Europe - Budapest

Today's Garmin Step Mileage: 16 km

We had a great sleep in today and stayed in bed until 10 am. Both of us have been waking during the night and reading, so it is nice to be able to go back to sleep and not have anything pressing to get up for.

We headed off to check out the other side of city - BUDA; Buda its the hilly west bank of Budapest. Buda and Pest were once two separate distinct cities, until the unification in 1873 and the building of the Chain Bridge. The Széchenyi Chain Bridge is a suspension bridge that spans the River Danube between Buda and Pest, the western and eastern sides of Budapest. Designed by the English engineer William Tierney Clark and built by the Scottish engineer Adam Clark, it was the first permanent bridge across the Danube in Hungary. It was opened in 1849.

Once we got to the pest side we headed to Castle Hill via the Siklo or funicular (1000 ft of travel up the hillside). Topping the crest of Castle Hill, stands Buda Palace. We arrived

just in time to view the changing of the guard ceremony. After being destroyed, rebuilt, and remodelled endlessly, the palace now contains the National Gallery, the Budapest History Museum and the current residence.

As you head north as you leave the palace you come across the Matthias Church and Fisherman's Bastion. The church was once a mosque under the Ottoman rule, but redesigned in a Romantic Nationalist style, reclaiming the church as Hungarian.

The church was the scene of several coronations, including that of Charles IV in 1916 (the last Habsburg king). It was also the site for

King Matthias's two weddings (the first to Catherine of Poděbrady and, after her death, to Beatrice of Naples). During the century and a half of Turkish occupation, the vast majority of its ecclesiastical treasures were shipped to Pressburg (present day Bratislava) and following the capture of Buda in 1541 the church became the city's main mosque. Ornate frescoes that previously adorned the walls of the building were whitewashed and interior furnishings stripped out. The church was largely renovated between 1950 and 1970 with funding from the Hungarian government. The bell tower was restored, along with renovation of interior paints and frescos. The five-manual organ, which had been destroyed during the war, was updated and sanctified in 1984. A thorough restoration programme was carried out from 2006 to 2013. Half of the HUF 9.4 billion cost was met by the government.

The Buda side castle wall was protected by the fishermen's guild and this is the reason why the large Bastion on Buda Hill was called the Fishermen's Bastion. The guild of fishermen was responsible for defending this stretch of the city walls in the Middle Ages. The Fisherman's Bastion has seven towers that represent the seven Magyar tribes that settled in the Carpathian Basin in 895. The Fisherman's Bastion and Matthias Church was featured as a Pit Stop on the sixth season of American TV show The Amazing Race.

From the bastion you can meander down the streets to the lower side of Buda that parallels the Danube river. As we walked along the rivers edge we decided to head back to the other side of the river and to the Pest side of town. As we got to the other side we decided to take the opportunity to use the river cruise part of our Hop-on-Hop off bus ticket. We had only 7 mins to get to the boat terminal.. hustling down quickly we just made it in time.. The gangway was removed just after we got on board.. It was truly an amazing race hustle..Thankfully we were not the last team to arrive and kept on racing..

Once on board the boat we headed for the upper deck. It travelled along the river toward Margaret Island and then headed to the south for a loop along the University District. It gave a great view of the Parliament Building, Castle Hill and everything in-between. A local beer - Dreher was only $2.50 - almost as cheap as Thailand for beer. A wonderful Lager was refreshing on a hot day. Europe is having a heat wave and it has been between 32-38 degrees each day so far. Thank goodness our place was cool-ish - no air-conditioning but cool enough with fans.

Once off the boat it was time for lunch.. So back on the Hop-on-Hop off bus and off to Karavan for more street food in the Jewish Quarter. We had Langos burgers and fries. Definitely a meal earned with all the walking done today. Todays count = 16 km.

A nice stroll home through the side streets to kick up for a while before our last night in Budapest. After a siesta we wanted to check out Budapest at night one last time. We headed over to the Basilica square and joined many others at DiVino Cafe. It is a wine bar that has great outdoor tables and chairs on the square. White wine, Rose wine and a Charcuterie platter was a wonderful way to end our stay in Budapest.

Rick and I absolutely loved our time in Budapest. We stayed a place that was very comfortable and close to everything. Transit, food, wine and tours are all very reasonable compared to the rest of Europe. The locals are very welcoming and we found that it was a very safe place for tourists. We would not hesitate in recommending it to anyone.