April 20
Our last day alone in Budapest for the six of us. Hide the women and children! It made for such an action packed day, I have to present it in two parts.
[So, something we didn’t do last year, walk across Chain Bridge and take the funicular to the top. Pam and Tom lead the way. As you can see, a bit of a chilly, but beautiful, morning.]
[And we’re there . . . ]
[Going up . . . ]
[The building directly beyond the bridge on “our” (the Pest) side of the river is the Four Seasons Hotel (originally Gresham Palace) (a scene from the recent movie, Spy, was filmed there). Beyond that is St. Stephen’s Basilica.]
[The view back to Pest from the top of the Buda side. Our Marriott is right center, and larger in the following shots.]
[Across the bridge again at the Four Seasons and St. Stephen’s Basilica.]
[Looking east, the Parliament and Margaret Island.]
[And now at Buda Castle . . . ]
[Such a day!!]
[There’s Liberty in the distance.]
[The Castle now hosts the Hungarian National Gallery. Come along with us . . . ]
[Beautiful place . . . I tried to get a good variety of paintings and sculptures.]
[This was probably my favorite painting – I thought the young girl’s face exquisite. I had to look really close to make sure it wasn’t a photograph. Ha!]
[Madam, I’m Adam. (The original palindrome?)]
[I thought this guy was an NFL linebacker?]
[And this, of course, is my high school classmate, Brad Anderson.]
[Making “art” in an art museum? My shot outside framed by the window frame.]
[Then turning 90 degrees to where Helen and the Super were admiring real art.]
[Something about the faces?]
[John figuring out the storyline.]
[Nazi helmets?]
[Helen and the Super enjoy the epitome of the classic museum/gallery room.]
[OK, where do we go next?]
[Oh my! Poppyseed pastry!]
[When I first glimpsed, I thought . . . Rodin! I didn’t know the piece but I got it right.]
[Here’s our trip favorite again, Danubian Wind.]
[The group consensus – Meryl Streep. But, of course, like everything else of the time, the title is aptly descriptive.]
[John taking five. A perfect example of why you have to do this stuff when you can walk pain free in places not subject to the Americans with Disabilities Act (they didn’t build these things with elevators and escalators in mind). John has back and hip issues that are troublesome for him when he has to alternately walk, then stand, and on and on. I was having that same problem with what the chiropractor thinks is front left thigh sciatica (I’d never heard of that). Both of us were fine walking – the just standing was tough.]
[The “end,” so to speak, of Part I.]
Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world. ~ Gustave Flaubert
Up Next: The holiday weekend?
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