Walk G: 9km; total: 69km
Walk W: 5km; total: 64km
Floors climbed: 11
Today was not quite as busy as yesterday. We spent the time after breakfast and before leaving the hotel for the morning trying to work out why our CCTV cameras were offline. We eventually worked it out with the assistance of a wonderful neighbours. There had been a power outage, which obviously affected the whole system.
We were in no rush this morning as we knew the National Gallery (NG) at Buda Castle did not open until 10am. We planned on catching the Buda Castle Bus, however, it drove straight past us when we were at one of the stops, so we just walked - up all those steps again! Wendy’s knees are certainly feeling the strain after our little hike yesterday afternoon. The NG was OK at first, but Wendy feels everything starts to look the same after a while. The beautiful old building it’s housed in provided a pleasant distraction.
St Stephen’s Hall was next. While the Hall itself was stunning, actually a bit OTT for the rather small space it occupied. Included in the ticket was access to the Budapest History Museum - Castle Museum that was certainly worth a wander. However as we had already visited the National Museum there were a number of similarities.
After having lunch out, we went back in the room to for a halftime break and a cool-down. Greg went out again later for a wander around the city. Lots of people out and about, walking around with an ice cream in hand trying to cool down. While we find 30 deg with low humidity quite pleasant, the locals are struggling. Also having a hard time with the hot weather are the hordes of cruise boat passengers who invade this city every day in their thousands. They get around in groups of 30 - 40 and just swamp every venue in their tracks. No wonder certain towns and cities in Europe are saying enough is enough, cut the numbers. I know we also contribute to the numbers but we are few and spend all our money, on food, accommodation and entertainment, within the place we’re visiting. The cruise boat passengers live onboard, eat mainly onboard and seem to whizz around like a swarm of bees and are gone in minutes. But only after getting everyone’s nose out of joint.
Meanwhile, back at the hotel, Wendy was having some issues with uploading photos to the blog, but after some harsh discussion with the iPad it was sorted out. In between the NBN, Google and the blog you got to wonder whether all this technology is making our lives easier or just giving us ulcers.
We spotted a Vietnamese restaurant in our travels today so went back there for dinner. It was pretty good
Castle Coat of Arms
One of the many bronze sculptures within the Castle
The Riding Hall
Riding School
The two biggest paintings in the National Gallery
Portrait of Josef Barkfrieder, a citizen of Pest, 1815
The Island of Capri, 1885
The inside of the National Gallery
Greg’s favourite: Warrior Dezső sacrifices his life for King Charles Robert
The high altarpiece formerly in the Parish Church of St John the Baptist in Kisszeben (now Sabinov, Slovakia), 1496
This is “Art”, apparently
Wendy’s favourite: Schaffhausen Falls, 1903. We were there in 2014.
Crown Jewels (copy): Holy Crown, Sceptre and Orb
St Stephen’s Hall
A window in the National Gallery that looked as good as the real displays
The hill we climbed yesterday
Vin. Vin restaurant and our meals
