City tour & Night tour - Budapest, Hungary

July 25 

Our tour this morning was Panoramic Budapest. Hungary’s capital straddles the banks of the Danube, with traditional hillside Buda on one side and modern Pest on the other.

Our tour was a driving tour through modern Pest. The iron curtain monument stands in front of the House of Terror Museum. A symbol of what life was like living under communist rule.

We passed Heros Square, which we passed several times in the next two days. Seems you can’t get anywhere without going past it. Unfortunately, only photos were taken from the bus.

from the vehicle - building called "the whale"

4 Viking ships side by side in port - Kadlin, CH-Basel 07002035, Viking Gymir, CH-Basel 07002150

iron curtain monument

Hero's Square

Across the river, we went to the Buda side of the city. We then did a short walking tour of the Castle District with its massive hilltop castle complex, the turreted Fisherman’s Bastion and Matthias Church, named for the country’s most popular medieval king.

short walking tour of Castle Hill - The House of Houdini Museum

short walk up the hill

Matthias Church

mosaic roofs were seen throughout this trip

views from the second floor

free time to wander

From the heights of Buda Hill, we had great views. 

views from the other side

chili peppers & paprika

these are used to make the paprika

After lunch we wandered on our own spending most of the time at the Grand Market. I bought some paprika in 3 flavors and we hit the Aldi (yes, THAT Aldi, which originated in Germany) for some Diet Cokes for the cabin. We also bought some artisan chocolates that we ate for several days.

entrance to the Grand Market

where I bought the paprika

pastry that we had seen in Bratislava, but didn't try it, so we bought one here and it was disappointing

interesting looking cheese

chocolates that we bought

walking back to the ship via the shopping street - we popped into the church

very good gelato - yum!

the Rubik cube was invented in Hungary

we walked halfway across the bridge for the views

The Grand Market

views from the top deck

After dinner we took the Budapest by Night tour. It was panoramic drive with a few stops to get photos. 

our photos came out much better with Cathy's cell phone than ours did of them with a regular camera - sorry!

wine stop

At the end of the tour, we had a brief stop for a glass of sparkling wine. Honestly, it was so rushed that they should have skipped it. Didn't sit down, just stood and downed our drinks so really couldn't enjoy the view while sipping our drinks. 

City tour & Night tour - Budapest, Hungary https://photos.app.goo.gl/69LadkaQisztzXct9

Tomorrow, we have another day in Budapest, and we will tour the Gödöllö Royal Palace, tour the Grand Market and we have an evening Folklore dinner & show.