Continued from Budapest Day 2 Part 1.

Beautiful.

We just left the lunch spot about 10 minutes ago, but I think it’s time for coffee and dessert. Yeah, yes, it feel right.

I am shallow. Only ordered this because of how pretty it looked. It was pretty sweet, but not quite as sweet as American sugary cakes. I have no idea what substances are in this cake and that’s OK because you don’t need a personality when you look this pretty.

Melange! The best!

Puli! It’s got to have been years since I’ve seen one of these breeds. If I had a Puli, I’d bring a boombox and play Bob Marley every time I took him/her out for a walk. The dog would also leave a overpowering scent of patchouli wherever he/she walks by. Yes, I am making fun of hippies.

Funicular station.

What’s more scary than a giant falcon with a giant sword? Oh, I know. Two giant falcons with two giant swords.

Chain Bridge.

They had a little changing of the guards ceremony while we were here. Are they proud that they got assigned this antiquated ceremonial duty, or do they feel stupid putting on a little show in front of the tourists? They had to do some flamboyant steps during the ceremony. Oh God, all the tourists are taking photos us. I feel like an idiot. They are all thinking what no one is saying.

Entering the interior courtyard of the palace.

Today, the palace houses museums and the national library.

War.

And

Peace.

Holy Shit! While looking up info on Buda Castle in Wiki, I found this photo depicting the levels of destruction after WWII. That’s the chain bridge with the palace in the background.

The old walls of Buda Castle.

Stone over bricks.

It was getting late, and the museums were about to close. We had walked around all afternoon, and were pretty tired by now, so no museums were visited here.

I like the compactness of Budapest. We walked a lot more here than Berlin because we could walk from spot to spot instead of having to take a subway long distances across the city.

Time for the funicular. I can’t remember coming across a funicular in a city and not taking it. The best was Peak Tram going up to Victoria Peak in Hong Kong.

Easy short ride. Saved us a long winding walk down to the river level.

Very interesting train design.

3 levels, each cabin fits 4 sitting and 4 standing.

Can’t come to Budapest and not stroll across the Chain Bridge.

Now, I know why it’s called Chain Bridge. the suspension structure is made up of links of iron, much like a bicycle chain.

The drop down metal rods that connect the bridge to the suspension structure seemed really wimpy to me. I was amazed that they were able to hold up such a heavy bridge.

Danube River.

I am a lion, hear me roar, roar in Hungarian!!!!

Parliament building on the other side.

Looking back towards Buda Castle on Castle Hill. I can’t believ they were able to restore it after WWII.

Slow service!!

As I am typing this several days after the fact, I remember seeing the woman with the colorful outfit the next day in Budapest Day 3. That’s the problem with colorful outfits, people always know if you’ve taken a shower or not. Today I also saw an Asian family, presumably Korean, who ate at our dinner spot last night. They were just out and about sightseeing. All the tourists hang out in the same spots.

That’s enough walking for the day. Time to head back to hotel to chill out. We’ve walked all day long, on and off for 6 hours.

I think this makes for an interesting photo, but they don’t look all that inviting as evidenced by no one using them.

Had to make a water and snacks run at the local grocery store. Looks pretty typical.

They do sell liquor here.

Back to hotel, oh so nice. I am going to enjoy my nice fast internet and blog until dinner time.

Saw this walking out to find some dinner. This reminded me of all the millions of hearts all over India.

No comments needed.

Time for my table dances!!!! No, not really.

The Hungarian food place that was recommended by our hotel had exactly zero customers inside. Granted, it was late at around 9:00PM. We decided to walk around and look for another place that was more lively to eat at.

Heard music and saw people inside this place. They also accept all major credit cards. Just kidding!! Suckas!

Source of music. ACCORDION!!! The violin was the star, but all I wanted to hear was the accordion. Both were very good musicians.

Goulash soup!! It was insanely salty. I think when the cook poured in salt, the lid fell off and an whole entire full cylinder of Morton’s iodized salt fell into the pot not much bigger than my bowl of soup. I couldn’t drink the soup, but ate all the solid pieces. SO had also ordered the goulash soup after I had ordered mine, and then I told her that it was salty. Well, she asked the waiter for one less salty, and the reply was that all the soups were ready made. Hah, SO, you shall suffer my fate!

Amazingly, SO’s soup came out without an entire cylinder of Morton’s iodized salt! She said that it was the best goulash soup she’s ever had…I wish mine didn’t have an island of salt in the middle of my soup. Speaking of goulash, the Hungarian variety is different from what I had in mind. I keep on thinking of goulash as the German variety where it’s thicker, almost like a pasta sauce that they put on pasta. Or the Austrian variety where they pour it over dumplings and put a fried egg on top. I’ve made goulash with the best of both worlds. Over pasta with fried egg on top! YUM!!!

Fancy, water in a glass bottle. Now, with a 50% price hike.

SO picked up my camera on the table and took this spy photo of me. I was mesmerized by the accordion player. The musicians were serenading the table in this photo, and then they played a different song and the whole table broke out into song! I’d imagine they were playing some sort of traditional Hungarian folk song. Again, I wish we had that kind of tradition in the US.

This is what I think of when I think of goulash. But, they call this stewed beef over noodles

To be continued at Budapest Day 3.