OUT OF BUDAPEST - DAY 8

On a beautiful morning, our first out of Budapest, we had another welcome change of plans.

Instead of riding our bikes, we boarded vans to travel to our first stop, leaving our guides to follow us with the bikes.

We went to Skanzan - a beautiful place similar to our Williamsburg, where old houses were transported from different parts of Hungary and reconstructed.

We rode our bikes around the villages, stopping at various displays, such as this old farmhouse,

Which had this wooden wheel and gears to a mill displayed in the barn.

There were thatched roof cottages with people dressed in period costumes.

This one little girl proved shy about my taking her picture, until her mother came out to give me assistance.

The delicious aroma of gingerbread brought us to this cottage where a woman was baking cookies in this old style stove.

Outside the cottage the cookies were being artfully decorated by another volunteer.

Near these stone cottages we stopped at the bee-keepers house,

And got to taste different kinds of honey from this lovely couple who helped tend the bees.

CONTINUATION OF DAY 8

We left Skanzen on our bikes in the early afternoon and followed our direction towards Szentendre town, managing to get lost at the bottom of the hill. However our guide, Jan found the 4 of us there and to keep us on the straight and narrow led us the rest of the way.
Szentendre is a picturesque little town along the Danube that has attracted artists since early in the 20th century.

We had some lunch at an outside cafe -

Where I had the pleasure of playing with this cute little boy at the table behind us. Fortunately his parents spoke some English so we could communicate.

We then had time to walk through the town on its main cobblestone street,

And have an ice cream at the ever present ice cream shop.

We met the rest of the group for a visit to the "Old Goat Art Gallery" - a name perhaps more appropriate than we would like to believe.

As we exited the shop after a nice visit, this monstrosity of a motorbike came by, and I grabbed a photo.

Gathering on the wall by the water to get our bikes for the ride back to Budapest, several of us including Chuck and me decided on a ride back by van, as there was more we wanted to experience that day.

And so we arrived at our hotel well rested.

THE FINAL PART OF DAY 8

Changing out of our biking clothes, we hurried out to the end of our hotel street where a fair was in full swing. The booths and mobs of people stretched for blocks.

There were craftsmen, such as this wood carver -

People dressed in traditional Hungarian costumes,

Young girls dancing to Hungarian music,

And food of all varieties being prepared.

At Heroes' Square a few blocks away and celebration culminated with the horse races. Sand had been brought in by the truckload to create a racing track and each little village brought their best horse and rider to the competition.

The band played, and horses raced,

and the crowd cheered the competitors.

The officials in full dress paraded aroung the track between races.

And the winners of each heat enjoyed their victory lap.

We stayed as long as we could to watch the activities and returned to our room to get ready for the "farewell dinner" in our hotel that evening. It was wonderful meal, with delicious, smaller proportions - a rare thing in Hungary we had found.

OUT OF BUDAPEST - DAY 9

Our last day with our wonderful guides began and ended with a ride through the city of Budapest. Having never ridden a bike in a city before I was a bit apprehensive, but I found it a safe and enjoyable experience. There were bike paths along most of the major streets and the Hungarian drivers, being used to bike traffic were courteous and gave us a wide birth.


We all gathered in front of the beautiful Parliament building for a group photo.

And stopped in front of the "Little Princess" to listen to Susi give us information about the sights.

Back at the hotel, after turning in our bikes and equipment , Chuck and I decided to change out of biking clothes for the last time, and walk back to Danube for another look. It was a longer walk than we expected.

In Central Pest, the side of the river where our hotel was as opposed to Buda,on the other side of the Danube, we passed St Steven's Basilica
.
Reaching the Edge of the Danube, we saw buildings and traffic lights half submerged in the brown water. (The beautiful "blue" Danube wasn't blue at this time.)

Walking along the unused railroad track by the water, we saw these two "bouncing" walkers. When I asked for a photo, they were very accommodating.

