We want to catch a sunrise from the Citadel (one of the highest points in Buda) so we set the alarm for 4:30AM. It sounded like a good idea last night, but it's a little tough this morning. We manage to drag ourselves out of bed and head back to the subway. The transportation system is great here and can get you most anywhere you want to go. After a quick 20 minute trip we jump off and start our climb up the hill to the citadel. We get to the top in plenty of time and are treated to a beautiful panoramic view of the city with its twinkling lights and many bridges spanning the river. The sun peaks over the horizon just before 6:00 and another day has begun.
We walk around the Citadel for a bit and then walk back down to the river
. There is also a huge fortress just up the river a bit and we decide to walk there. A quick trek back up the hill (getting our exercise early) and we are at the Castle. The view is great from here and we see vendors setting up for what looks to be a little open air market up here. A little more walking and we find our way to a huge 3 story indoor market place the has rows and rows of butchers, bakeries, seafood, pickled goods and produce. We walk around for a bit and grab a gyro for an early lunch.
We are trying something a little different this afternoon...... caving. We meet our guide near our apartment and we go by bus to the entrance of the caves. One thing is glaring. We were the oldest (we could easily be their parents) in the group. Is there something we don't know about caving? There is one way to find out. After a short briefing, we put on a full jumpsuit, helmet and a miners light. Our guide opens the big steel door to the cave and informs us that the bats are harmless. Our warning light is just barely going off at this point. We climb down a ladder backwards around 50 feet and we are in complete darkness until we turn on our lights. Let the fun begin. Our venture starts out easy but shortly comes to our first challenge. We need to crawl thru a tunnel that is just about as wide as our shoulders. One by one our group works its way thru. This turns out to be just one of many narrow tunnels that we squeeze thru. Caving makes an MRI seem like the Chunnel in England!
The "tour" lasted about 3 hours and was quite a physical challenge. After we exited the cave, full of dust from head to toe and sweating profusely, Rox had just 4 words to say "What was I thinking!" There was probably one other word in there that I won't mention. All in all it was fun and something different.
We grabbed a couple slices of Hungarian pizza and a falafel sandwich on the way home. Another full day. Tomorrow morning we are off to Istanbul.
Day 11 Budapest day 2
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Budapest, Budapest, Hungary
Other Entries
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1Danube and Black Sea Cruising
Aug 2010 days priorBucharest, Romaniaphoto_camera1videocam 0comment 9 -
2Day 2 Bucharest
Aug 219 days priorBucharest, Romaniaphoto_camera0videocam 0comment 2 -
3Day 3 Bucharest
Aug 228 days priorBucharest, Romaniaphoto_camera1videocam 0comment 1 -
4Day 4 St Gheorghe, Romania
Aug 237 days priorSulina, Romaniaphoto_camera0videocam 0comment 2 -
5Day 5 Rousse, Bulgaria
Aug 246 days priorChervena voda, Bulgariaphoto_camera2videocam 0comment 2 -
6Day 6 Nikopol, Bulgaria
Aug 255 days priorPleven, Bulgariaphoto_camera2videocam 0comment 0 -
7Day 7 Iron Gates (between Romania & Serbia)
Aug 264 days priorOrsova, Romaniaphoto_camera3videocam 0comment 0 -
8Day 8 Novi Sad
Aug 273 days priorNovi Sad, Serbiaphoto_camera1videocam 0comment 0 -
9Day 9 Kalocsa
Aug 282 days priorKalocsa, Hungaryphoto_camera0videocam 0comment 0 -
10Day 10 Budapest
Aug 291 day priorBudapest, Hungaryphoto_camera2videocam 0comment 0 -
11Day 11 Budapest day 2
Aug 30Budapest, Hungaryphoto_camera1videocam 0comment 4 -
12Day 12 Flying from Budapest to Istanbul
Aug 311 day laterBudapest, Hungaryphoto_camera2videocam 0comment 1 -
13Day 13 Istanbul day 2
Sep 012 days laterIstanbul, Turkeyphoto_camera3videocam 0comment 3 -
14Day 14
Sep 023 days laterNessebar, Bulgariaphoto_camera3videocam 0comment 1 -
15Day 15 Constanta
Sep 034 days laterConstanta, Romaniaphoto_camera1videocam 0comment 0 -
16Day 17 Batumi
Sep 056 days laterBatumi, Georgiaphoto_camera8videocam 0comment 1 -
17Day 18 Trabzon
Sep 067 days laterTrabzon, Turkeyphoto_camera4videocam 0comment 0 -
18Day 20 Istanbul
Sep 089 days laterIstanbul, Turkeyphoto_camera4videocam 0comment 1
Comments

2025-02-06
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BobDebfromArizona
2014-09-01
I'm glad the Hurwitzs' tried caving so we don't have to!
Randy and Suzanne
2014-09-02
I'm sure glad there aren't any caves in the Florida Keys!
Louie
2014-09-02
I've renamed you two, Mr & Mrs Adventurer. What a feat. I look forward to hearing more about this trip in detail. Stay safe!
Franky
2014-09-03
Oh another adventure in the life of world travelers. Keep it up.
Enjoying tagging along with you guys.