Two full days in Budapest, but we did not get to do it all. Actually, we could have stayed longer in all the cities. However, this tour was designed to just get an overview of our stops.
We stopped first at the John Calvin statue. He played a very important part in church history. Then we went to the famous marketplace of Budapest. It has everything from souvenirs to vegetables to meat, coffee, and mostly paprika in all degrees of sweet and hot. Several bought some. I bought some beautifully colored beans, After I paid, he said they were not dried so they do not need to cook as long. I hope they do not spoil before we get home.
Ron and I made our way to the train station to buy our tickets for tomorrow to Bratislava, Slovakia. Ron decided to walk, then we decided to take a taxi, then we changed our minds and decided to take the metro. In the end , we took a taxi. Would you believe we got in a taxi without a meter? Yep, we did. Here are 2 pictures of the train station. Most of the buildings in Budapest are humongous. The train station is no exception. Put both pictures together to get the size. The circle down from the peak is a clock.
All 8 had agreed to meet at 2 for our lunch. Maria and Gerard did not show so we wrote a note telling them whew we would be and left it on the pedestal of John Calvin’s statue. I found one rock and something else to anchor it down. Maria and Gerard never showed up at the restaurant. After lunch we went back and found the note on the ground, but the anchors were still in place. I would like to know if any passers-by read the on foot
After a short rest the 6 of us lit out again. This time in search of Independence Square and Ronald Reagan. We found him. See pictures below. Notice the church in the background.
We continued on to St. Stephen’s Basilica onfoot. The church took 54 years to build and was finished in 1905. It had 3 architects working on it. It is absolutely gorgeous on the inside. It is named for the first king of Hungary. See below. I could not upload the picture I took of the inside. Then we walked back to our hotel arriving about 7:00 pm, exhausted as always.
Here is one more picture of the Parliment building. It is the third largest in the world after Buenos Aires and London. One more bit of trivia. Hungary has produced many famous people and scientists. FYI. The rubric’s Cube comes from Hungary and the current best record for solving the puzzle is 5.6 seconds. Can you remember how long it took you? Did you ever even solve the puzzle?
May I back up to Athens? I need to tell you a story about what happened to Carol in Athens. Remember she did not go to the Acropolis with the rest of us? Late afternoon, she decided to go next door to John’s Hot Dog stand and get some nourishment. Her choice sounded good, but after the first bite, she knew it was not to her liking, so she wrapped it up and deposited her hot dog in the small trash receptacle nearby. No longer had she done it, when she noticed a small kitten that looked hungry. So she did what any cat lover would do, she retrieved the hot dog for the feline. To her surprise, when she went back to the table where she had been sitting, there was a shinny Euro on the table. Her guess was that a gentleman passing by, saw her digging in the trash, and left a coin on the table for the pitiful homeless lady. We all got a big laugh about her escapade for the day.
Tomorrow is Tuesday. The time has just flown by. We will be arriving home next Tuesday. We have seen and done a lot. Actually, the more you see and do, the more you realize there is so much more to see and do.
Thanks for tuning in today.