| The Kulturinov was our home
while we were in Budapest. The hotel is located on the second floor
of this former baroque palace that is now the home of cultural organizations
in the city. The Kulturinov is located on the Varhegy (Castle Hill)
right across the square from Matthias Church in one of the oldest (and highest)
parts of Buda. The hotel rooms are former offices. They're comfortable
enough and give the same great location as the Hilton (at about 1/4 of the
cost.) |
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The Fisherman's Bastion
is the ramparts that look from Castle Hill down toward the city of Pest
across the Danube. Supposedly, this area had been the site of the
fishermen's market at one time. Brenda and I couldn't figure out why
the fisherman would haul their fish all the way up that very steep hill
from the river. But, the bastion area was relatively uncrowded during
our visit and provided some outstanding panoramic views across the city. |
| The Hungarian wine industry
maintains a small museum and "tasting cellar" right around the corner from
the Kulturinov Hotel. Although many of the Hungarian wines we sampled
tasted a little sweet, they were surprisingly good. I wish I could
find some of it here at home. I think my sample might have been a little
too large. Soon after we left there, I fell flat on my rear while
backing up to take a photo. |
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I think there must be a
ranch somewhere that produces the horses that appear in every city we visit.
Someday, we're going to break down and take one of these equine city tours,
but after a bad experience with a driver in New Orleans many years ago, we've
always passed it up. Compare these horses with the ones you'll see
in Prague later: the Prague horses seem to be a little bit better fed
and in a little bit better shape. The horses probably provide a pretty
good analogy for the two cities. |
| This photo is included in
our web collection for only one reason: it's the only one we have that
shows any of the despair we felt after being pickpocketed in Budapest..
Here, I'm on the phone making arrangements to cancel credit cards and bank
cards, have money wired, and generally try to put a little order back into
life. The incident served as a good lesson for us. We'd recently
remarked to friends how casual we had become because we've been so lucky over
the years. After losing ALL cash, credit cards, and bank cards, I think
we'll do much better on the next trip! |
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