Day 3.. A short break in Budapest

Today we decided to explore using the hop on hop off bus which we picked up in Andrassy Ut.

 Andrassy Ut

Museum of Fine Arts, Heroes Square

We took the tour to Castle District and spent most of the day there, visiting the Hungarian National Gallery, Fishermans Bastian, Matthias Church and generally just wandering around. The views from here looking over the city are amazing.

View from Castle District over the Danube & Elizabeth Bridge 

 Parliament

Matthias Church, Castle Hill.

We stopped for lunch in a fast food cafe, queuing and choosing from a vast range of local dishes.

While waiting to pick up the hop on hop off bus, the heavens opened and we sheltered under a tree to avoid the worst of the downpour.

As we were fairly wet and cold by this time we stayed on the tour bus, passing the State Opera House before returning to the hotel for a well earned siesta.

Hungarian State Opera House

A short break in Budapest..

As a special treat we booked a trip to Budapest on the recommendation of a friend who has been living here for the past 3 years.. The Hotel Mendosz (above) was situated in Jokai ter just off the main street  - Andrassy Ut (right). This street runs from Heroes Square up to the Basilica of St Stephen (Bajcsy Zsilinszky Ut), and is the place to be seen on in your best clothes (above right).

The Basilica of St Stephen

On Sunday, we had a whirlwind tour taking in all the main sights from Andrassy Ut to the Basilica then onto Elizabeth Bridge to see the extent of the flooding.  The Danube is closed to traffic as the water level is almost to the bridges making it impossible to pass under. The pleasure boats are all stranded their business curtailed until the water subsides. The Danuble almost broke its banks a couple of times while we were there but the military and volunteers manned the weak spots and used sand bags to contain the water.