Hungary and Budapest

We arrived into Budapest this morning in the midst of a very thick fog and assuming we were going to see nothing after being told what a wonderful entry to Budapest this would be.However it was almost like going around a corner and the fog and mist just disappeared to allow us all to go "wow", "look at that", gosh this is fabulous" and any other note of wonder! But yes, basically the first thing we came across on the river in Budapest was the remarkable Parliament building - an amazing structure right on the banks of the Danube. The whole city even from the river looked amazing.

Once the ship was tied up, we disembarked and headed off on a walking tour over to the main street in Budapest and along to the market area. We didn't have that long there though but the multitude of stalls selling Hungarian lace, delicatessan items, fruit, knick-knacks etc was amazing. All very hard to communicate though as not a lot of people in this region speak English. Once again we supposedly couldn't use our Euros as currency but who's going to deny thousands of tourists per day using their Euro's??? No one!! So not a problem was had. Had to be on board for a 1.30pm bus tour around the city so wandered across one of Budapest's 11 city bridges over the Danube, and along to the boat.

Our afternoon bus tour took us to all the usual tourist spots but mainly up high to the lookout/church/cathedral region overlooking the Danube and across to the parliament buildings. A spectactular view for sure. Had dinner on board that evening (our last dinner) then the boat untied, as did all other cruise ships, and gave us a river cruise of Budapest by night - a truely "Wow" meander through the Danube of Budapest. All the old cathedrals, Parliament buildings, town hall etc were all lit up and visible from the
river and definitely made this evening cruise a highlight of the last couple of days.

Budapest, as capital of Hungary, I always thought would be a run-down, old ex-communist city but to all of us it was totally the opposite - Budapest is truly a beautiful city and one I would one day like to spend a little more time in