Anita is from Hungary so we got extra information about this city. She emphasised the pronunciation of the city name, 'Buda pesh'. Buda is the posh side on the hill and Pest is the flat side on the other side of the Danube.

Our city tour went from 8 .30am to 11.30am. The guide gave us overviews of Hungarian history in the hope that some would stick. He was very knowledgeable but tended to start giving information before everyone was with him so we did miss bits at first.

We started in the castle area with a walking tour followed by free time for photos etc. where we saw Buda Castle and heard about St Stephen, the first king. He got his first crown from the Pope and the crown is now at Parliament. The statue shows the double cross which seems to be his symbol. The crown had been looted by the Nazis but the Americans had recaptured it and held it in Fort Knox until Jimmy Carter returned it.

The building of Matthias Church was started in 1246 and every King has enlarged it so it is a mixture of styles. It really looks like a fairytale castle. When the Turks were in control, the church became a mosque. The tiled roof style is now common in the city. The Holy Trinity Column commemorates the Black Death. Many buildings were riddled with bullet holes during various battles in WW2.

We were told the bastion here was just for the look as in the past 4 guilds were responsible for protecting the 4 sides of the castle. The Fishermen’s bastion rang a bell – yes there was a cache there, and I had details from the previous night and we had time to find it after taking the photos we wanted . There was a great view of the Pesh side from here.

As well as souvenir shops, there were woman wandering around selling crochet items. The area has permanently running gas lamps.

We then were in the bus for a drive around the city We learnt that:

Most of the buildings in the city were original but all the bridges had to be replaced after the Germans blew all all of them up.

There is a range of building styles, with some Art Deco buildings – one being a posh hotel.

The Liberty statue on the hill had originally been for a princess killed in a plane crash. A palm leaf was added and it was then designated it’s new ‘liberty’ function. When it was being repaired it was covered in a large shroud. This looked quite spooky and when the wind finally ripped it to shreds the locals reckon it was a symbol of the end of Communism .

The original Chain bridge was designed by an Englishman and a Scotsman, both Smith’s.

At one stage all distances in Hungary were measured from the bridge so near it is a big 0.

The lions on the bridge don’t all have tongues!

The Opera House was modeled on one in Vienna but had to be smaller so it has 20 fewer seats, but its stage area is twice the size. 40 kgs of gold were used in the building. The limestone façade is soft but when it is cleaned a chemical protectant is added.

A lot of buildings were built during the 19th and early 20th centuries when the Austro-Hungarian Empire was so strong. Many were built by wealthy local residents.

The new railway station is stunning.

The unrestored buildings still have many bullet holes .

The Nazi Base became the Communist base and is known by the locals as "the House of Terror" as 1000’s of citizens disappeared there.

The first underground metro in Europe was in Budapest

We had a photo stop at Heroes Square, built in 1896. The Palace of the Arts, with lovely columns, is on one side and a site for temporary exhibitions, with gold on the façade. One end of the square had 2 curved walls with all the Hungarian Princes in statues on the top. The first was Stephen. In the middle was a statue with Archangel Gabriel on the top also with the double cross. There was also a tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

We drove back past the Jewish district. Before WW2 there were 600,000 Jews in Hungary. The country was on the German side and lost 200,000 soldiers in Stalingrad. The Jews had an increasingly uncomfortable time in the ghetto that had been created but seemed safe until 1944 . The 600,000 were then sent to death camps in the last year of the war.

We drove past the Jewish synagogue which is the biggest in Europe and later walked back for a closer look. The first person to play the organ there was Lizst, in a concert for the city and religious dignitaries, as they had all contributed to the cost of building it. We decided not to spend the 2000 florints for a visit, so just took photos of the amazing exterior. The stars are 8 pointed and not the ‘Star of David’.

After WW2, Hungary was under Soviet control. In 1956 there was an unsuccessful uprising. We drove past the site of the start of the uprising where there is a black stone memorial with an eternal flame donated by the mothers of the city.

