We arrived in Budapest last night around 8:30. Balazs met us at the train station. It was kind of amazing because he walked up to us and said, "Larry and Kay" amongst the crowd of people that got off the train with us. He had never met us. Balazs was a tremendous help for us in procuring our train tickets several months ago. When we tried to order the tickets, everything was in German and we emailed and skyped and he handled everything. What a jewel!
Rita stayed in our Clearwater condo last April and she invited us to come to Budapest. She and Balazs have been extremely helpful in giving us information about transportation around Budapest and about places to visit and setting up an internet access in the apartment.
Remind us to tell you the story about this skeleton key.
.The doors to Rita's sister's apartment.
We actually stayed the first night in Rita's sister's apartment so we enjoyed exploring another part of Budapest before going to Rita's apartment on Thursday evening. We spent the day on Wednesday exchanging money and just walking the streets in "ah". We exchanged USD (US Dollars) to Hungarian Forenths. The exchange was about $1.00 for 182 forenths. They have lots of coins as well as paper money. Why were we in ah? Because all the buildings looked like something out of a World War II movie scene. The outsides of the buildings still have holes where morter or guns shots were fired back during the war. The buildings are marded with the smoke and soot from the explosions of the war. The buildings date back to the turn of the century and before then. There are very few new buildings so things have been refurbished on the inside. During our walks we have noticed many buildings being renewed along the way. 
Budapest buildings typically have merchants on the first floor and apartments above.
Inside the fabulous Bosco Hotel. Very ritzy!
Sidewalk cafes give the area a relaxing atmosphere.
The doors are so big in every building...they look like they are made for a giant.
The first couple of days that we arrived in Hungary, we walked to areas close to our apartment. We visited the huge Market Hall to stock up on groceries. What an exciting experience.It was just like the market we had visited in Valencia only it was bigger....it had an upstairs. The Market had many vendors selling produce, spices, pickled items, breads, nuts, eggs, various speciality meats ( like one vendor would sell only chicken, another only pork). We never did find any fish...must be too far from the sea. The building dated back to 1892 and is considered the center of Budapest. It had been reburbished in the 90's. Big tall ceilings with three long aisles going from one end to the other. Full of people. It was fun to walk through here and just look. Then we decided to start purchasing some things to take back to the apartment. We spent two and a half hours there filling up one of our rolling suitcases with fruit and vegetables and a couple of meats. Everyone else had big bags or baskets or those rolling carts that you pull behind. We are about three blocks away from the market and knew we were going to have to tote things back so the suitcase was a good alternative to carrying things.
Honey Heaven...and award winning ones!
Have you ever seen such huge radishes?
Everything looks so fresh!
This is Hog Heaven!
This is the couple who own a chicken venue! Proud Hungarians!
Columbian flute player.
This is the floor coming into our building where our apartment is.
The apartment that we are staying in is in a great area of sidewalk cafes and shops and is a delight to walk during the day as well as the evening. The building was built in 1881. It is within walking distance to the palace, parliament and many historic areas. There is always music of some sort going on...no not bluegrass, but classical and jazz as well as church music...due to the Easter holiday. We love going to the square, a block from our apartment to see the entertainment. Three flute players from Columbia were there on Friday with great sounds. Their flutes were multiple ones attached together and they had some backup music that made their sounds quite extraordinary. ...anyway, Larry and I sat for a while in the gorgeous sun enjoying their sounds. We see violinist, clarinets, duos and trios of instruments, singers, accordian players etc. playing in the subways, in the sidewalk cafes, and on street corners. The entertainment is phenonminal with many talented Hungarian people earning their living as sidewalk entertainers.
Thursday night we walked the Freedom Bridge, along the Danube River, and across the Elizabeth Bridge back down the Danube to our apartment. The city lights are the best I have ever seen at night. It is quite spectacular to see the bridges and domes of the building lit up at night and watch the Danube River boats floating up and down for the night views of the city lights. It compares to the spectacular views of Sidney, Australia. The Parliment and Royal Palace are absolutely awesome at night. Larry and I enjoyed the walk at night and may have to do it a time or two more before going home.
Our kitchen apartment has all that we need.
Our living room also has a TV with CNN, BBC, and one other channel of English so we aren't watching much, but it does have a wonderful American radio station.
Freedom Bridge
The architecture is even more beautiful at night.
Don't you just love these lamp posts?
Freedom Bridge from the other side of the Danube.
