Pest, Buda, and the Danube

The city of Budapest was created when the cities of Pest on the East side of the Danube and Buda on the West side were joined by the Chain Bridge (1849) and united in 1873. Of course the original settlement dates back to before 1 AD. It has a fascinating history including invasions and occupations by the Huns, the Turks, the Austrians, and the Soviets. The architecture in the city is amazing, partly from these varied influences and partly because of an old law requiring 20% of the building cost to be spent on decorations both internal and external.

We spent day 2 on waking tours in both the Pest (pronounced like pesht) and Buda areas. We also ate lots of yummy Hungarian food.

Hendrik at the Matthias Church, Nancy at the Hungarian Parliament building, Hendrik in front of the Buda Castle and the Chain Bridge, and Hendrik about to ride the oldest metro line on the continent (they have to phrase it that way to exclude London).