Budapest

---

Hello hello,

The last stop on my two week journey with my first travel companion ended here in the transcendent Budapest. It seemed to be such a fitting destination to wrap up this leg of my travels as it was also my favourite place to visit. I have loved every place I've visited of course, but something about this city captured my heart completely. We arrived in the late afternoon and proceeded to sign up to a hop on, hop off bus tour as we knew Budapest was rather large and we wouldn't be able to do the city justice in a day if we walked all of it. Interestingly, we ended up walking far and wide anyway. We went on a quick circuit of the city on the bus to do some reconnaissance before really tackling the city properly the next day. The following morning we went to a nice eatery in the area we were staying, where I ate pasta (surprise, surprise) haha. We then went to start our bus hopping tour. Our first stop was St Stephen's Cathedral. I may have gotten that wrong, it seems most cathedrals around Europe that I've seen are Stephens, Marks and Paul's haha. We marvelled at the basilica before venturing in. I have to say, the interior of this cathedral was the most spectacular I've ever seen. There was gold gilding and lavish ornamentation every where. There were also bursts of colour making the basilica come alive. It was vast in size too and held a grand pipe organ. Sunday church here would be a spectacular affair here. We left the church and proceeded to head over to the bridge which bridges Buda and Pest. The two different sides used to be separate, but have since joined together to become the one city of Budapest. Two bridges were downwind from each other, each for the royalty of Budapest back in the day. Crossing over the bridge offered grand sights of both sides. The bus took us up a massive hill to the giant liberty statue which overlooks the city and Danube. We took some photos (best vantage point in the city) then went back down. We also ended up wandering up another big hill to where the cable car goes to see a giant castle on the hill, and other nice buildings. From there we went along to a nice Gothic cathedral, and a plethora of other ethnic looking churches and landmarks. We saw the largest Jewish synagogue in Europe which was neat, alas the dress code stresses modesty for females and I was wearing shorts and a t shirt so we didn't bother going in. We went back into town after crossing the second bridge to do some more of the bus circuits. Adter a while we went to a pretty promenade and relaxed in a pleasant grassy area for a while. The temperature was about 35 degrees that day and we were feeling it. Speaking of temperature, I am writing this in a cramped train from Naples to Sorrento via Pompeii, where we'll be going tomorrow, woohoo! There is no air con but it is nice seeing the coastline again. Our biggest stop that day was seeing the parliament building. I had seen photos, but they did nothing to prepare you for the scale and grandeur of this building. The first thing that struck me was the sheer size of the building. I couldn't get the full building in my camera frame, only from afar. The style was largely Gothic revival, but seems to be a fusion of that style and Renaissance revival. The result is awe inspiring. We stayed a long time over there. From over the river we got the best visuals of the Parliament building and the Danube river. We went on a 45 min boat tour along the Danube which was part of our bus package. We got stunning river views. One of the boats that went past us seemed to be a work shindig of sorts with people dressed to the nines living it up, and why wouldn't you in this stunner of a city. That evening we had traditional fare, and proceeded to go on the Budapest by Night tour. The nature of a city seems to change at night, and it looks entirely a different beas. The nature of my body changed also that night as my friend and I were in the world's two smallest seats on the top of the bus, with negligible leg room. I had to sit in the most uncomfortable position for an hour and a half. Pain aside, the city looked arrestingly beautiful and majestic to behold. We went for a wander through what seemed to be party central where so many young'uns all seemed to get together en masse, near the giant ferris wheel and a big park area near some pools. A bit more happening than Katikati haha. It again struck me just how many people smoke in Europe. Even the pre-teens all seemed to be lighting up. We walked back to the hotel, absolutely shattered, but content at our last day. What a grand close to this manic two weeks. Photos soon to follow 😊

Bex x

---