So against my common sense I decided to start the day with a 8:15 AM tour of the Hungarian Parliament. Too early for a tour on vacation. The tour was fairly short, but the building was spectacular – although there were massive repairs made after WWII. Don’t believe me – click here: https://www.superb-vacations.com/wp-content/uploads/attachments/File:Lanc_hid_-_Budapest_3_Febr_1946_Foto_Takkk_Hungary.jpg
After the tour I went into the free museum at the visitor center for a little while, but nothing worthy of photographing.
I then decided I was hungry and went back to the hotel to have breakfast. It’s not often that you can eat in a beautiful, famous cafe. I had some salami, chorizio and a chicken ceasar salad which had an entire grilled (hot) chicken breast and only one small lonely anchovy. To make matters worse than the one lonely anchovy – the salad was excessively covered in dressing… Normally I drown my salad, but even by my standard it was excessive.
After breakfast I took the metro and bus back up to Castle Hill.
First museum: ‘Budapest History Museum’. It was quite a bit larger than I expected and honestly less crowded than I expected as well. It had quite a bit of interesting history about the Buda Castle.
Second museum: ‘Hungarian National Gallery’. This was a large art museum, although it was inside Buda Castle the stairs to the dome were closed and the inside was that of a modern museum. All the paintings and sculptures are mostly from Hungarian artists.
I wandered around the castle a bit for photo spots. I really like this photo.
It looked like it was going to rain – like I heard thunder and the clouds were not friendly. I took the bus to St. Stephen’s basilica to take some pictures that I was unable to yesterday. It is a spectacular church.
I took the metro, got off at ‘Octogon’ – which wasn’t actually interesting at all and then carried on up to Hero’s Square and the Vajdahunyad Castle. The Castle looks amazing on the outside.
I had to run back to the hotel to try and return my $60 of unnecessary clothes I bought since my luggage was delivered within 24 hours. I got a small snack at McDonald’s. It’s hard to resist a hamburger, small fries and small coke for $1.74 (500 HUF). It’s also quick.
After my snack I went to Media Markt to get a USB card reader…. new laptop has 2 hard drives, video card and god knows what else, but no memory card reader. I don’t trust my old one, so it was just easier to cough up the dough for a new one.
I then took the tram across Margaret Bridge for a great view of the Danube with the Hungarian Parliament all lit up (as well as the chain bridge, Buda Castle and Matthias Church). I returned back on the tram and switched to the tram that runs along the Danube on the Pest side. It was a nice scenic ride and there is another bridge I want to explore (Liberty Bridge).
I finally took the tram back to the hotel and called it a night.