June 2, 2025. Day 2 Budapest


Today we took a tour of Budapest. The city is divided between “Budapest” which is the hilly side and “pest” which is the flat side with the Danube River running between them. The Parliament building is on the pest side and there are castles and an old and currently in use Catholic Church. Several bridges separate the two sides, with the oldest being the chain bridge. We have met some interesting people including a couple from Fl who originally came from Columbia (Yolanda and Jose) they have been married 56 years. The people on the boat are all very warm and friendly.


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The chain bridge that separates “Budapest” from “pest”.


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This square was built for a world’s fair, but it actually went to Paris that year.


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A map of the “Buda” side


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The Houdini house that belonged to Harry Houdini.


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This Catholic Church was built in honor of King Matthias.

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A gov’t building next to the church

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The story is that a raven stole a gold ring from King Matthias, so the sculpture sits atop the church. The raven had a gold ring in its mouth.


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A small chapel inside the church




This city is also the home of famous composer Franz Liszt and his music academy. 


An interesting fact is that actor, Tony Curtis, helped to restore the Jewish synagogue in Budapest bc his father was born there. This  synagogue was damaged in WWII and many Jews were killed. A sculptor designed a tree with 40,000 leaves which  for $50, could be inscribed with the name of a loved one who died during the Holocaust .


Another fact is that Budapest lies along a fault line and has as many as 123 hot springs, nine of which are medicinal.  They are able to provide hot water for the city, mixed with cold water bc is is over 100 degrees.


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