In 1873 the cities of Buda and Pest united (along with the district of Obuda that somehow got lost in the transaction). The history of Budapest (pronounced: Booda-pesht) is very convoluted what with the Celts, the Romans and of course the Turks (they ruled the area for 150 years!) as well as the neighbours all fighting over the right to call the area home.
 It's pretty obvious by now that strategic locations on the Danube were much sought after.  
 When you start delving in to the history of Budapest it becomes obvious that the healing waters of the (over 80) geothermal springs in the area make this a gem of a place. The locals brag that they have the largest thermal water cave system in the world. In fact, if you are feeling ill it is not unusual for your doctor to give you a prescription which gives you free entry to one of the many bath houses in the city. 
Our ship arrived in Budapest early in the morning which gave us the whole day to explore on our own. One of our favourite (well actually our very favourite) things to do is get lost while exploring. Shane and I set off to do just that while putting a lot of kilometres on our walking shoes. It isn't easy to get lost in cities that have huge rivers running through them but we did manage to get turned around in a few of the back roads.  
My first impression of Budapest, the view from our room, was how stunning the architecture is. On both sides of the river there are examples Gothic, Renaissance, Turkish, Baroque & even art nouveau structures and we were smack dab in the middle of it. That's the nice thing about river cruising.... being close to the big cities.  
So off we went... back and forth across the bridges, up back alleys, on to St. Margaret's Island (a beautiful park and sporting centre) and back, past the Opera House and the very busy square in front of St. Stephen's Basilica. It's still not clear in my mind whether the square was busy because the locals are so proud of their former king who brought Christianity to Hungary.... or because there is a Starbucks and a few fast food restaurants right there?? Before our sojourn to St. Stephen's Basilica and the busy shopping district, we found ourselves getting very lost while wandering around the construction at the parliament buildings. Some of the detours took us blocks away from where we wanted to go without any real understanding as to why. Then there was the unusually large number of policemen to contend with. Turned out to be necessary as the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, was in town along with a number of well dressed, nameless delegates. Pretty sure they didn't have to contend with the construction!
Back to the shopping district. I have been on a quest for a sweater since Istanbul. Just a simple, warm option to what I packed back in August. So what better thing to do than visit the shopping district? Wrong! Souvenir shops line the pedestrian walkway with only a few clothing shops squeezed in and most of these are high end over priced options. Still it is fun to poke around in shops to see what's there. Besides, if you follow the street and take a couple of turns, you end up back at the ship.  
By the time we got back we were tired and ready for a rest after a very enjoyable day. In the evening we cruised back and forth taking way too many pictures of this beautiful city at night!
First thing in the morning we board the bus with our new travelling companions. Today we have 'the city tour'.  
Maria, our guide, starts right in with the stats, most of which don't seem to sink in. The bus is driving along Andrassy Avenue, a most delightful wide street. She explains that the avenue has a separate lane for horse drawn carriages and one for horses with space for pedestrians as well. This is theatre row which ends at Heroes Square. It is odd that this lovely avenue has another famous building which once housed the secret police for both the Germans and the Russians. They have aptly named this Grey building the Museum of Terror. Maria described Hungary as being "surrounded by the Iron Curtain" from 1945 - 1990 (when the Russians left). It is also odd that that nasty building is on the road that ends in Heroes Square which was built in 1896 to commemorate the establishment of Hungary in 896AD (guess I retained some of her stats).
We then drove by city park, a stunning thermal bath, an artificial lake used for boating in summer and skating in the winter, a train station designed by the Eiffel (of tower fame), before crossing the river and getting out at the Castle District. It would be a wonderful city to spend more time in. 
In the Castle District there is a powerful monument, Trinity Square, built by the survivors of the plague. We had some free time here which allowed us to climb around to Fisherman Bastion to get a great view of our ship down below and the city of Pest.
Before I leave this blog I have to tell you one funny story. Maria, who was trying her best to get us more knowledge than we could possibly absorb, made a Freudian slip. She tried to tell us about the Liberty Statue - a woman holding a Palm Leaf. She said that there is a Russian Soldier under her skirt. She meant to say the statue of the Russian is at the base of the platform. However, this brought up a whole new story about how the Russians raped women for sport. She then went on to say that the American soldiers were "given freely" because they had sunglasses and chewing gum for the women.  
She went on to say that she remembers being hidden from the Russians by her mother, sometimes being dressed as a boy. Everywhere you went there were bold statues of Lenin, Marx, Red Star, Peasant workers, Stalin etc. When the Russians finally left the people of Budapest quietly went about removing every one of those statues (except the ones that are actually part of a building) and placed them in a heap. This messy pile of concrete and rebar, far away from the centre of town, is now a memorial. I think that is a fitting way to end this blog. The people of Hungary were able to get on with the business of living. They have a beautiful city and a vibrant, exciting feeling about their future.  
If I can.... I will go back to Budapest.