I'm starting to feel like a character in the movie, "If it's Tuesday, it must be Belgium"! I have to stop and think about where I am and where I have been more often now! It's all very surreal to think of the places I've seen and the things I've done in the past 6 weeks - and so much more still ahead!
While we were planning this trip, we talked about visiting a city in a country in Eastern Europe - for a different perspective on European life. We had thought of going to Prague, Bratislava or Budapest - all within a few hours of Vienna. We went to the tour office on Sunday and the Prague tour was only available on Wednesdays so we decided to do Budapest.
It was an EARLY morning after a late evening by the time we settled down from the excitement of the concert! A shuttle picked us up at the hotel at 6:30 and we were taken to a coach bus for the trip. There were 19 of us so it was a comfortable sized group. The guide did the tour in three languages - English, German and Spanish and we also had a couple from Montreal on the tour (but they spoke English as well). One girl was from Australia so it was quite the United Nations tour!
It was about an hour to the Austrian/Hungarian border. I will confess that I didn't see a lot of that trip - I fell asleep! I am NOT a morning person!! I did wake up in time to cross the border! It is wonderful that much of Europe is united and border crossings and guards are a thing of the past. NOT so good when you'd like a collection of stamps on your passport!! Except for the obvious language change on the signs and the deserted booths at the border, we wouldn't have known we'd changed countries!! 
The countryside from Vienna into Hungary was very flat and agricultural. Many fields of rape - vivid yellow with the greens and browns surrounding them...a gorgeous combination!
As we approached Budapest, the land became hillier (the Buda hills). 
Budapest is really two communities divided by the Danube River.
The Buda side is hilly and contains the older sights while the Pest side is flat and is home to the Parliament Buildings and the bulk of the commercial buildings. (View of the Parliament Buildings from the Buda side.)
Budapest dates back to early Roman days when it was a settlement. There are 123 hotsprings in the area and even today they are used year round for therapeutic treaments.
It was interesting to note the contrast between this city, that only saw the last of the Russians leave in 1989, to the cities we've already seen in western Europe. We had a local guide for a city tour and she apologized for the state of many of the buildings but explained that there was no money to clean the Parliament - a fabulous limestone structure that rivals the British Parliament but has been darkened by years of soot and city grime. (View from Pest side.)
In another section, we were shown a former amoury building that still has the holes from being strafed during the war. 
40% of the country still lives below the poverty level and people wishing to join the middle class often have to hold several jobs in order to do so. There were many homeless people on the streets and others who looked as if their lives were not easy ones.
And yet, it is a city to be reckoned with. It was the third city in the world to have an underground transportation system (after New York City and London) and is home to the 2nd largest synagogue in the world and the largest in Europe. 
It can seat up to 3000 people. It was quite an impressive structure with intricate and elaborate designs. 
Unfortunately, the last tour was at 2 p.m. and our city tour didn't end until 2:30 so we couldn't get inside. We did get to see through gates to the cemetery and memorial garden and it would be a moving place to visit someday. There is a large sculpture in the courtyard that commemorates the Budapest ghetto 
and a plaque on the wall listing the names of those who died in concentration camps.
There are numerous monuments and statues and squares dedicated to various heroes from the past, (Heroes' Square)
a castle sitting on top of the hill in Buda
and grand buildings that speak of wealthier times. 
And running through the centre of all of this is the Danube. Quite a beautiful sight!
And yet, even so far away from my home and my culture, there was something familiar about this city!
Check out the price of gas! One forint equals .50 euro.
Travel costs look a bit daunting!
And these are EVERYWHERE!!!
I only learned one word in Hungarian - "Kursalon" (my phonetic spelling) which means "thank you". I managed to use it several times though! I did like seeing the signs and was glad to see English where it was necessary!
It was a fascinating day and an experience I won't soon forget. I have seen a part of the world that has a rich past and, through that, learned to appreciate my homeland that much more.
