Budapest

We are back from Budapest.  Cindy had a meeting there Wednesday - Friday, an ingathering of all the DOJ lawyers in the Balkans, and the Foreign Service Nationals (FSNs in State Department lingo), so there were four attendees from Albania.  Taylor and I flew up Thursday afternoon.  Friday morning I went for a followup appointment with a Hungarian ophthalmologist, who said I was doing well.  

The top picture is from the Buda side of the Danube looking across the Chain Bridge over Pest.  The large building at the end of the Chain Bridge is the Gresham Four Seasons Hotel.  It was built at the turn of the century (20th) by the Gresham Insurance Company of London.  But in honor of my cousin Anna, I wanted to point out the Four Seasons.

The next picture is from the castle hill looking across the river toward Parliament.

Next is a walkway under the Chain Bridge.  I have limited experience studying graffiti, but Budapest has far and away more seemingly aimless writing than any place I've been.

We took an evening cruise down the Danube, and the fourth picture is Parliament from the river.  

Last picture is at the end of the cruise and is castle hill/cathedral on the Buda side.

The weekend was very hot, too hot to enjoy all the walking we did.  The city is interesting architecturally in the sense that it's all been rebuilt.  All the bridges were destroyed in WWII, as were many of the buildings along the river, but they've been rebuilt as they were before.  

This coming weekend we're going to Dubrovnik, which is about 180 miles north of us, slightly northwest.  I'll post more pictures.