Day 2 – Wednesday 9th September 2015 – Budapest, Hungary

---

Today itinerary included a sightseeing tour with a local guide featuring Buda Castle, which dominates the twin cities of Buda and Pest, separated by the broad ribbon of the Danube. The expansive plaza of Heroes' Square, the old inns along the Buda riverbank, the impressive Royal Castle, Parliament, Fisherman's Bastion, Matthias Church and Margaret Island.

Wake up call… 7.30am. Not too bad!!
Departure… 9am

After breakfast we all got on the coach and headed out to Buda. Luckily I’d had a good chat with Mary the night before she became my seating buddy on the coach. We sat behind my parents. As we were driving alone, Ali explained to us about the Cosmos seating rotation. Every day we had to move back 2 rows until we reached the back of the coach and then move forward. This was to let everyone have a good view from the coach and to experience views. I thought this was an awesome idea and it also meant that Mary and I would end up sitting on the front row on the last day.

The coach took us up the hill towards the Fisherman’s Bastion; the view from the top is exactly how I remember it. The parliament building is beautiful. We all went inside Matthias Church and had a little look around.

Once we had looked around for a bit and grabbed an ice-cream we headed back to the coach. We crossed the Chain Bridge back Pest. From here we got off the coach and walked to Vörösmarty tér. Again I remember this place from my first tour and was so happy to see that Café Gerbeaud was still going strong. We were given the afternoon to do what we wanted.

Dad and I had planned for a long time that we would go to the first escape room in Parapark. Mum stayed in town with Mary as she did not want to some with us. We had to get on a couple of underground trains to get there. They are so unique. They had a very communist feel to them. We got to the Parapark a little early but I noticed there was a Kürtőskalács just at the entrance to the station and I really wanted my dad to try it. Still as yummy as I remember. We finally got to the place but it was so odd, it looked deserted and there were builders there stripping out the place. We were a little worried but apparently the place flooded but the escape room was still open.

So we did the Room 113-AS Garzon, as you know I can’t tell you what goes on in the rooms but it was a lot as fun as always and there were some fun puzzles. You will be happy to hear we escaped and even had 18 mins left on the clock.

Once we escaped the room we headed back to the town center to meet up with mum for some late lunch. Dad has started to collect Hard Rock Café pin badges so obviously we had to go to the Hard Rock for lunch. So much food; mum and I ended up sharing a massive chicken and rib combo and I had the thickest chocolate milkshake I’ve had in a while.

We were so full we had to go for a walk to help digest all the food. We walked along the river side, the weather was amazing and the views were gorgeous. After a nice long walk we obviously ended up in Café Gerbeaud, when in Hungary eat Dobos Torta!!! We walked back to the hotel via the Synagogue and the main shopping street. We didn’t buy anything but it was a nice little walk.

After taking a little rest back at the hotel it was time to meet up with some of the tour group for the optional excursion. Tonight’s optional was a river cruise along the River Danube by night. What can I say the views were AMAZING, one of my photos even won me a voucher when I got back to the UK. It was a great opportunity for us to get to know some of the other guys on the tour. We had a lovely chat with the other English couple on the tour, Jayne and Steve, they are hilarious and also Chitra, she is from Washington DC. I don’t think I can really describe the views and I don’t think my photos do it justice but I will post time pictures instead of writing about the cruise.

After the tour we went for a little drive and headed back to the Hotel. I can’t remember what we did for dinner. I have a feeling we didn’t eat as we had had so much thought out the day. Onwards to a new day and a new country.

---

Photos

Itinerary
For 9th Sept and 10th Sept

Matthias Chruch
Inside the church

Family Photo
Picture next to the Danube River

Café Gerbeaud
Dobos Torta and Fizzy Orange

Dohány Street Synagogue
The Great Synagogue