After some refreshment we decided to take the subway back to our hotel and it too was a treat. It was over 100 years old, but nothing like the Philadelphia subways that I remember. It was fast, clean and efficient - in fact you had better be prepared to exit in a hurry, or you would finurself at the next stop - which we did.

BUDAPEST DAY 10 (TOUR WITH SUSI)

We booked Susi, one of the 2 trainees on our bike trip, for a private tour of her home city for this day. As we expected it was wonderful, so it is very difficult for me to choose a few photos from our time with her to put on my blog. Susi, beside speaking 6 languages fluently is an experienced tour guide, having been doing it for 8 years of her young life, and before that accompanied her father from age 6 when he gave tours in Russian.
Susi picked us up in her car and took us to the City Park near Andrassy Ave which contained among other attractions the zoo, Baths, a lake which in the winter is a large ice skating area,

and this fairytale like Vajdahunyad Castle. Not really a castle, it is a reflection of various architectural styles reflecting the history and evolution of architecture in Hungary.

From there we walked to Heroes Square, the site of the horse races the other day.

Among other stops was Liberty Square with this obelisk, a Soviet War Memorial commemorating "Liberation Day", April 4th, 1945 when the Soviets forced the Nazis out of Hungary.

This area was also the site of the 1956 uprising against communist rule, and bullet holes can still be seen in this building.

From there we rode across the Chain Bridge to the Buda part of Budapest to Castle Hill. and the many steps up to the Fishermen's Bastion,

From the Terrace there is a spectacular view of the Danube and the Parliament buildings across the water in Pest.

The conical towers of the Fishermen's Bastion served no defensive purpose but are an allusion to the tribal tents of the early Magyars.

There I spied this sad, hooded falcon and his handler who was there to perch on the arm of older children for a price.

Moving along Castle Hill to the Castle itself we can to the beautiful King Matthias Fountain. The legend goes that when King Matthias while was on a hunting trip he wooed Ilonka, who fell desperately in love with him, not knowing that he was the king. When he left suddenly to return to Buda, Ilonka tracked him down and realized who he was. Realizing his rank meant they could never be together, Ilonka committed suicide.

Passing the Royal Palace, we saw that the Raven's Gate which when closed was a map of Budapest.

Leaving the Royal Palace area we passed again the Lions Gate and the Mythical Turul bird which in folktales led the Magyar tribes to settle in the area now known as Hungary.

Our next stop north of the Castle was the tomb of Gull Baba, a Muslim dervish who died in 1541. He is one of the few Turks respected by the people of Hungary and legend says it is he who introduced roses to Budapest.

Our last big stop was Gellert Hill. When King Istvan converted Hungary to Christianity in the year 1000, he brought in Bishop Gellert, a monk from Vienna to tutor his son. Some Magyars however had other ideas. They put the bishop in a barrel, drove in long nails from the outside and rolled the barrel down the hill, causing his death. Gellert became the patron saint of Budapest and gave his name to the hill that killed him.
The view from the top of Gellert Hill was spectacular, a panorama of the Danube River and both parts of the city.

At the top, past the craft booths was the fortress and the last holdout of the Germans in WWII. The Hills here, and on Castle hill, are laced with limestone caves, making it extremely difficult to oust the enemy. Remaining there were guns left by the German forces.

The hill is crowned by the Liberation Monument, a statue of a woman holding aloft a palm branch (named by locals "the big can opener"), and this one representing the battle with evil.

On the walk back down the hill we passed posters depicting the history of Budapest, including this photo of the destruction of the Chain Bridge done by the Germans to prevent the Allies from reaching them up on Castle and Gellert Hills.

Lastly we visited the Cave Church near the bottom of Gellert Hill. The communists bricked up the church when they came to power, but it again open to the public.

While service was not being held at the time we visited, the organist was practicing and the sound within the cave was beautiful.

Leaving Susi we wandered around Center Pest for a time, had a late lunch and returned tired to out hotel.