For details you can contact them at " The Walnut Apartment ."
First a quick bus ride to the Treviso airport and the wait until our flight was ready for boarding. The most economical (cheapest) way to fly with Ryanair. This airline differs as it is definitely a no frills airline but what do you need on a 45 minute flight. Boarding was simple, first on board get their choice of seats. If 2 of you are flying together make sure you are close to the front of the line or you may have separate seats. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 16:30, as our wheels lifted off the ground I checked the time 16:28. There were very few empty seats on the plane. All the people we dealt with from checkin to flight attendants were friendly. Make sure you have your boarding pass printed or there is a 60€ fee.
So much for taking off on time, would we get there as scheduled, answer is no. We collected luggage, walked out to meet our shuttle and realized we were here 30 minute ahead of schedule.
Daniel picked us up and gave us a history lesson while we were taking the 30 minute drive to the centre of Budapest where the apartment is located. We noticed that the architecture is fantastic, every block has another building better than the previous. After a quick introduction to the apartment we went for a walk towards the Danube River. We found a Hungarian restaurant that was very busy which is a good sign and sat down for dinner. An appetizer of fresh vegetables with a very different but great tasting dip.
The building we are staying in is about 120 years old. There is no elevator but the staircase is very interesting.
In the last few days we have have been doing a lot of sightseeing. The best way to get an overview of Budapest is by taking the Hop On Hop Off bus. We took full advantage of the bus to view the highlights.
One evening we took a cruise along the Danube River. Tour started before the sun had gone down and finished with us seeing the lights on the various buildings. Here is what the Palace looks like at night.
On our visits we have seen many churches named after Saint Stephen. First we saw the one in Treviso, then in Capestang and now in Budapest. In each of these churches we lite a candle in memory of our son, Stephen. We use emails to keep in touch with Carley and Christopher and for Stephen it is a candle.
From this stop we went to "Hero's Square". Here you can see statues of the leaders of the seven tribes that founded Hungary in the 9th century.
From there it was a short walk to the Széchenyi thermal baths. We walked to the entrance and saw hundreds of people relaxing in the sun and splashing in the pools. Maybe next time we will go for a dip in these warm waters.
We decided to walk to an area we had seen from the bus. It was a 20 minute walk but then we found numerous restaurant to choose from. All the restaurants offer both Hungarian and dishes from other countries. Since we are in Hungary we went with local dishes and were not disappointed. The homemade lemonade Danna ordered was very refreshing.
We had driven across the "Chain Bridge" on the bus but thought a walk across would give us a different perspective of the city. It was the first permanent crossing connecting Buda and Pest and completed in 1849. Here again we have Danna and another lion. At each end of the bridge there are carvings of two lion statues. When viewed from street level the lions appear to not have tongues. From the amount of talking Danna does we know she has one!
The Hungarian Parliament Building is huge. Here are two shots with the first being from the cruise boat and the second from the "Chain Bridge".
Time to head out for dinner so that is all for today.