We drove past a Lutheran Church which had had to be built outside the city walls and without a spire. Later we found a statue of a Lutheran minister in a square, one of the many things we stumbled across while out walking.

We then walked to a market square and the guide left us to do our own thing. As we had decided not to do the optional tour for the day we had 5 hours to look around. We had the options of returning with the coach on its way back from the optional village trip, or walking, taking the bus, or then underground or taxi.

We had a light lunch in a side street – savoury pastries and hot chocolates – then looked at various stalls and shops, although we were not buying . We found a shop that had military memorabilia but it was mainly Soviet not German and we were not sure how genuine it was. We had looked in a few antique shops and at last some stuff seemed to be replicas. It was still fun however. There was a lot of nice porcelain but no way were we buying that at this stage. We saw a woman doing machine embroidery outside one store – this was a common souvenir.

After checking out the Jewish synagogue we went to St Stephens, the largest church in the city. The main entrance is in a pedestrian area so the 12 apostles have been added on the side near a main road to be more visible. The church is very unusual because the figure at the front of the church is not Jesus but St Stephen himself, the first King. There was lovely stained glass and we spend some time wandering around.

We made our way to the coach meeting point, stopping to sit for a while in the park in Roosevelt Square. We also took photos of the flooding. By day it was easier to see what was happening. A road with tram tracks and a tunnel next to the river was flooded. All river cruises were cancelled for at least 2 days. We had been very lucky to get out the previous night. It seemed so strange to see such flooding on such a warm clear day.

We waited with the group by a statue and people-watched. While we were there a convoy swept by and into the Intercontinental Hotel . There were a number of police cars, secret service people, and Anita suggested possibly NATO Officials. The coach was held up by the traffic so we moved our meeting place to make the pickup easier. We then had to move a second time for an eventual 5pm pickup. It was nice to get into the airconditioned bus finally.

It was fortunate we had not signed up for the optional evening meal as John was fast asleep at pickup time. He woke refreshed and we decided to check out the Buda side for a meal as a local restaurant was recommended. We had previously walked in the station direction but not the other way, which proved to be much nicer. We found the restaurant then realised there were more around the corner with outside tables. The temperature was ideal for this and the waiter could help us in English so we settled down for what proved to be a wonderful meal.

We had decided what to order, when he came out with a tray of items which did not match the menu . We then discovered that they had ‘tray items’ as well as the menu – a sort of tapas option. However we stuck to our initial plans. John had prawns in a lovely rose wine and paprika sauce, and then venison in paprika – he has never tasted nicer venison. I had salmon with a risotto cake and a vegetable dish that I think was based on carrot. The Hungarian chardonnay was lovely – like the other Hungarian wines we have had – and John enjoyed his beer. Then we chose from a tasting plate for dessert – nicer than the usual single dessert we tend to share. My fruit mousse was so delicious it disappeared before John could think to ask for a taste. I could have eaten more but was restrained.

We had a group be side us that were out for a special occasion. There was a bunch of red roses in water by them and they had started with French champagne and then added another French wine. The waiter did the fancy serving holding the base with one hand behind his back The men were finishing of with cigars when we left . However it was the 2 girls on the other side we really noticed. One must have been the only one talking for nearly an hour while the other ate, drank and listened, with only body language showing her involvement. It was only in the last 5 minutes before we went we actually heard her speak.

The waiter had really looked after us well. He had lived for a time in Ireland so his English was very good. He carefully described the tasting plate dishes to us and only got caught out with English word for mushrooms. We did confuse him though when we asked if we could pay part of the bill with cash and part with our credit card – he though we wanted him to change a 10,000 florint note for us (about $100) and came back with the change. However, he was happy for us to pay the bill the way we wished in the end and we were happy with the bill. It was 16000 florints with the tip – ie about $120 for the nicest meal we have had in ages and quite a bit cheaper than the tour meal that we declined.

We then had about a 5 minute walk back to the hotel to blog a bit more, pack and upload some photos.