Budapest 2

---

The weather is again cool. Apparently record setting for here at this time. At least there was no rain. We walked from the hotel over the chain bridge (the suspension links look like a bicycle chain) and then walked up to the castle and the village which is located at the top and guess what we found - a Hilton Hotel. We watched the changing of the guard at what we think was the Imperial residence. We then walked back over the bridge to Pest and the hotel. There are so many wonderful old buildings just waiting to be renovated which is a major challenge since most of them have walls 1 - 2 feet thick. One of the pictures shows the same building structure part of which has beeen renovated and is very nice. There was a demonstration near the hotel and the police were there in full force with cars and vans with remote control video cameras on the roof. There is lots of police presence and lots of sirens at all hours. Room and food costs so far have been quite reasonable. Interesting that a cup of coffee, glass of wine, mineral water and glass of beer are all about the same price. In fact we had 2 glasses of wine today at a market and the cost was only about $1.75 for BOTH glasses. The money is strange - a handful of change doesn't even buy a coffee. Paper money is in the thousands. 150 ft = 1 dollar. Tomorrow we head for Lake Balaton (a resort area) about 2 hours from here if we can figure out how to get out of the city. Might have to use the sidewalk - that is what the locals do quite regularly. Walking and driving is a constant negotiation.

---