Light Snow, -1°C

Budapest

We went on a walking tour of Budapest and got to take in some incredible buildings and got a great insight into the history of Hungary. One of the main things we learnt was the importance of 1896 and how most of the city was redeveloped them for the cities millennium celebrations.

We started by the Opera House which had a Sphinx at its entrance to commemorate the first sold out performance at the Opera a hundred years ago. We then took a metro, which happens top be the oldest underground rail network in continental Europe and only the third after London and New York. We visited Hero Square with statues of past kings. A lot of the development happened under King Steven and for whom the bells still toll at midday in all Catholic churches.

We took another metro to the Bascilicca which was an incredible and imposing structure. It is however quite different to a number of other churches we have seen with the outside quite plain. You can climb to the top and get a 360 degree view of the city. The dome is 96 metres high and there is a law that prevents any building from being taller in the Pest side. The only other building that is as high is the Parliament Building to show that that the state and church are equal.

We visited the oldest strudel shop in Budapest. Bron and the kids tried a variety of sweet ones while I had the cabbage stuffed strudel. The pastry was just so soft and decadent.

We walked across the oldest suspension bridge in Budapest across the Danube to get to the Buda side of town. We climbed up the hill and got a panoramic view of the entire town of Pest. We picked a great day for a walking tour as the weather was over 0 and the sun was out with absolutely clear skies.

I also learnt that Hungary had been responsible for the invention of

• Carbonated water
• Ball point pens
• Rubiks cube

It was a fantastic tour and the best we have on this holiday thus far.

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