The Royal Palace on Castle Hill
Easter Sunday we woke to find the first overcast day of our whole trip since February so we couldn't complain. It spit rain at us here and there, but we were determined to do something that would be memorible so we rode the subway and train to Szentendre. It was our first experience using Hungarian public transportation...our apartment is so close to everything that we have just been walking. The ride north was about 40 minutes into the country. The quaint small town lies on the Danube River. This town has perserved its 18 and 19th century buildings that are on cobblestone streets. I said to Larry, "This is the Hungarian Williamsburg." We spent the day meandering through the streets looking in shops and enjoying the architecture of the past. Some of the building had gone through some refurbishing while others had the original worn look of many passing years. It was interesting to see the front of a church that had been updated while the side was still in the process of starting the renewal. Anyway, we enjoyed walking the Danube River which was running along side of the town. We stopped to enjoy a glass of Hungarian vintage and watch the other tourist or Hungarian citizens who were walking by. Many families had choosen to visit this unique town enjoying ice cream cones or a special meal together. With the sun returning late afternoon, it turned out to be a great day of experiencing the Hungarian culture and some scenery outside of the city.
Just jumped out of the subway...they don't waste anytime hanging around so you have to get your legs in gear quick.
One subway and a train, 40 minutes later we made it.
Can you tell that Larry misses his cellular?...like whose he gonna call here?
The old and the new.
Larry's favorite, the chocolate shop.
Great shops and cafes!
A Mini and lots of other little cars travel the brick and stoned roads.
On Monday, we crossed the Freedom Bridge and walked up to the third bridge called the Chain Bridge. Budapest has five bridges crossing the Danube. We purchased tickets and rode the funicular (an outside handcrafted wooden boxcar that been around begining in the 1800's) that goes up the side of the mountain to what is known as Castle Hill.This area was settled early in the 13th century. In the 800 years since its foundation, it has been hit by virtually every disaster--earthquake, fire, siege, and world war--its beauty continues to shine through and its medieval monuments are a delight. We have been told that it has been rebuilt three times.
Our reflection in a mirrored window...yes, it is raining!
The funicular
The Parliament with a touring boat passing on the Danube.
The street level of the Royal Palace before riding the funicular...it needs renovating.
One entrance to the Royal Palace.
King of my Palace
The Royal Palace and its gardens over looking the Danube.
Balazs, Kay, Rita, and Larry
Castle Hill also affords a spectacular view of the city. It was the first really rainy cold day, more so than the day before. Dressed in portable, yellow plastic rain jackets....that helped to keep us warm....we marched on. This was a very popular area with many people walking around snapping pictures. We walked along the huge wall that was built for protection below us, looking out at the panoramic city the whole way. One of the spectacular views is of the Parliment building that lies across the Danube. The Royal Palace is another huge, huge old spectacular building. Lots of statues and fountains surround it on the grounds. We walked over ornate stone designs placed in the ground over the whole area wondering how these young girls were able to navigate them in their three inch spikes. Underneath the hill lies a vast labyrinth of caves which served as a military station for 20,000 German soldiers duirng the Second World War. We went into the Hungarian National Gallery, the Hungarian History Museum, and the Hungarian Natural History Building all housed within the Royal Palace.
King Bela IV built the castle here after the Tarter invasion. It stands 180 meters above sea level and is around 1.5 kilometers long and around 500 metres wide. Our legs were about to fall off by the end of a day exploring it. It has three churches, five museums , many historical buildings, monuments, streets and squares, a theatre, four hotels, restaurants, cafes, galleries and gift shops.
The rain had stopped and we began walking through these areas and magically Balazs appeared. He and Rita had come back from Easter vacation at Rita's parents home and decided to come looking for us. They took us to this little pastery shop where we tasted this warm cherry strudel....Yummy! Then we went to the Fisherman's Bastian to view more gorgeous sights of the city and walked past the 700 year old Matthias Church, presently going through renovation. Fisherman's Bastian was built in 1895 on the sited medieval fish market, hence the name. Balza had grown up in this area and took us through several parts on Castle Hill that we would have never been able to find on our own. On the back side of Castle Hill, huge homes sit on another hill, the exculsive area for the more prominent Hungarian residents. We walked past the Military Museum where cannon balls were actually still in the walls of the building. Strolling past large connected buildings where members of Parliment live, we came across plaques of past historic men who had served Hungary in honorable ways.
After walking the the Wall around Castle Hill, Rita and Balazs departed and Larry and I rode the funicular back down the hill. We walked across the Chain Bridge, the city's first bridge, built from 1839-49. Whew... that took a while to build! The bridge did not escape destruction of the Second World War, and had to be rebuilt in 1949, on its 100th anniversary. We then went into the Four Seasons hotel to warm up. Gorgeous! Then we continued our journey through the shopping plazas that parallel the Danube River. We made it back to the apartment, ready to have a hot meal and some warmth. What a fantastic day!
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