Yesterday due to spending time at the Budapest Church of Christ in fellowship I actually did not start touring until 4 p.m. Don’t get me wrong. I really enjoyed spending time with Americans and more importantly Christian but it did put a slight hamper in my plans. So I decided to catch up on things that were must sees in Budapest. I had brought my GoPro camera and a suction cup device that would allow me to film videos on glass windows. I really wanted to test it out on the funicular which transported people from an area around the Chain Bridge to Castle Hill. I found my way to the funicular loading area and paid to somewhat higher price for a one way ticket to the top. I had a bit extra time to get ready to fill including positioning the GoPro suction cup on the window. Now keep in mind that I do not have a laptop with me and am instead just using memory cards, a cell phone, and an iPad. So in reality I won’t really know how these videos turned out until I actually get home.

I got to the top of Castle Hill and salsa familiar. The only difference is this is a nice sunny day whereas yesterday’s weather was somewhat cloudy and rainy. I was able to get a Chinese couple to help take my picture. What I like to do whenever I’m vacationing by myself is to seek out someone who has a large camera preferably the same brand as mine and ask them to take my picture. Not everyone who carries around a nice fancy camera knows how to use it. But it is the risk I take when asking others to take my picture rather than using a lame selfie stick. Anyone who uses a selfie stick or a cell phone as their primary camera is likely not familiar with cameras and taking pictures, at least not familiar enough for the quality I prefer in my pictures.

I bought tickets to the Fisherman’s Bastion which is basically an area which allows you to take panorama pictures of the city. Actually it is not really necessary to buy tickets and still get the same view of the city. But this tickets are fairly cheap so I decided to splurge and spend some money.

Next was onto a tour of the tower of St Matthias Church. This was the church which I bought a ticket to view the inside of yesterday but I didn’t really have enough time to see the inside of the church. Tours of the tower were at the top of every hour and I just happen to get there right on time as a tour with starting so no time was wasted. In the tour it was me and the family from Israel. They spoke good English and I do believe the father may have had dual citizenship in America. One of our tour guides ask me where I was from and I told him Tennessee. He was able to name off the Tennessee Titans very quickly. I asked him how he knew about NFL and he said there is a club in Budapest that keeps up with NFL games. He said he was also collecting States of people who tour of the tower he said he didn’t have New Mexico, Hawaii or Maine as having visitors tour in the tower. It was quite a walk up stairs to the tower but was well worth the view. Anytime I have an opportunity to take a walk up to a tall tower in any European city I go for it because the pictures on it are worth the trouble. I am glad I’m able to physically walk up the stairs because I know one day I will be unable to do so in soon that will take away the ability to take pictures from such high altitudes. While I was at the top I got out my GoPro and did a panoramic of the entire tower. This should make for good views of the city on a video I have plans to edit once I get home.

We came down from the tower and it was next on my list to visit a ruined church known as St. Mary Magdalene Church. I found my way to it by a short walk from St Matthias Church. The church was destroyed in World War 2 and since the population of Budapest had decreased so rapidly and there was no need to repair of the church since Saint Matthias Church was nearby. The Mary Magdalene church only has the tower left. You can see the outline of what was the church in the footprints of the walls left behind. I really wanted to go up to the top but alas it was Monday and the museum and therefore the tower was closed. Many times in European countries museums are closed on Mondays for whatever reason or another. Mostly I think it’s because so many people tour museums on Sundays that it gives the staff of the museum to break the following day.

Next it was time to catch a bus down to the bottom of the Pest Side. The thing about Budapest is sometimes I don’t know exactly where I’m going but I usually find a way to get there if I just hop on a bus heading in the direction that I want to go. This was the case with me getting down to the bottom of the hill. The bus terminated at the bottom of the hill and I had to find a different bus to take. I’ve been pretty adept at finding buses that go in the direction that I need to go if only by looking on the bus schedule and see if I recognize any of the stops. And to think when I was in New York City I relied on my friend to figure out the New York City mass transit system. I’ve managed to travel all around Europe using mass transit but I can’t figure out the New York City Transit System nor the Chicago Transit System.

I found my way to Parliament which I head toward on Friday but it was raining and therefore I did not have a good chance to take nice pictures of outside of the building. Before taking photos of the building I decided it was time to find a restroom and remembered that there was a business area with free restrooms only north side of the parliament. That’s the thing in Europe if you ever find a free restroom make a mental note about it because it’s well worth going back to find the restroom without having to worry about paying an attendant for it. Restrooms should be free for all. And this particular restroom I used at least twice that day.

