Budapest, 10/03/2019

We arrived in Budapest around 0825 am,cleared customs, got our baggage, and took a taxi to our hotel. We were tired and hungry. We did not want to turn in or take a nap, since it was 11:30 am. The concierge at the hotel gave us a course on using public transportation and said it was very easy. I could see where it would have been easy if you could read Hungarian. We could not read it nor speak it. We felt we were up to the challenge. We went to the metro and purchased a 24 hour ticket and got on the subway. When going down into the subway we used the escalators. These had to be the fastest escalators I had ever ridden on. You were committed when you got on, and you had better be prepared when you got off. It reminded me of jumping on a merry- go- round that was moving when I jumped on.
We got off in the town center and had a very nice lunch in a local restaurant. I had Hungarian goulash and grilled trout. Linda had Hungarian veal paprikish, Amanda had Hungarian fried chicken and Harry had a Hungarian pasta dish with prawns. The central theme here is Hungarian. I thought Amanda's fried chicken was a lot like the fried chicken we have at home. The food was great. After lunch we decided to find St Stevens Basilica. This was to be our meeting place for our walking tour of Budapest the next day. Afterwards we walked down to the Danube River to pick up our tickets for a one hour cruise up the Danube to a small medieval village. This will take place on the 5th. It should be a nice way to spend the day. After leaving the Danube we walked to the Jewish Ghetto area from WW II and saw the memorial and location of the massed grave of the Holocaust victims. Our final stop was one of the the Ruins Bars. This is an industrial neighborhood that had been developed into a large group of bars and restaurants. A popular area to both locals and tourists.
We got back to our hotel around 7:00 pm. After making an all night flight to Europe, we walked over 16,000 steps (according to our Fit Bits). We were in bed by 7:30 pm. I slept 10 hours and got up at 5:30 am. After breakfast we were ready to start the day.