Wednesday, August 20. 2025
We arrived in Budapest in the early morning. When I peeked out to see it, there was just another ship parked next to us – quite dark. We went up for our last breakfast (I asked Keith if he had gotten breakfast down – if he had the “Perfect Plate” – and he said he had eaten the same thing every day of the trip. I changed every day) and were able to look out our window right into the kitchen of the boat next door. It was very busy and very clean.
Today is State Foundation Day (set on St. Stephen’s Day, since he was their first king) and the crowds were out and about!! We had a bit of traffic as our bus took us around town – I am always glad not to be the one driving.
We visited a church, but I forgot the name and don’t care. They did have ruins under their church of the previous (or previous, previous, previous church) that was covered with glass so you could look at it.
We went to the shopping street. That is what our guide called it. It may have another name. Only service stores or stores run by families are allowed to be open today – no boss can force you to work on State Foundation day. We peeked in windows and said we’d have gone in there to a few stores. There were ample vendors selling their wares for us to enjoy ourselves. There were a bunch of food stands offering local food. At the very end of looking, we found the winner – a fried potato pancake covered with beef stew. It was delicious and fed us both lunch.
We walked into a McDonald’s (we always do) to check out their menu. This was my favorite!
I like towns with pretty, shiny manhole covers
We walked by Liszt
Rubik is from here!
There was a giant floating moon. Everyone was posing, pretending to hold it up. I asked Keith if he wanted to pose. He said no. (He has a cold) I told him to just do it badly, because I was taking his picture regardless.
We made a brief visit to City Park. We walked over to see the Ethnology Museum because the building looked so cool. It is an upside down bridge and it is huge. I tried to get it all in a picture, but it pretty far away.
There is a memorial to those who died in the revolution against the Soviets in 1956 right in the middle of it. I don’t know why,
A pretty lake in the park
Our hotel is lovely. We are here for two nights.
We went out walking, looking for dinner. Three restaurant recruiters came at us all at once – would you like to eat here? We have best food. You can come in now! – and I panicked and walked quickly away. It’s their job! Give ’em a break! We found a pasta restaurant where they all ignored us as we read the menu. Perfect. I had ravioli and Keith had tortelloni. I know it isn’t very Hungarian, but it was really what we were craving.
They have 8 bridges in Budapest – each a different color. I think that is a very good idea – easy to remember where you are or should go. When we went over one today, there were a LOT of fireworks set up for tonight. Wheeee
It took about half an hour to walk to the fireworks. The closer we got, the more people were walking with us. It was really fun. We got a great place – next to a construction fence and leaning on a light pole. We are leaners from way back. It was definitely more fireworks than I have ever seen before. They would go about 5 minutes and end hard. The booming voice of Hungary would say something, then there would be another 5 minutes with a big finish, each section with different music. It lasted 30 minutes in total. It’s still 88F so it was very feeling quite Disney-esque. I suggested we stop for a 7UP. And I suggested we get two. I have not figured out the money here – you take off the last two digits then divide by 3 or 4 or 5. I thought the sodas were $10, and I wasn’t sure if that was per soda or together. I decided I didn’t care. I asked Keith as we walked away. $4 for both. Why didn’t we get more?!
We got hit with a lot of fireworks shrapnel, so I am off to take a shower in a great big shower. I could turn around in the boat shower, but Keith could only get his shoulders in in one direction. We are having luxury now!