April 20 (Still)

[We begin Part II back outside the Castle on the promenade overlooking Pest.]

[A glorious day – you know what we’re looking at here, right?]

[Sandor Palace, the official residence of the President of Hungary.  And for convenience, right next door to the Castle!  Pam gets a shot of the guard maneuvers.]

[The views behind Castle Hill, to the residential area of Buda.]

[Pam and the Super checking out the Prez’s digs.]

[A couple of guys worthy of their own statuary.]

[The folks from last year’s group will remember the restaurant on the left.  This year I left my watch of 30-some years there.  Uffda!  I took it off and placed it on our booth seat with my camera.  I only picked up the camera when we left.  It wasn’t long before I realized it, hustled back, but it was already gone.  From then on, everybody kept asking me for the time, and I’d bellow back, “I don’t have a watch!”]

[Said restaurant’s pastry display case.]

[Our self-guided walking tour along Fishermen’s Hill where one comes upon Matthias Church.  Last year the church was closed when we were here – this year we went in with the official walking tour two days hence.]

[Fishermen’s Bastion with the statue of Stephen I of Hungary.   The bastion got its name from the guild of fishermen who were responsible for defending the city in the middle ages.  Now it needs defense from excess tourism (ha!), although it wasn’t bad in this day.]

[Maybe it wasn’t so crowded because we got there well ahead of all the guided tours . . . or because of the foul weather?]

[Quite a setting!  I’m glad we were able to come back because it was kind of a dreary, cloudy day when we were here last year.]

[As you will recall from last year’s blog, even the locals call the guy in the middle “Woody Harrelson.”]

[The view according to Helen!]

[Looking past “Woody” toward Margaret Island . . . ]

[The Super always wanted her photo taken with the guy for whom our Arlington cat was named!]

[This just shrieks . . . American tourists!!]

[There are folks up there on the Matthias Church spire.]

[Tom, Pam, and the Super check their charts, maps, and GPS devices to make sure we can still find our way home.]

[Margaret Island and Parliament . . . not a bad view?]

[Anybody got enough mustard to cover this hotdog?]

[The seven spires of the bastion represent the seven Magyar tribes that founded Hungary.]

[Oh, maybe now you can see the folks up on the church spire?]

[John overcame his acrophobia (yes, that’s fear of acrobats) to pose for this shot.]

[Just behind our vantage point for these last many photos is the Hilton Hotel.  Other friends will be staying here when they cross the pond for a river cruise in November.]

[See our reflections in the windows?  We’re in the bottom left section.]

[Walking back from Fisherman’s Bastion to Buda Castle, this is an ancient foundation in the process of preservation work.]

[A hooded crow – fairly common in the area.]

[A frieze]

[“The One of the symbols of the city is the crow with a ring in its beak that we will find along numerous monuments. It is a reference to the king “Corvino” Matthias, who according to the legend, a day of hunting a crow stole him the royal ring, chasing it until he could recover the ring.”  (From touristeye]

[We hiked down to the back side of Buda Castle . . . ]

[And there’s more stuff to see here.]

[Look, is that Kim Kardashian?]

[I think she just ducked behind that car!]

[We crossed a large cobblestone courtyard to the Budapest History Museum.  We went in and almost immediately decided the day was too nice to spend a lot more time inside.]

[So back out we went, retracing our steps.]

[We’re heading back in the direction of Fishermen’s Bastion again but by a different route.]

[There’s the Castle behind us now, and the bus going through the underpass is the route we took last year and will be taking again in two days.]

[I don’t read Hungarian, but this is now residential Buda in the background.]

[We were looking for this . . . ]

[After some trial and error, viola – The Labyrinth!]

[Down we went . . . ]

[Since I suffer from claustrophobia (yes, fear of Santa Claus), I opted out to meet with the Super who was back at the restaurant where I lost my watch.  The remaining four reported it was quite the adventure.]

[There’s the “Missing Watch Restaurant” in the background as we make our way back to the funicular.]

[Another hooded crow oversees a flower garden.]

[Going down . . . ]

[At the square at the base of the funicular.]

[After a quick clean up at our hotel, we hit the streets again looking for a fine dining experience.]

[I had fond memories of a place from last year and hoped to recall it by sight (I’d forgotten the name).  And I did!]

[Mmmmmmmmmm!!]

[We dined inside this year because it was jacket weather outside.]

[Ahhh, Cyrano – I heartily recommend it should you visit Budapest!]

[And here we were outside last year on a beautiful evening.  Bon appetit!]

There is no such place as Budapest. Perhaps you are thinking of Bucharest, …and there is no such place as Bucharest, either.  ~  Robert Benchley

Up Next:  Is BAT here yet?