Prague to Budapest! May 14th - May 16th....

Hi everyone. Well, the journey continues. We left Prague by train on Wednesday, may 14th at 7:30 am. We arrived 7 hours later in the heart of Budapest. It was a beautiful train ride through the countrysie and we travelled through the country of Slovakia before arriving here.
In 1873 the man known as "The Greatest Hungarian," Count Istvan Szechenyi, built the Chain Link Bridge (Szechenyi), which was the first permanent link between Buda on the West, and Pest on the Eastern side of the Danube. Although it is called Budapest, the two sides are very distinct, Buda being hilly and residential, and Pest flat and industrial.
Upon arrival, we took a Tram to the centre of Pest, walked around a little and then found a very nice Hungarian restaurant that served the traditional food of Goulash and noodles. We enjoyed it very much and were sitting next to a Mother and Son, who were from San Francisco. He was an attorney and we had a nice chat about travel locations around the world.
We made our way to our apt., which is centrally located in Pest. It is vey spacious, to say the least, and we are going to enjoy staying here for one week.
On Thursday, May 14th, our first full day, which was a sunny and mild one, we headed ove to the huge and famous Central Market, which was built in the late 1800's. What an amazing sight to behold! The first floor was all food, from poultry to vegetables, just like the beautiful open markets in Italy, and other countries, for that matter. We walked around and then went to the second flor, where they had all sorts of good, clothing, cultural items, eveything you would find in a Flea Market, like our Festival Flea Market. The place was immaculate and we enjoyed looking around. They also had areas for eating and drinking on the second floor and everyone was enjoying themselves.
After leaving, we headed to the famous Cafe Gerbeaud, in the center of Pest and had one of their famous pastries, called the Banana Omlet. It is not really an omlett, but that was the name. It was filled with whippd cream with the bananas on top. From there, we went to the Herend China store. Herend China is very famous here and we were fortunate to see a young lady actually hand painting on the china. It was fascinating.
Budapest is called the City of Spas. They have more than 30 Thermal Spa Springs here. The two most famous one are the Szecheny Bath and the Gellert Spa. We walked into the former and saw some huge pools, but we did not take a dip. We could not see the termal pools, as they were tucked within the huge building.
After having a nice lunch at an Italian Cafe, (we loe our pizza), we took a boat ride on the Danube. It was a beautiful day and we went unde the famous bridges and got accquainted with the buildings on the Buda and Pest side of the river. It was very nice and we enjoyed it.
Late that evening, we wen to a traditional Hungarian Folkcance and we enjoyed their style of dancing, music, and costumes of the region. On the way home, we walked along the Danube and then over the Chain Bridge. The lights were beautiful and the whole city was aglow.
Needless to say, we really had a busy day and were tired when we got back to the apt.
Today, Friday, May 16th we took it a little easier. We went by Tram to the bottom of Castle Hill on the Buda side of the River. They have a nice Funicular that took us to the top of the hill and we took some nice pictures. We walked into the Castle and then walked along the river. We returnd wo the Central Market again and purchased some postcards. We had a nice lunch and then returned to the apt.
About the apt. They have this instant hot water machine, as did our apt., in Prague. It works great and offers instant hot water. In Prague, our stove was powered by gas, but here, it is electric. We do have cable and are watching CNN. We were very sad to hear about the quake in China and the Cyclone in Myanmar.
So, it is around 7:15 here now, 1:15 pm your time. We are heading out to get a bite to eat. This Internet Cafe is very nice, right on a main venue and thee are people everywhere. We are fortunate to have come in May, as in the next few months, it will be more crowded and hot.
Here are a few pictures that we took, that you might enjoy.
All the best to eveyone and we will keep you informed.
Regards,
Mac & Anita