Today we went over to the Buda side to the area we were partially shown around on the tour from our ship the day we arrived. The weather was much better than on the previous visit and we had a look at places we had not visited. These places were the old Royal Palace (which is now called the Budapest National Gallery) and the "Hospital in the Rock". But first we stopped in to one of the Ruined Pubs for lunch; Koleves Kert (Stone Soup Garden). The pub did not look...

Better weather today and set off to do a bit more exploring. Firstly we went to a nearby highly recommended restaurant to make a booking for tomorrow night then to do a bit of shopping - shoelaces and stuff. Nearby we came upon the Academy of Music which had an interesting facade and statues. It was closed but looked interesting inside. Might try to get in later. A popular game over here is for a group of people (minimum of 2) to be locked in a room and have to...

Had our first simple breakfast in 2 weeks and set off to see some of the sights we had seen from the river in a bit more detail. Most places except those on the Buda side are within walking distance. Nice to not have to walk on cobblestones and without having to avoid bikes. First stop was the neo classical St. Stephens Basilica named after Stephen the first king of Hungary in the 10th century. Probably one of the most modern of the basilicas we have seen and u...

Today we left the ship having arranged a taxi to our apartment. We were met at the apartment and were introduced to it. When we looked at the apartment on the internet it looked a bit like a mini palace with high ceilings and large rooms. We know that wide angle lenses are used for photographs for apartment advertising but in this case the apartment was what they had been depicted. Of some concern was the fact that there were 3 locks that had to be opened to get ...

Today we arrived in Budapest. Our arrival was timed such that we would have finished breakfast and see the sites of Budapest from the Danube along with Nevena's commentary. Or as Nevena put it "as we sail down the red carpet of the Hungarian Capital". There was some free time to look around the city in the morning but as we had a tour in the afternoon, dinner and then a night cruise up and down the river we use the morning time to pack for our disembarkation the ...