Saturday, October 20, 2018: Day 15: Budapest final day

Today our tour officially ended at 10:00 am. Tomorrow morning, my cab picks me up at the hotel at 3:45 am for the flight home. I should be arriving in IAH at 1:45 pm local time or 8:45 pm Budapest time. I have a stop over in Frankfurt. It will be a long day.

Today, after a very adequate breakfast, David and I walked over to the House of Terror.

This building, on Embassy Road, is the former headquarters of the Arrow Cross intelligence service (Hungary's Nazi regime) and the Soviet KGB during the post WWII era. It was an interesting self-guided tour (no pictures were allowed inside). It was very interesting and very enlightening.

We spent three hours in the building. Then we walked back to the hotel. Along the way, I found a little grocery that sold the foie gras I wanted to take home. I got four 80 gram samples. We will have a tasting when I get back to Houston.

After much agonizing, I finally decided to get Gavin some Hungarian chocolate. Since he will be here with me in December for our train trip, I did not want to bring him something he might want to pick out himself.

After freshing up at the hotel for a few mintues, we were off again. This time across the chain bridge to the Buda side and the palace. Our goal was to visit the Military Hospital Museum. This is a formerly top-secret hospital and nuclear bunker in the cave system under the palace. The palace is about 2 km long, but underneath, the cave system is nearly 10 km long. During WWII, portions of the caves were turned into hospitals and after WWII, it was expanded to become a nuclear fallout shelter. Again, no interior pictures allow, but it was a interesting visit. We walked across the chain bridge and took the cable car up the hill to the palace.

Half way across the bridge. Intercontinental hotel on the left

Cable car on the left of the tunnel

Cable car

When we arrived at the top of the palace hill, they were in the process of changing of the guard.

As we walked over to museum, we were passed by an assembly of Napoléon era guards.

The hospital did not allow interior photos.

We then walked over to the Military History Museum, but they only took Hungarian currency. So, we walked back to the cable car and walked back to the hotel. Total walking today of 5.25 miles.

Soviet tank outside the Military History Muesem

David examining the tread thickness

View of the Parliament building form the hill

Cable car up the hill

Friday, October 19, 2018: Day 14: Final full day in Budapest

We arose this morning at the Intercontinental Hotel on the Pest side of the Danube (FYI, Budapest is pronounced as if the "s" were a "sh"). The weather is still fine with the high today of 70F and some clouds.

We had a full breakfast and at 9:15 am joined the other tour people in the lobby to board the motor coach for a one-half day bus tour of both Buda and Pest. Buda and Pest were once individual cities on each side of the Danube. They were joined together in 1872 to become the capital city of Hungary. The Buda side of the city is mostly residential and contains the Coronation Palace, Fisherman's Bastion and the Church of our Lady (aka, Mathias Church). The Pest side is mostly commercial and financial. While part of the EU, Hungary has not yet measured up to use the Euro currency. They still use the Hungarian Forint (Ft). Today, the conversion rate was 260 Ft to one US dollar or 300 Ft to one EUR. Overall, the Hungarian economy is doing well with unemployment below 4%.

We first crossed the Danube and journeyed up the Castle Hill. We departed the bus and walked to the Church.

The church is still an active Catholic church. During our brief visit inside, they were having a choir rehearsal.

As with many of the buildings in Budapest, the church as heavily damage during WWII. The current wall "coverings" were painted to resemble Persian carpet design. The Turks, during one of their several invasions, had turned the church into a Mosque. The current wall coverings is an attempt to show the varied history of the church.

As we exited the church, I picked a note out of the basket. Kind of like a fortune cookie. It read:

Sounds like a Trumpism...I'll have to think about it!!

King Stephen who brought the Hungarian barbarians into the Catholic faith...one way or another

Looking out over the Pest side of the City

Parliament Building

After leaving the Buda side of the city, we bused back to the Pest side and over to the covered market. We were "dumped" there about 12:30 pm and told be in the lobby of the hotel at 6:15 pm for our opulent dinner.

David and I walked around all three levels of the market. We both bought some paprika and I also got some saffron.

All kinds of spices

Honey

Dead fish

Sauerkraut 

 We then started our walk back to the hotel.

Forty plus years after the collapse of the Eastern Block, they are still working to restore the city. Our local guide said they hope that in the next one or two decades to have brought Budapest back to it previous splendor. There are still many buildings that are crumbling due to decades of neglect.

Walked by the Budapest Hard Rock Cafe. Gavin and I will try it out in December.

We went down to the lobby at 6:15 pm to take a 20 minute motor coach ride (which would have taken 5 minutes if we had walked) to the Akademia Club for dinner.

Akademia Club

Reception "band"

David and Jean...what a couple!!!

Dinner table

Tauck gave us all a token of appreciation...a small bag of sweet and hot Hungarian paprika. My guess is that at least one-half of the tour guest had bought paprika at the Market today...as did David and I.

Unveiling the main course, roast venison and chicken

Desert

After dinner we staggered back to the hotel, saving a 20 minute bus ride and settled into a couple of drinks at the Havana Bar.

Tomorrow morning at 10:00 am, the tour officially ends. We will stay another night. My flight leaves at 6:15 am, which means I need to be up and get ready to go around 3:00 am.