BUDAPEST

Tuesday June 9th, we arrived in Budapest, a bustling city that we enjoyed and learned much about.

The Danube River winds its way through two sections of city life and a small island sits in the middle of the river.  Buda was a city of itself and was Pest.  It was decided to that they should be joined as one, so a big bridge was built so that commerce back and forth would be easier.  Good idea!  Buda is on the hilly side of the river and Pest on the flat side. Now there are many bridges.  We think it a beautiful place.  Our apartment  was located only two blocks away from the river, so we did get to go there often and walk and we were close to most all things we wanted to do.  Below us we had a shop with vegetables and fruit and yummy olives of various kinds. inexpensive wine, too.  We got to be friendly with the proprietors and we felt like we fit into the hub of folks there.  We ate a Hungarian meal of goulash soup, a meat filled "pancake", and 

catfish on some kind of pasta.  The food there was not my favorite.  Paprika is used much.  I stuck to cheese and ham.  

Wednesday we trekked around the city and discovered some of the main buildings such as the Opera House, the huge Parliament building, and plazas.  It seems many things have monuments and statues.  BIG ONES.  Most downtown buildings are blocky and solid.  Decorations on top and columns abound.  There are many big churches and cathedrals.  There always seems to be something to honor Mary.

Temperatures ranged around 28C to 38C.  Hot.

Thursday had us discovering the park on the river island called Margaret Island and we had a lovely whole day there.  The island is 2 miles in length, but width about 1/4 mile.  A great fountain attracts many viewers and music plays while water dances and shoots up and twists to the beat of the music.

The 1896 Summer Olympics were held there and we got to see the original lap pool and high diving board still in use.  The building that was built for that occasion is still kept up.  We saw the track for the running events.  Quite impressive.  In Budapest there are many bath houses, and one of them is on this island.

People go for therapy in these hot waters and also just for a warm/hot mineral bath.  We got a photos of a very unusual  water slide that many seemed to be having fun on.  On one end of the island is a Japanese garden. The lily pads were our favorite there and also a multi-water fall over moss covered rock wall.  In another area we watched storks feed there babies and clack their beaks.  There were the most exotic chickens in that little fowl area, also.  Two very old roosters crowing were humorous.  A peacock came up to the fence while I spoke to him, but he only gave me a big squack , and did not fan his tail.  That brought giggles to the folks sitting on the nearby bench.

Friday we went on a bike tour with our leader, Petra.  We were four hours weaving in and out of traffic and people.  All seven of us tourists were from the USA.  We had a lot of fun and even rode up one very steep hill.  I must admit that I had to walk my bike up some of it.  ( it was faster to do so, and my legs liked it better).  There are many students all around these big cities.  The three young women that we had as bike companions were delightful.  The two men, also.  Petra took us to some of the main sites and did a history summation at each.

Our mid-tour break was at a cool restaurant where we carbed up for the second half of the tour.

A great day it was!  Huge columns and statues and a castle..............monuments and a huge bath house.

Hungary is a small country and not rich.  The people are great, helpful and determined.  There is a mix of 

races  The world has become a melting pot and we are all part of the human race.

I hope the photos Dan enters can help tell the story.