Budapest Day 3

We had a free day today and decided to wander through the Jewish neighborhood. We toured the Great Synagogue which is the second biggest in the world. The interior was not designed as a typical synagogue and was very ornately decorated. We also visited their memorial garden with its weeping willow Tree of Life sculpture. Each metal leaf has the name of a Holocaust victim buried nearby. The garden also honors those who saved countless lives at great personal risk. During World War II around 2281 Jews died in the ghetto nearby and were buried in a mass grave next to the synagogue. It’s the largest mass grave in Hungary. Over 600,000 Hungarian Jews were killed during the Holocaust with 60,000 being from Budapest.

We finished the afternoon with a walk down Andrassy which is the Champs d’Elyses of Budapest before boarding our ship to begin our river cruise.

After dinner I joined a group for a night tour of Budapest on the Buda side of the city and ended the night with a glass of sparkling wine at the restaurant Felix.Читать далее