September 15 - from Bratislava SK to Budapest HU

We left Bratislava heading to Budapest HU in the morning.  Our 1st stop was the St. Stephen's Basilica, which is named in honor of Stephen, the first King of Hungary, whose mummified fist is housed in the reliquary.  One of the Jesus’ sculpture was created so they you can see his keen facing you no matter which angle you are looking at it.  It is a beautiful and huge church.

Then we wet to Sisi Restaurant to have a relaxed lunch of Hamburger and fry at the outdoor patio.

In the afternoon, we visited the Buda Castle also called Royal Palace and Royal Castle.  We had a local tour guide showing us the Matthias (Mathias) Church and the Fisherman’s Bastion. The Fishermen's Bastion was designed by Frigyes Schulek and was built in 1905. The "building" is made up of seven towers - each one symbolizing the seven Magyar tribes that came to Hungary in 896. The towers are a bit fairytale like, but still, they somehow fit together with the Matthias (Mathias) Church behind them. The area directly behind the church housed a fish market during medieval times - the name of the Bastion comes from here. During the 18th century, the Guild of Fisherman are also said to have been defending this part of the Castle wall. The Bastion offers great view of the Parliament and of the northern Pest side of the city.

Then we moved to the Palace and Museum area.  When we passed the Sandor Palace, we were directed away due to the fact that it is the office of the President of Hungary.   When we route to the backside of the Sandor Palace, we have another beautiful view of the Budapest and Danube.

Next, we stopped by the Heroes Square for more photos.

Then we have a Danube cruise to see the Budapest from the Danube.   The Danube river bisects the city into two different parts:  the hilly and more peaceful Buda on the right side and the bussing Pest on the left.  Along the Danube, we saw the graceful tower of the Matthias Church, the Fishermen’s Bastion from different angle, the Budapest Parliament dominating the Pest shore, the fine building of one time Gresham Place on Pest end of the Chain Bridge, the Gellert Hill towered above the water between Elizabeth Bridge and the Liberty Bridge.

After Chinese dinner, we checked into Novotel Budapest Congress Hotel.  It was a nice hotel with a sport center and a shopping mall next to it.  Some of us ventured out at night to see the sport center and the shopping mall.  We saw a soccer game and a water polo game at the sport center; however, it was too late to do shopping (the shopping mall has been closed).   Later, several of us were able to utilize their spa facility to relax.