Budapest--A City of Sights

So as an update, we were driving in the middle of nowhere Hungary surrounded by fields of flowers and corn when Lady Hiva found my phone! It was not lost! Nor do I have to figure out how someone got close enough to take it without me noticing...that was a huge relief. I didn't let myself down after all. HAHA. It had been wedged deep between two cracks. I was shocked to have it back...4 days, 4 countries later I had a phone again. It made life easier that is for sure. Otherwise Lady Hiva and I are connected within arms length 24 hours a day because we could not lose each other. Not that it was a bad thing, we enjoy being together so it was not bad.

We had three days with Madre and Kell in Budapest. It is a beautiful city. One that has the class, the history, the charm and the amazing food like Vienna or Paris...just does not cost nearly as much to explore! That was a huge plus.

In those three days we were on the go nearly 18 hours a day! We hit as many tourist sights (and sites) as  we possibly could. We walked down Vaci street that reminded us of the Istiklal Caddesei in Istanbul or 5th Avenue in New York. Just off of Vaci street we rode the "Eye of Budapest" which afforded a spectacular view of the city.

Eating along the Danube and Madre and Kell's favorite restaurant 

Making Pluba review his rock collection from the day

Reading the menu for herself...she DID.NOT.WANT.HELP

Trying to get her own money out. We had to laigh...she is starting to be really observant and will mimic what we do

Randomly found the sister LDS Missionaries teaching in a park as we were walking

Checking out the view on the Eye of Budapest Ferris wheel

While we were waiting for the Ferris wheel I took Koala Bear and Lucky Dragon over to play in the grass. They wanted to go see the fountain and as we were there a model was taking a photo shoot. Koala Bear decided to go see what they were doing. I tried to call her back and told her they are taking photos. Instead of coming back, she backed up to the model's legs and smiled! They thought it was funny. So the model picked her up, gave her a kiss as the photographers were shooting...this kiss was the result. 

 We toured St. Stephen's Basilica honoring the first King of Hungary.

Riding the metro

Ordering Hungarian food for us. I was so proud of them...they are not the most adventurous eaters so this is good

 We did a quick stop at "Hero's Square" but it was only short because they were setting up for a large concert so we could only see from a distance.

Strapping himself into the stand-up seat on the tram

She wanted to pet EVERY dog that we saw...and there was A LOT of them

 We took a quick day time tour of Margits Island. This walking island is only accessible via foot, bike or golf cart. Kell rented us a golf cart and we toured the beautiful area--complete with a water part, dancing fountains (to American music, which we thought was funny) and historic churches. It was a great reprieve for our feet before we started trekking the city again. If we had a few extra days it would have been fun to go to the water park and get a tan!

 We also went into the old Rock Church that was built by monks into the mountain and hid from Soviet rulers for years.

 

We also did a nighttime visit to the Church of St. Michael. Again, it was so striking how beautiful it was.

One of our favorites was the night boat tour down the Danube to see the facade of the city. It truly is breathtakingly beautiful. The only drawback to this tour was the quarter (USD coin similar in size to a 1 EUR coin) sized spiders that were crawling up the back of the seat! Talk about creepy!

Madre and Kell were able to get us a tour of the Hungarian Parliament Building. Talk about a fantastic tour. If you are in Budapest, make this a priority. I felt like in rich decor it rivaled palaces like Buckingham and Versailles (although may not be as big as those buildings). It was interesting to see how the many eras of Hungarian history was reflected in the architecture and furnishings of the building.

The cigar holder. Numbered so they knew which one was theirs. They are no longer used because it is illegal to smoke in the building

He loved to find these models everywhere we went

We also walked along the Danube and stopped by the "shoes." These iron molded shoes look as if people people had just left them. They are male, female, adult and children. During the War, Jews were taken to the river, chained together in a long line and then the two people on each end were shot, so the entire chain of people fell in and drown with them. Before they were shot, they were instructed to leave their shoes as they were an expensive commodity at the time. My heart was saddened to visualize the brutality and violence of these experiences. To think that people could be so cold hearted to watch people drown helplessly. Or to think what if I was there, chained to my children...what would I say to them knowing what was coming? Or would I try to fight and cling on to the edge to not go in? It is sad how cruel people can justify being. 

 Just outside the Parliament building we stopped by the statue memorializing US President Ronald Reagan--odd that the US does not even have one, but Hungary honors him helping bring down the heavy hand of Soviet Communist rule.

 Shopping, shopping and more shopping. We did so much shopping. One of the most fun places was the Market Hall--it reminded us of the large markets in Manila. A huge warehouse with several floors of vendors that sell everything from clothes to food.

One of our favorite aspects of Budapest that we will miss is the classical music. Much like other cities there are amazing musicians playing in courtyards, bus and train stops and along the streets. But there are also people playing in restaurants, shops and anywhere crowds collect. Beautiful music and beautiful views make for a perfect place to visit. Lucky Dragon was so excited to see a dance competition outside the historical theater. Of course he wanted to join in. We will miss that musical aspect of being in Europe.