We sailed into Budapest this morning.....just a fantastic way to enter the city. The parliament is right on the banks of the river and it is such a sight to see. We took a walking/bus tour in the afternoon. We had an excellent tour guide. She was very knowledgable, her english was excellent and she was a native.
A few things about Budapest
It''s the capitol of Hungary and its actually two cites with the river running in between them.
There is Buda on one side and Pest on the other
Pest is pronounced Pescht
1.8 million people....most all of the building and bridges have needed to be rebuilt due to the many wars and insurgencies their country has endured. Once part of the largest empire in the wold, Hungary is now a small country with less than 10 million people. The history of this country is fascinating....but since this is a travel blog and not igh school European history....I will forgo the lesson.
The thing is that most of the rebuilding was done in the style of the original buildings. They have drawings from when these buildings were built in the 1600/1700/1800. Not all Hungarians are happy with this.....it costs huge sums of money and the country is lacking in many things. They have high taxes and a sales tax of 27%. Their health care and education is lousy....this is per our guide. For a city of 1.8 million the architecture is that of a city 5-6 times it's size.
We visited Matthias Church. It is one of the most unique and beautiful churches you will never see.
We will be here for a few days.....so more to come as we visit this capitol.
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