A Tale of Two Cities

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Budapest is one of the largest cities in the European Union, having a 2016 population of 1.75 million people. The site was originally settled by the Celts, and later by the Romans, who named the city Aquincum. The name derives from two settlements, Buda, on the high side of the river where the castle complex is located, and Pest, on the lower side of the river.

The city has been conquered by Mongols, Turks and in 1711 became part of the Habsburg dynasty. but retained independence.

As we were driven from the airport to our accommodation, I was looking out the window at drab Soviet style buildings and run down infrastructure, and was questioning whether Budapest was in fact one of Europe’s most beautiful cities. As we entered the central part of the city, however, the Budapest that is world renowned emerged.

After checking into our accommodation, just off Andrassey Ave, Budapest’s Champs-Elysees, we walked down to the Danube River to be greeted by vistas of Budapest Castle, St Matthias Church and the Chain Bridge. After walking across the historical Chain Bridge, to the Buda side of the city, we then had views across the Pest side of the city of the Hungarian Parliament, Gresham Palace and St Peters Basilica. Budapest had vindicated our decision to make the city our first destination on our Eastern Europe holiday.

Heading back to our apartment, on the way we sourced out some food supplies at our local Prima supermarket.

After a very long flight with a short stopover in Doha, Qatar, our bodies were shutting down and we crashed into a deep sleep.

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