Budapest Day 1

We were up early (but running later per usual) to eat and meet our boat tour on the Danube. It was a cool vantage point to see the beautiful buildings along both sides of the river. We are staying on the Pest side and decided to stick to sightseeing there today. We had the first of the traditional dishes for lunch (Langos). It is a flatbread that is fried, brushed with a garlic oil and then topped. Hungarians apparently love sour cream on everything, so a midwestern girl is right at home. We all had some combination cheese, sour cream, veggies, salami or salmon. Delicious! We signed up for a free walking tour with a group called Guru walk. It is always amazing how knowledgeable the guides are. Robert was a history buff and we met outside the St. Stefan Basilica, which was the first in central Eastern Europe. He walked us through Hungarian history from prehistoric times, through Attila the Hun, and the Austro-Hungarian empire to start. It was cool to integrate some of what we learned last summer in Austria. We saw the stumbling stones that have been made by artist Gunter Demnig, a German artist who installs the brass 10x10 cm stones at the last know residence of people taken in the holocaust. He has installed over 70,000 stones in over 1,200 cities. There are mixed opinions, but we thought that they were very interesting. We next walked to the liberty square and learned about the divisive issues that still exist regarding statues and policies of recognition of the Holocaust (300-400,000 soldiers and civilians and 500-600,000 Hungarian Jews were killed in WW2) and the choices that were made to join with Germany in both world wars.

We saw the American Embassy and statues of Reagan and George HW Bush and learned how Elvis Presley helped expel the Soviets from Hungary after university students revolted and he said in an interview how brave they were.

Before WW1 Pest was supposed to be the new center of the AH empire and huge buildings were built to house a stock exchange and the naval headquarters. After WW1 Hungary lost half of its land and population to surrounding countries and it never became the center. Those buildings were renovated to their original appearance and now are film sets. Die hard, Mission Impossible, and many other movies were filmed there. As we were there Angelina Jolie was shooting and Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively were as well. Both Paramount and Fox were started by Hungarians and there is a strong connection with Hollywood. The city is so beautiful and so diverse that it really can play the role of a variety of old/European cities. Erno Rubrik is another Hungarian superstar and when the guide pulled out 2 cubes, Gid jumped up and said he would solve them. He did a 2x2 with a round of applause and then solved the second one right after it. Robert was impressed. We also learned that ballpoint pens, escape rooms and the jazz standard Gloomy Sunday were all born from Hungary.

The tour ended at the Shoes by the Danube holocaust memorial, which was also very powerful. All in all it was a fantastic tour.

We left the tour and went back near Parliament to plan the rest of the day. We went over to the Budapest Eye (substantially smaller than the London eye, but still fun). Next up was some shopping in a vintage shop, dropping our stuff for dinner. The first place we tried was booked for the night so we went to another spot recommended by our guide called Rueben. Traditional Hungarian food, great prices. Tige had goulash and a pork dish, Gid had a fried turkey breast stuffed with Camembert, H had a schnitzel, E had delicious pasta with cheese sauce and I had cabbage stuffed with meat with smoked ham on top. Best meal yet. Home for showers and be just near 10. Such a fun day!Read more