December 20 – Budapest
This was “get off the ship” day and a lot of guests had altered or inconclusive travel plans due to the massive winter snow storm which crippled most of Europe. Those poor folks scheduled through Heathrow wore in a world of hurt and we don’t know how they ended up. Jan & Harry and us took a taxi to the Palazzo Zichy Hotel, a wonderful place away from the tourist area but close to public transportation. After checking in the 4 of us headed out to the nearest Metro station to buy 3 day passes for public transportation. The system here is wonderful, well defined on the city maps and there is only 2 to 4 minutes wait between trolleys or Metro trains. The architecture is quite interesting with quite a mixture of styles, a lot of ornate building and too many still needing refacing due to neglect during the proletariat occupation. We went back to the Christmas market for some mulled wine, found an excellent restaurant called Cyrano’s for lunch and walked to the Parliament to check out the tour opportunities. It was closed and we returned to the hotel to rest up. The hotel recommended a bistro about a block away and we had a delicious Hungarian dinner there. We’ve found some delightful Hungarian chardonnays and cabernets to keep us hydrated and happy. We were layered (clothing wise) and didn’t get too cold but we were glad to be able to have dinner close by.