20220918 Szentendre – Budapest: Reasonable night’s sleep in a bed with real sheets and covers tucked in! Hurrah! Glad the Hungarians don’t set up beds like the Czechs. Up about 7:30, breakfast, left in van about 9:00 and headed to Szentrenre for an hour just walking around.
Two things were different from our 2016 visit here. One, we really had no idea that the town was on the Danube River…never saw it. Two, which ties with the above, we really did not walk around very much to see the city. Today we did. Up and down side streets. Lots of people here today – tour groups. And the town has several places to get gelato. We did. After we met up again at the central square, we went to a café by the river for espresso and such and then walked along the river back to the van.
Drove about 30 minutes back into Budapest and were dropped off near the Parliament building. Then there was the wind. I mean it was like Chicago on a bad day. Almost knocked me over. So, very windy and cold! Struggled around the building taking images and then went down to the river to The Shoes on the Danube Memorial. Of course, this is quite moving, but it was hard to get an overall view since there were crowds of people, many of whom stepped in front of us as we tried to take pictures. There is a plaque with Yiddish inscription down there that reads “In memory of those sacrificed and killed by the sharpshooters on the bank of the Danube River from 1944-1945. May their memory be a blessing.”
Walked to Liberty Square area and had lunch at Mythos the Greek, a lovely Greek restaurant. By this time, it was around 3:00 and we walked back to the hotel.
Left again at 5:15 with our resident photographer for this part of the trip. Did not get back to the hotel until 9:30. First stop was up to the Castle District and in and around Matthias Church and
Fisherman’s Bastion. We walked around taking images of the church and of the river scene below, especially the Parliament building. We returned to the van and drove as far uphill as was possible and walked to an overlook that gave us a clear view of Parliament, the Castle District, and the Danube. In the blue hour, we took many pictures from our cameras mounted on tripods.
Next stop was down on the river bank across from Parliament where we captured images of the lighted building and reflections on the water. Final stop was again on a hill over the Liberty Bridge to try to capture trams in motion below.
Back to the hotel with in the van. We asked at the front desk where one could eat this late on a Sunday. Went nearby to American Interstate 55 Bar & Grill. Yes, I-55. There were stencils on the wall of the St. Louis riverfront, the Arch, the stadium. And the Blues Brothers. And New Orleans scene. So…the length of I-55. We had huge burgers and fries and got back to the hotel close to 11:00. Luckily, tomorrow’s events don’t start until 9:30.
Share this post
