Budapest Hungary

This morning we took a walking tour on the Buda side of the river, here they had beautiful art nouveau architecture on every surrounding building in the castle district. Within the walls of the castle we were able to see the new palace of the prime minister, an unbelievable cathedral dedicated to The Virgin Mary, and ruins of structure previous. It was almost overwhelming to take in all the history in this one small part of the city. I was able to get panoramic city views immediately outside of the cathedral and by the palace which satisfied the photographer in me (even though it was over cast), but unfortunately the museum of fine arts was closed for renovation, maybe next time right?  likewise, walking the Chain Bridge and getting to photograph it, was deeply moving for me because I have have studied it, and dreamed about visiting ; and now that dream has become a reality.

When the sun finally came out for the first time on our trip, we ended up having a lunchtime coffee and pastry in a cafe on the city street which is exactly what I would image one would do in Europe. It was a very nostalgic experience being my last day in Eastern Europe; and my latte blew any perception I had once held of american coffee out of the water!

One of the most interesting things that I have noticed about many of the countries I have visited in the past two weeks is how pedestrian friendly these cities are; Budapest for example has an unbelievably large christmas market that overcome the entire square on the pest side. Also, in Budapest there are large streets that are only permitted to those traveling on foot. The christmas market here was incomparable to any of the previous countries and cities I have visited; so many of the items and foods for sale were genuinely hand crafted (needless to say I have a few christmas presents up my sleeve ) which was different juxtaposed to other christmas markets.

I am sad to admit to myself that Budapest is my last stop of my Eastern Europe travels, the time I have spent here seems far to short , but its time to return home to the states and I will always remember the beautiful memories I have had here.