Buda

What better way to get to know the in and outs of a new city? Why a free walking tour of course! We were so impressed by the knowledge of our tour guide from Krakow that we decided to give it a whirl in Budapest. Our tour guide, who had an uncanny resemblance to our Italian Art History professor, did not disappoint. On our tour we saw many of the sites that we had come across the day before, but we actually got an entertaining historical explanation of everything. Much of the tour was focused on the divide between things produced during the years of communism and then of-course post-communism. An example is a rather simple statue of a princess right by the river. It doesn't stand out as much but it is very important to the city because it is the first piece of post-communist artwork. There is also a legend to rub the knees of the statue in a clockwise pattern to grant your wish. We obviously participated.

After we saw the major things on the Pest side, we passed the famous chain bridge and climbed up to the Buda Castle. The castle area itself was gorgeous, but we also got some gorgeous views from being so high up. Apart of the castle complex is the President's house. It is really interesting to note that I was able to walk right up to the front door of the "white house". I guess they are not too concerned about security... We were led around to several other major to-sees including Matthias Church (famous for its colorful roof) and Fisherman's Bastion (a fun sand castle looking look-out).
View from the castle

Matthias Church

Our guide took those of us who were interested to a local cafeteria for some Hungarian food after the tour. The place itself was not much to look at but the food was delicious and authentic. I had paprika meatballs with boiled potatoes. Speaking of paprika, boy are they big on it there! Paprika is everywhere! In fact, most of the food, though delicious, has a terrible brown color from the paprika use!

It had become a little dreary while we were inside eating, but we decided to move forward with our next conquest, a climb to the citadel. This large sculpture of a woman with a feather in her hand is actually the only remaining Communist art, but they decided to keep it because it had become such a part of the city. The walk up was something to be desired in my very tired feet but once again we were rewarded with breath-taking views. Budapest is such a pretty city!
View from the citadel

Before heading back to our hostel to change we stopped into Central Market. This huge building reminded me of the Central Market in Florence on steroids! We took our time looking at all the goods (spices, fruit, baked goods, meat, souvenirs), I purchased some paprika, and we partook in our next delicacy- apple strudel! I'm really loving getting a "taste" for the culture :).

Our evening ended with a visit to the Opera House. We had been told during our tour that the building was gorgeous and that we should make every effort to get inside. We also had been given some insider information that a tour costs about 15 dollars while you can get cheap seats to a show for 3 dollars! So, we went for a show! Unfortunately the opera was not playing, instead there was a ballet of "Gone with the Wind". Kind of funny that we fly across the world to see "Gone with the Wind". Although the ballet itself did not thrill me, the theater was gorgeous and just being there was a fun experience.

On our last day in Budapest, before our train to Prague, we headed to Budapest Great Synagogue which is the largest synagogue in Europe and the second largest in the world (second only to one in NYC). We didn't go in the synagogue itself but we were able to see the cemetery that housed the massed graves as well as the gorgeous Tree of Life statue.
Tree of Life statue

Before heading out we used the last of our fornits on snacks for our 7 hour train ride as well as some souvenirs. I really thought Budapest was a great city and I'd love to get back there again!