Day 8/ Day 3 of Cycling OR "We should have stayed on the ship

In spite of the smiles in this picture on the first ferry we took across the Danube, it was a sodden and sodding day.

People came back after the 25+ km ride, thoroughly soaked and very tired. It continued to rain and so dampened any real desire to go sightseeing in this pretty little Hungarian town where we are docked, but I did grab a couple of pictures, including one of the Basilica ( I will look up the name later when I can get another copy of the trail book with the town names on it. Mine melted in the rain.) p.s. the Basilica is in Esztergom and is the largest Catholic church in Hungary.

Tonight's dinner is called "Pirate Night" -- oh dear, I forgot my costume, so I may have to find other ways to occupy myself. Just call me Scrooge.

Budapest, Part 2

Okay, this is just a random stream of things we saw in Budapest:
Church in the Rock

Funicular to Gellert Mt

A circular door with reflections of traveling pals

The Fishermans' Grotto on Palace Hill

The royal Palace, which now houses the National Library

Heroes' Square--statues of heroes with friends nearby

A spa

Day 7: Budapest

This city of 2 million is every bit as grand as I have heard people claim. Despite having been destroyed over and over by invading armies--most recently nearly 80% destroyed in World War II--there are still astounding examples of architecture reflecting Baroque, Romantic, Goth, Turkish and other influences. It was a "day of rest" as we chose to use the "hop on, hop off" bus service to see the city rather than trying to navigate by bicycle. It was a gray, cool day--a relief from the heat and humidity of yesterday--but only occasional sprinkles, so we were lucky as we rode on the open topped double-decker buses off and on all day.
Our ship is actually docked right across from the Parliament building, so this is what we see looking out our cabin window... daytime and night time views.

Our first stop was St. Stephen's Basilica. Here are some shots from the outside and the inside.

This is the Jewish synagogue--the 2nd largest in the world (New York City is larger)--and behind it is the "Garden of the Just" and a Holocaust memorial.

There are some amazingly ornate bridges. This is the Freedom Bridge,

and this is the Bridge of Chains.
We went to this enormous market with all kinds of food stuffs and bought some of the world famous paprika. There is a shot of the outside with elaborate tiled roof and then some pictures of peppers, etc. from inside.

I am only half-way through our day in Budapest, but there is really too much to put in one post, so I am going to get this up because my internet connections have been squirrelly the last couple of days.