July 14, 2025
In 2016 I was told by the owner of the company I worked for that after 7 years of no vacation and working 100 hours a week it was time for me to take a vacation. I needed to figure out where to go so I built an ultimate wish list that ended up being 156 counties, an ambitious goal since I had only been to 20 of them. Well today I completed that list when I arrived in Budapest, Hungary!!! I have been saying for a while that I was going to stop traveling when I finished the list but I have been lying to myself, I am not ready to stop…so I will travel on!!
Budapest, Hungary’s capital, is bisected by the River Danube. Its 19th-century Chain Bridge connects the hilly Buda district with flat Pest. At one point these were two cities that became one. Since WWII they have dealt with first German occupation then Russian they are struggling to recover and become a democratic country but that is hard under the current leadership
The city is incredibly beautiful and I was anxious to explore it. We set off on a three hour walking tour that started in Trinity Square.
Trinity Square is home to 13th-century Matthias Church and the turrets of the Fishermen’s Bastion, which offer sweeping views.
Budapest’s neo-GothicParliament building dominates the curve of the Danube and is a true postcard superstar. It houses the Holy Crown (used to crown the country’s monarchs since the 12th century), as well as other royal jewels.
I loved the statue of the policeman with his curling mustache!!
Though out the city there are bronze squares that Identify people who died in the concentration camps and there is a memorial garden with it waterfall and memory walk create with barbed wire where people provide the story and sometime the luggage that their loved one carried when they were sent to the camps.
We took a tram then a bus to cross the river to the Buda side of the city. The main attraction on the Buda side is the former Royal Palace. Razed and rebuilt several times through the ages, today it houses the Hungarian National Gallery but is being restored to show how the royals lived.
Other landmarks we visited includes Fishermen’s Bastion, with its unparalleled panorama of Pest’s skyline over the Danube. The Gothic Matthias Church with its colorful tiles. The entire complex of building, fountains and arches is incredible to explore.
What a fun day exploring and learning about Budapest. The day ended with a spectacular sunset and view of the city lights.
