The sun was shining brightly today so we logged a few miles among the beautiful old buildings of Budapest. We hopped on the city bus and rode across the famous Chain Bridge to the bottom of Castle Hill, on the Buda side of the city. There we caught the Siklo funicular railway. It was built in 1870 and whisked us up the steep hill in less than two minutes. We spent some time wandering around the Royal Palace admiring the view. There are art and history museums inside the palace but we decided we would save those for another time and enjoy the sunshine.
We left the Royal palace grounds and walked down to a little tourist area. There we visited the Fishermen’s Bastion for fantastic views, and went inside the Matthias Church. The church had a very interesting history from being “German Only” in its early years, to being used as a Mosque by the Turks. The walls and ceilings were all painted beautifully and it was a nice place to take a little break.
We left the church and wandered down the hill through some pretty little neighborhoods so we could jump on the metro back to Pest. Our next stop was the Great Synagogue. This building was fantastic and is the largest Jewish house of worship outside of New York City. It seats 3000 worshipers and was very ornate. Charlie had to wear a paper Yarmulke, and that alone made the visit more entertaining. There is also a small Jewish history museum on the grounds as well so we spent some time there before leaving. On our way out we passed a beautiful Holocaust memorial shaped like a weeping willow tree. There were small leaves on the branches with family names of Holocaust victims.
After leaving the Synagogue we hopped back on the metro to head back to the Parliament building. We had a quick snack at a cafe nearby and then joined in our 3:00 tour. We had a funny tour guide leading about 50 visitors. Everyone had a headset which was fantastic. A group of college kids were with us and they couldn’t stop talking and flirting the entire time so it was really nice to be able to hear the information over their giggling. The parliament building is beautiful and very important to Hungarians. It was designed by a Hungarian and is almost completely made of materials from Hungary. Even the dimensions of the building relate to important years in the independence of the nation.
We returned to our hotel for a little break before heading to dinner. I had done some research and found a highly recommended restaurant and made reservations a while ago. When in the final stages of getting ready for our trip I discovered “Caviar and Bull” was in fact in our hotel! It was so nice to “go out” to dinner and not have to bundle up first. We enjoyed a multi course tasting menu and some fantastic Hungarian wines. After dinner we needed a walk and ended up at a little Tiki bar that we had seen earlier in the trip. We each had a fantastic cocktail that was beautifully presented.
Our final stop of the evening was back at the food truck park for a chimney cake. We couldn’t resist the chance to have one hot off the grill this time. Charlie is already working on a plan for modifying our grill to make these delicious treats. We had a leisurely walk back to our hotel where I promptly fell asleep with my book in my hands. We walked a ton and saw so much but it seems we have barely scratched the surface of what Budapest has to offer.