Budapest - Day One

After our brief stay in Vienna, it was on to Budapest, Hungary.  Tom was driving today and in the early part of this drive I finally figured out the navigation system problem and checked the box that would allow us to take a tollroad and get to Budapest in less than a week!  So we cruised at a nice clip along the autoroute for a long while.  Oddly, we had not passed one toll booth yet.  About half way through the drive we noticed some flashing lights up ahead with policemen standing alongside the highway.  They were pulling multiple cars off to the side of the road and we were one of them.  Even though we didn't think we had done anything wrong, it was a bit nerve-wracking as we were entering Hungary.  

As it turns out, we had done something wrong.  We had not paid for an electronic toll pass.  The rental car agency made no mention of this requirement and we could read no signs that told us what to do.  In other parts of Europe, there are booths that you pay at as you go.  This system was a new one to us.  Anyway, the officer was quite kind not to give us a 300 euro fine for not having this pass and we pulled over to a tiny office at the border where we could buy this 10 or 11 euro pass good for all roads during our trip.

Oh well.  It was an interesting adventure for the day.  Now, we proceeded on the drive toward Budapest.

We checked into our fanciest hotel of the trip, the Boscolo Budapest Hotel.  Check out this enclosed courtyard interior:

Then, we had lunch at the hotel's restaurant, another Budapest landmark (wish I had a better photo of it):

Many museums are closed in Budapest on Mondays and we had our wine excursion all day Tuesday, so we rushed to visit this must-see museum on late Sunday afternoon.  Well, the House of Terror sounds like a fun-ride at an amusement park, this is the exact opposite.  It truly is a memorial to the people who lost their lives during the Hungarian Nazi occupation and then the Communist terror organizations AVO and AVH.

As an American, I wanted to catch a glimpse into what was the reality of life in many areas of Central and Eastern Europe during the 20th century.  We have all read and heard about the atrocities but these people were in the middle of it.  Czechoslovakia and Hungary were caught directly in-between Germany and Russia and the history of this region from 1940 through 1989 is gut-wrenchingly sad.  It's almost incomprehensible to Americans what they endured.

And I guess I just wanted to educate myself a bit about that period.  The "museum" is quite well done I think.  I think we all left the place feeling very thankful that we grew up in the United States.  It's amazing to think of the changes that have taken place in the past 30 years.

After that impactful visit, we strolled toward the river and stumbled upon another St. Stephen's church.  This one is nearly as impressive as the one in Vienna:

We continued strolling down toward the Danube River and decided to book an evening cruise on the river.  This is certainly high on the list of recommended activities here.

It was definitely a cool ride but it was a clear night and the sights were spectacular.  We sat on the top level of the boat to get the best views.

Castle Hill, Buda 

The sights were great all along the cruise but they saved the best for last, probably the most famous view of Budapest -- the Parliament Building.

Parliament Building 

Another angle on the Parliament Building

After the cruise, we found an excellent restaurant serving Hungarian cuisine.  Finding a good restaurant serving Czech or Hungarian cuisine has been a bit of a crap-shoot on this trip but this was a win.  I'm happy to say that finding good wine has NOT been an issue at all!!