I got some great shots of the Parliament and even interacted with some Americans who seem to be asking questions about the Parliament and I got out my Rick Steves book to read the article on the sculpture they were inquiring about. Hungarian military guards are stationed beside the flag in front of the parliament. Ever so often they to soldiers walk around the ring at the base of the flag in step. I took several more pictures before moving on to the Rick Steves tour of the parliament area. I found a sculpture whose name escapes me at the moment and took photos of it. I really wanted to find the Ronald Reagan statue and eventually found it. I got an American couple to help take photos of me. The wife seem to know what she was doing even asking me to pose by it. Next I was into a quandary. I needed to eat lunch but there didn’t seem to be in a tasteful lunch areas around. Sure there were some local restaurants but I feel uneasy about eating at some of these restaurants as I don’t really know what I’m ordering nor the quality of the food. I decided to travel to a Subway restaurant in octagon metro stop. After lunch I decided to go back to a 1956 Museum the American couple who took the photo of me with Ronald Reagan had recommended. I got there and they were setting out a sign that said closed temporarily 2 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. This was somewhat frustrating as I had just got there and they set out the sign. I tried to come up with some ideas about what I should do to waste 45 minutes until the 1956 museum was open again. I decided to find the memorial to Jewish Holocaust victims. On the banks of the Danube between the Chain Bridge and the parliament are some empty shoes which represent the lives of the Jews who were killed during World War II. I took several pictures of the shoes even though there were so many tourists around to taking pictures. I like for my pictures to not contain any tourist. But sometimes it’s difficult to crop them out. I walked back to the area of the 1956 museum and happened upon a boat ramp. Budapest public transportation system also allows for boat access to travel up and down the Danube River. Since my week pass covered this I thought it would be a nice cheap way to get to sail on the Danube river without necessarily paying for a full riverboat cruise. I caught the first boat to come along. It was sailing south on the river. We went under the Chain Bridge. I managed to get some great video of the Chain Bridge and sites along the shore. This particular boat had an upper deck which I could go up on. This made for some better shots than having to say down in the lower deck behind glass. The boat on the way back north bound did not have an upper deck and therefore I had to stay at the bottom. About six 20 somethings came in and there was not enough room at a table they wanted to set out so I gave up my seat to allow them to set together.

By the time I got back from the boat the 1956 uprising museum had opened. This free museum gives an insight into the news regarding the 1956 uprising of students against the Soviet Union. Hungary had been apart of the communist bloc since right after World War 2. Stalin passed away a few years before and this allowed for some organize demonstrations to occur in Budapest. In October of 1956 everyone had gathered in the square in front of Parliament for some speech. It is unclear who fired the first shot but the aftermath was clear. Several protesters were shot but didn’t exact number we may never know because when they were taken to the hospital, the hospital staff did not want to upset the communist government so they reported the wounded as a different cause rather than being shot. The museum offered first-hand interviews of those present that day. I was surprised that so many people were still alive to talk about 1956. But many of these protesters were teenagers at the time which makes it really sad that so many young people were shot and killed. The museum had a Hungarian flag with the center cut out. I believe the Soviet error Hungary flag has a red star represent in communism on it.

Next on my list was trying to find the Great Synagogue. I rode the metro to the Astoria stop but had difficulty finding the synagogue. I did not have a reliable map. Please note that many of Rick Steves maps can be inaccurate. I asked a passerby if he knew where the Great Synagogue was. He said that he was visiting hungry too but would ask a lady on the street. The lady said that I should have ridden a metro station further up. However I knew that this probably wasn’t right in the Great Synagogue was probably in walking distance. From the ladies description I knew the area to go to so I started walking. The Great Synagogue can hide behind other buildings in the area so sometimes you might miss it. I got there and found no ticket taking window open. There are other Americans there wondering why the synagogue was closed. I walked around and found a sign that stated it was Rosh Hashanah today and tomorrow and therefore the synagogue was closed. This was a great disappointment to me because I understand the inside of the synagogue is fairly elaborate. The Great Synagogue is the second largest synagogue in the world only behind a synagogue in New York City. So now I know to always check the Jewish calendar for closings before planting a visit to a synagogue.

I decided to try and find a great market hall to see if there were any good souvenir stands. The great Market Hall is a historic shopping area with the ground floor having produce and meat and the second floor having mostly souvenirs. By the time I got there the shops were closing at 5 p.m. so I did not have very much time to look around.

I decided to make a visit to a thermal baths for some relaxation before having supper. Supper was at TGI Fridays in the Octagon area. I decided to get an old reliable that is a cheeseburger and fries. Cooking the meal took a little bit longer than I expected. When they did bring it out to me it had no condiments on it although there was catch up at the table. I asked my server for some mustard and it took her a little bit extra time to bring it back to me. The quality of the burger was okay better than a regular McDonalds but not as good as a Chili’s burger. I decided to treat myself with a smoothie as well. It costs the equivalent of $3 but figured I was only in Budapest one time and decided to splurge.

I made it back to my hotel room and chatted with some friends before going to sleep. I had a big day the next day to try and catch up on anything that I missed and buy souvenirs for friends and family.

All in all I think I had a very productive day today as I was able to catch up on a lot of my tours and must-see stops.