Europe Day 10 Budapest

Today was by far my most favorite day!  We sailed into Budapest around 930-1000.  We saw the Parliament building, St. Michaels Church, bridges, and so many beautiful buildings.  No pictures will ever do the beauty justice.  It was a sight I will always remember and one that was totally awesome!

When we got to Budapest, we boarded a bus that took us around the city for 3 hours, which was both informative and fun!  We saw palaces and Parliament buildings, the opera, statues, castles, the Jewish quarter and so much more.  We came back and had a Hungarian Lunch of homemade egg noodles and goulash.  Then we went out to the most amazing 3 story market where we bought the last of our souvenirs.  I also went into an Aldi, even though I didn't buy anything.

Our tour guide Peter, who we will always remember because he helped make our "holiday" great!

This evening our crew said a few closing words.  It was like leaving friends.  We have so much enjoyed the 4 tour guides, especially Peter and Csaba who have been with us since Prague.

KISS Keep it short and simple
There are big ships and small ships but the best ships are friendships.
We traveled 560 miles, 500 nautical miles, 4 capitals together.
There is a German term which says you always meet twice.

We had a 7 course dinner which lasted over 2 hours tonight.  We have come to the conclusion that Europeans like to enjoy their meals.  We Americans eat way too fast.  Thankfully the portions were small and some we only ate a few bites of so that we didn't get too full.  After dinner a Hungarian opera put on a show which was fabulous, but would have been much more enjoyable if we would have been able to understand Hungarian.

Fun Facts:
*1 million people from Budapest died in WWII, 1/3 were Jews
*They call Budapest The Queen of the Danube
*The streets in Budapest are wider than most because they were built for the Military
*Budapest is has the biggest Opera House in Europe after Vienna
*Sales tax in Budapest is 27%
*17% income tax for everyone in Hungry.
*Buda has 1/3 of the population and Pest 2/3's.