Pest is Best

Budapest used to be two separate cities that were separated by the Danube River. Before the first bridge was built, they could only go across by ferry, and only when there was no ice, when ice the ferry could not run, and the ice was not stable enough for people to walk on.I took a walking tour, that started on the Pest side, then moved over to the Buda side. Our guide was from Pest side, so he feels that is the best side. There were only three of us on the tour, a mother and daughter from Manchester and me, so it was easy to keep on track. In the middle of the tour we had a snack of two different kinds of strudel, I had cabbage and poppy seed, and coffee. A very nice treat.The Pest side of the city is quite flat, over on the Buda very hilly. Our guide Tomas was really good, gave us lots of information but in a non boring way, I may even retain some of it.

On Saturday night I went to a concert at a church with an organ and a choir. The church itself was not very big, square foot size, but the ceilings were very high. The final song was the Hallelujah  Chorus  which sent shivers down my spine. Really lovely. The first few songs were the organ itself, and reminded me of the beginning of the Phantom of the Opera.

My apartment building here, like the others I have stayed in is old, but as soon as you go into the apartment itself, very uptodate and modern.This one even has a fullsize refrigerator. The area I am staying in is kind of a shopping district, with shoe stores galore. So far I have not succumbed and as tomorrow is a national holiday and shops will be closed, I think I will not buy any.

I leave here on Wednesday and take the train to Bratislava, five days there then back to England. According  to Tomas it will be very, very quiet there, since the season is over.