New Year's Eve in Budapest

31^st December

The Metro is a 5 – 10 minute walk and two stations later we are in Budapest central.  After walking a couple of blocks we stumble upon a bus tour about to leave, and as the weather is a bit bleak and Budapest is huge we decide to join.  

This is a great way to see the city, both Buda and Pest.  (Plains of Pest and hills of Buda divided by the beautiful Danube traversed by several bridges.) The architecture throughout the city is extraordinary.  A rich tapestry of architectural styles – Rococco, Renaissance, Gothic – with many sculptures reaching from the facades of the buildings.

 Lunch is at a beautiful Oriental influenced restaurant not far from where we depart the tour.  The only shopping I’ve managed to do is during the fifteen-minute stop at the Citadels – a carved box, a book on Budapest and a T-shirt for Brenton, which we leave on the bus!!

Chain Bridge - the story goes that the designer of this bridge claimed it was perfect
and if anybody could find fault he would jump into the Danube.......
one bright spark said the lions had no tongues....so he jumped!
He did survive.

We have booked dinner at the Sofitel (35,000HUF per person - close enough to A$1000), so decide to rest at the hotel before our big New Year’s Eve.

The night includes dinner and drinks and a variety of entertainers and firworks and almost marks the end of the trip!……….