fifteen minutes - the perils of the guided tour! Back on the bus to gaze out of the windows at the sights o Buda and crossing the river Danube we entered the larger Pest. Older and kitted out with wide boulevards this City had been laid out by one of the Emperors in the eighteenth century obviously trying to keep up with Paris during the height of the Hungarian Empire.

This City has all the attributes of an Empire - Opera House (not as large as Vienna's) War Memorials and Museums. None entered but plenty seen! At last after five hours we were taken to one of the famous restaurants  overlooking the winter ice-rink, on a lake, but we were assured that the ice in the winter can be as thick as forty centimetres, for a lunch from a genuine Hungarian menu. Great lunch even better dessert and supplemented by three quarters of  a litre of good Hungarian beer. Sufficiently sated we were then taken past a few more sights and dropped off at the edge of a large shopping promenade. For this part of the trip we were given two and a half hours. Probably not enough for a serious shopper but good enough for us we were done in ninety minutes and decided to wait out the hour in a genuine Hungarian Cafe. Should mention that the Hungarians, although a member of the EU, do not use the Euro. This creates a bit of a problem for the casual shopper. One store did take the money but in the Cafe they converted the bill into Euros at an exorbitant rate. An additional four euros disappeared in the transaction, cost of goods fifteen euros, final bill twenty!! Moral  of the story always use the change bars even for a small change, the commission will be offset by the potential ripoff.

All in all a good day, our good luck with all forms of transit is still alive, the Border crossing didn't even happen we were waved through. Hitting the nearest resto near the hotel, we had eaten there the night before and loved the place, we picked up a burger to go. Massive and not so well cooked but still good at the end of a long day. The last order of business was to arrange the carry ons for tomorrow - the leg to St. Petersburg.