Budapest 26 September

It is 4 days since we left home and this is the first time that I have made time to put our first entry for this trip. Although we left Ottawa 30 minutes late last Thursday, our pilot managed to make up the time and we arrived early in Frankfurt. A quick turnaround had us on our connecting flight to Budapest and we were at our hotel by 11:30. The Danubius Spa Hotel is a great spot to call home for our stay to Budapest. Our room is very comfortable and has some great spa facilities. There are thermal springs on Margitsziet and they feed several pools in the spa. Our jet lagged bodies were in appreciation of the warm soothing pools. There are 41 persons in our travel group and they arrived at the hotel at around 5:00 pm and Gale and I really were glad that we made our own travel arrangements. All of the people on the trip are senior folks and come from all across Canada. We are joined by 8 other people from the Ottawa area and have folks from Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Sudbury, Montreal, Toronto and London. We have had a chance to meet most of the people we have a great group to travel with. Yesterday we had city tour of Budapest and saw many highlights of the area. The architecture of the old buildings is very impressive considering what the Hungarian people have been through. There is still quite a lot of original buildings and a great deal of restoration has been undertaken. We were taken to the main city market building where we experienced where the locals do their shopping. Lots of fresh produce and butcher shops and also a chance to sample some of the local foods prepared in small booths. Gale and I had a local item called Langos. At home this is very close to a beaver tail except that it was loaded with fresh cheese, sour cream, onions and many other optional ingredients. Not exactly diet fare. We were later taken to one of the oldest coffee and pastry shops where we sampled a selection of Hungarian pastry and a strong coffee. Later that evening we were taken to the Citadel Restaurant which is in a restored military building high above the city. The views were spectacular at night with all of the historical buildings and bridges across the Danube being illuminated. The food was traditional Hungarian and there were folk dancers and musicians. I think it is impossible to have a meal without Gypsy musicians. By now we are getting a bit tired of violin serenading.
Today we left the hotel in the morning for a tour of the country side around the Danube Bend. This is the area where the Danube changes direction as it winds its way through Hungary. We visited Esztergom where the center of Hungary’s Catholic church is located . The cathedral and surrounding buildings was most impressive. We had lunch at a neat restaurant situated high above the Danube (more Gypsy music) and then on to a small artisan village called Szentendre. We only had one hour to wander through the village and look at the various shops and local handcrafts. Of course I was happy to only spend one hour but there were several complaints about the lack of time for the women to go shopping. Gale and I are enjoying the trip so far and it is so very different form what we have experienced in the past. It is nice to have some one else do all the planning and driving. Tomorrow is a free day and we will head back in to the center of Budapest to revisit the area that we did not have a lot of time to see on Saturday. (By now I am sure that you have figured out that means shopping) I have attached some pictures of the trip so far so enjoy. The next entry will probably be when we get to Vienna.