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John: tomorrow we leave for Maribor Slovenia. This is the last day of our four day stay in Budapest, Hungary, a city that in future retrospect, may end up being one of our favourite destinations. The city is so fascinating!!!
We arrived at the accommodation on the first day and are welcomed by Claudia, the owner. The apartment is actually one room in a three bedroom apartment, though our room is huge and has full massive ensuite. We have a shared use fully equipped kitchen. The cost of this luxury room which incidentally, has fantastic security, was a paltry 26 euro per night. Claudia's Rooms, Budapest: highly recommended. It is on the Pest side of the river, the other side of the river is Buda, hence..... Budapest, for those who did not know.
In the evening we make our way to the river and are stunned by the beauty of the illuminated Danube riverbank, particularly the elevated Buda side, with Buda Castle dominating hills surrounded by one enormous beautiful lit building after another. Three parallel, spectacular, ornate bridges cross the river from our vantage point.
The next three days are a treat. As our accommodation is located in the Jewish quarter of the city, we start with a tour of the Donahy Jewish synagogue which is almost directly across the road. We are provided with a history of the synagogue, and a tour of the memorial gardens and museum, with fascinating but disturbing insights gained regarding localised atrocities committed in the Jewish ghetto (where we are staying) throughout history and obviously, in WW2.
Loretta: We walked across the beautifully illuminated bridge to the Buda side of Budapest and take the funicular up to the top. What an amazing view from up there! Like so many cities we have visited so far, the night is so often the best time to explore. The crowds of tourists have gone home, along with the many hawkers that approach you during day. We stroll along an extensive stone wall and stumble across many beautifully ornately decorated buildings and town squares. Located along the wall are turrets, arched vantage points and pathways that meander through this lovely part of Budapest. We stop to enjoy a glass of warm Christmas wine sold by one of the few stall holders still open.
After exploring the side streets and walking around 10-12kilometres today, we travel back down via the funicular and make our way to our accommodation.
The following day we decide to find the Budapest caves which sound so interesting, but after unclear signposting and vague directions, we give up and head back to Pest.
After living with hair that desperately needs a cut, I have my hair cut by an Irish hairdresser living and now working in Budapest. I had earlier net researched and found a salon that has English speaking hairdressers (after my failed attempts in Vienna when I enquired about a haircut) It is is dark so early-around 4.15pm and John wanders around until I'm finished. Again we explore the streets and back through to the Christmas market where we sit and listen to some traditional Hungarian music.
Its a gloomy looking day and our last full day in Budapest so we decide to head to the Citadel which is located across the river and a steep climb to the top(surely those yummy pastries are being burned off with all this hard work!)
We pay admission to see the WW2 bunker that now houses a museum complete with effective wax dummies to replicate what it looked when occupied by the Germans. The displays are well done with a written explanation to accompany each exhibit. The photographs are very explicit and we both struggle with images before us. The bunker has a musky smell and feeling overwhelmed by some of the Holocaust images, John decides he has to go and sit outside. We continued our tour of the Citadel with a walk around the perimeter and take some photographs of WW2 cannons.
Back down the hill and across the Ezbert bridge- it's only 3.30 and already getting dark today. We pay admission to the Cave Church and are provided with an auditory commentary that provides us with insights regarding the history of this special place. This church turns out to be one of the most unique churches we have ever seen. Hungary has suffered and endured so much in its history which of course, adds to the fabric of this intriguing city. Once again, with incredibly aching legs, we head for home.
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