This might have been one of the best days in the last week of so. We started out by taking two metro lines to get to Hero's Square. Our primary objective was Vajdahunyad Castle

Vajdahunyad Castle (Vajdahunyad vára) was built between 1896 and 1908 as part of the Millennial Exhibition which celebrated the 1000 years of Hungary since the Hungarian Conquest of the Carpathian Basin in 895. The castle was designed by Ignác Alpár to feature copies of several landmark buildings from different parts the Kingdom of Hungary, especially the Hunyad Castle in Transylvania (now in Romania). As the castle contains parts of buildings from various time periods, it displays different architectural styles: Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque. Originally it was made from cardboard and wood, but it became so popular that it was rebuilt from stone and brick between 1904 and 1908. Today it houses the Museum of Hungarian Agriculture, the biggest agricultural museum in Europe.
The statue of Anonymus by Hungarian sculptor Miklós Ligeti is also displayed in the castle court. Anonymus lived in the 12th century (his true identity is unknown, but he was a notary of Béla III of Hungary), who wrote the chronicle Gesta Hungarorum (Deeds of the Hungarians).

We walked around the complex and marveled that you could blend so many architectural styles without there appearing to be a clash. We also marvelled that while the south of France seemed weeks away from spring, here the garden beds were full of tulips etc. Absolutely stunning plantings of Tulips and Pansies, set of by lush green grass. The city itself doesn't have a lot of trees, however out at this part of town, the park is vast. There are lakes that are converted to skating rinks in winter, the Szechenyi Spa, Vajdahunyad Castle and pathways throughout a park probably the size of Centenial Park. We loved it. We wandered around for several hours before revisiting Hero's Square to photograph everything all over again.

We were timing the day to have a late lunch at Lotz Hall, so we took the metro down under Andrassy to visit some of the places we had seen on the bus tour. First stop was Kodály Körönd. One of the two squares on Andrássy út (the other one is Oktogon). The four buildings on the square form a full circle, with Andrássy út and Szinyei Merse utca intersecting in the middle. Each of the four buildings has a small garden with chestnut and sycamore trees and a statue each (statues of Vak Bottyán, Zrínyi Miklós, Szondi György and Balassi Bálint, respectively).
The original name of the square was Körönd, meaning "Circus". In 1938, it was dubbed Adolf Hitler Circus, which was changed back to Körönd in 1945. From 1971 it bears the name of Kodály Zoltán, who lived in one of the buildings adjacent to the circus. His apartment has since been converted into a memorial museum.

This is a very sad square (or circle). The buildings must have been stunning and the paintings on the fascades still have a faded beauty however they are all lacking restoration and one in particular caught fire when being renovated around 6 year ago and is now largely boarded up,

Back on the metro, next stop; The House of Terror. Every time we had passed this building, the street was packed with young people (20's). It was the headquarters of the secret police and is now a memorial to the hundreds who vanished without trace between 1959 and 1962. Around the outside are photographs of the victims and along the roofline a large inverted sign spelling out "TERROR" in reverse. Inside is a museum.

We then hopped back on the Metro and overshot Lotz Hall. We ended up walking almost two stops back up Andrassy before we found it. The entrance is inside a vast bookshop. In fact, Eastern Europe and Madrid seems to defy the demise of the bookshop. They are everywhere. At the back of the bookshop is an escalator that takes you up to the second floor of the bookshop and a short staircase to Lots Hall. It was a ballroom that was part of a gentlemen's club and our guide on Tuesday evening had described it as Budapest's hidden gem. She got that right.

We had barely ordered when Wayne and Kerry arrived as well. An American father and daughter on the cuise who we had dined and drank with fairly often. They joined us for lunch. Again.

Won't bore you with more meal descriptions but will just say that the Quince Palinka was fantastic. Unlike my Quince Liqueur, this is more like a Quince Vodka ... no sugar. I think I just offended millions of Hungarians. Only fruit spirits mashed, distilled, matured and bottled in Hungary, can be called Palinka and Vodka is Russian.

We hurried on home to have our Turkish Bath.