Budapest, Day 1

After two weeks of travel, all in our party are tired. On our first morning in Budapest, we weren't chomping to hit the trail as early as usual. Keenan ventured out for pastries to bring back to the room, while Joren and I luxuriated our sore tootsies in the deep tubs.

Then we undid all the soaking by hoofing it down the river promenade toward the Szechenyi Chain Bridge. Legend has it that Count Szechenyi had the bridge built in the mid-1800s after storms prevented his crossing of the Danube River to be with his dying father (he even missed the funeral).

On the far side of the bridge, the funicular took us up to the top of Castle Hill, where the Royal Palace/Buda Castle and Matthias Church stand. Royal residences here date to the 1200s, but have been repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt. The view from the funicular was the best view of Chain Bridge.

In the back of the palace complex, excavations of the ruins are underway, and the hills surrounding Buda are apparent in the background.

Nowadays, the castle houses three different museums, but we found ourselves not so interested in the Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest History Museum or even the Contemporary Art Museum (showing Croatian sculpture). I feared we are museumed out.

We did enjoy the views back across the river toward Pest, flat as a pancake in contrast to Buda.

Prince Eugene of Savoy, who built the Belvedere Palace in Vienna, stands overlooking the river.

Nearby, the mythical turul bird from Hungarian myths guards the palace

Friday was hot, in the mid-80s, so we kept seeking shade. Somehow heat in Europe is harder to tolerate, probably because of the dearth of air-conditioning. The combination of breeze and water cooling made this fountain a popular place to hang out.

After wandering for awhile in the Castle District, including finding an apothecary (pharmacy) for sunscreen, we settled at Sisi's Etterem (yes, the same Sisi we learned about in Vienna) for lunch. We all finally caved to the pressure of pizza, and each ordered a different variety to share. I went Italian with ham and mushrooms. Joren tried Hungarian, with Kielbasa, onions and paprika. Keenan was obviously craving Mexican food, so his pizza was decorated with chilies and beans.

Later we walked on through the winding streets, peeking into souvenir shops, until we found a tourist information booth. There we collected a better map and booked tickets to see a Hungarian folklore dancing performance on Sunday evening. Eventually we made it down to Matthias Church, where we declined to pay for admission.

We did pay to go up on the ramparts at the nearby Fishermen's Bastion, with its fairytale turrets. The view from there included the Matthias Church, the statue of Stephan I of Hungary, and the Hungarian Parliament Building, second in size within Europe only to the English Parliament building.

Eventually we returned to the funicular for the ride downhill, then crossed back over the Chain Bridge and moseyed again down Vaci Utca to our hotel.

A few hours of rest found us ready to try a different sidewalk cafe for dinner, but unwilling to walk too far. Joren had been craving pasta, so we stopped at Cucina, an Italian restaurant just around the corner. There he proceeded to skip the pasta and order duck with pears and potatoes. Keenan had chicken with gorgonzola sauce. I tried the chicken special, stuffed with zucchini and cheese, wrapped in thin ham, and sauced with saffron. Yum! One of the best meals of our trip. Of course, we left room for ice cream after another stroll.