Budapest, Hungary

Saturday morning (26/4/25), I checked out of my Vienna Hotel and ubered to the train station, easily getting on my cheap seat to Budapest. I easily ubered from that station to my inaugural Intrepid hotel, I dropped my stuff, and set out exploring the town. (Thanks to the EU, there was no border crossing and passport shuffling when going from Austria to Hungary. [Could it be Austria-Hungary? {nah}])!

Early on, I ambled into the opera house and heard the Saturday matinee wrapping up from inside the lobby. Walking to the happenin’ part of Pest, our hotel’s side of the Danube, I encountered a bicycle event in town, and among other things, I found the moon…!

I went out on to one of the bridges to enjoy the bike action, but I knew that we might be exploring Buda the next day, and it was getting late in the day, so I worked my way back on a loop trail to the hotel.

Did you know the Rubik’s Cube was invented in Hungary? (Yup, by Rubik!) I wandered by a few more statues, Soviet memorabilia, a Piana Vyshnia shop, and some others photographical items…

At 6:00, back at the hotel, I met my new Intrepid group, and after the formalities, we set off for some dinner at a Street Food Court & Beer Garden, then went to one of the famous (infamous?) “Ruin Bars” found in Budapest’s Jewish Quarter after most of them had been taken by the Nazis in WW2. A sad situation, but an interesting experience. We went to Szimpla, which was hoppin’!

The next day we headed out on a short walking tour with Dina, our leader. In addition to the Basilica, we went to the Memorial for Victims of the German Occupation, a tragic, but hopefully interactive, experience. You too can read about what is found there. Then we went to the monument about the Soviet Era…

Ronald Reagan has his own statue in Budapest, as do the National Martyrs. Eventually, we made it to the majestic Hungarian Parliament Building and Kossuth Square, after which we went down to the Danube Bank and saw the Shoes representing the hundreds of people shot and dumped in the river.

Then, we had the rest of the day free, so Red and Bill and I crossed the Chain Bridge to the Buda side and went to the National Museum and the Castle Museum…

Inside the National Museum and the Castle Museum…!

From the Buda side, looking at Pest (and don’t forget Obuda!). We wandered about enjoying the great weather, the views, the architecture, the weddings, etc., then eventually walked back.

After a very nice dinner with six of the others, I led them to the Piana Vyshnia for the cherry liqueur! They participated in the ritual of making a wish and taking a sip with no hands. Richard was having a particularly good time…