Sunday in Budapest Sept. 20

Harry and I started our day with a full breakfast buffet at our hotel, the Best Western Grand Hotel Hungaria.  While it was okay food, it was an absolute zoo with hundreds of people rushing in and out - we definitely did not want to eat there again.  It also was expensive.

We decided to check out Keleti Train Station, the main train station in Budapest (there are three others).  It was diagonally across the square from our hotel, so it was an easy walk - there is also a metro station there.  We decided to check it out because it had been in the news as the place were there were problems with all the Syrian "migrants" going to Germany.  As you can see from the photo, it is a bright, modern, clean train station and there were no signs of any problems with migrants or anyone else on Sunday morning.

We then went downstairs into the Metro station - this is one of the new stations and new lines that was built after the Soviet occupation.

Our destination on the Metro was the House of Terror or Terror Haza.  This was on Andrassy Utca (pronounced uts, it means street).  It turns out there was a street festival going and the street was blocked off to vehicle traffic from Hosok Ter (Heroes Square) to Szent Istvan Bazilika (Saint Steven's Basilica), more than 20 blocks.  There were sections for different activities for kids, food, music and entertainment.

We only had to walk a few blocks to the House of Terror.  Outside the museum, there were numerous educational signs, memorials and monuments about the reign of the Soviets.

This was the end of the monument symbolizing the Iron Curtain

The Iron Curtain monument

Terror House Museum

A section of the Berlin Wall

We spent several hours going through the museum and learned much about first the Nazi occupation during WWII (even though they were allies) followed by the Russian/Soviet occupation until 1990.  It is a very moving experience.  The museum is in the building where the Soviets brought people for interrogation, torture and/or execution.  Besides many exhibits, we went through the basement rooms where they had some of the former cells where prisoners were kept, interrogated, tortured and executed.  At the entrance/exit, there is this memorial.

After the museum, we continued down Andrassy Utca.  We noticed that there are many good bike lanes throughout Budapest - but someplaces had no such lanes.

We then went to Opera House for a tour, and we not only got the tour, but paid extra for taking photos and for a mini performance at the end of the tour.  The Opera House was built in 1802 - it is an amazingly beautiful building, made mostly of Hungarian materials except for the Italian marble.

Franz Liszt statue in front of the Opera House

At the end of the tour (which was in English) we gathered on the steps below this landing.  The instrumental music was taped, but the diva sang two songs for us.  On the second she came done the stairs and danced with one of the male spectators while she sang.

We then continued down Andrassy Utca and visited St. Stephens Basilica.  As with the Opera House, I was amazed that this amazingly beautiful building was in such good shape and had survived both world wars.

Inside, there was a choral group performing.

We then had a beer at a cafe on the plaza next to St. Stevens, and then proceeded back up Andrassy Utca to the festival.

Much to our dismay, the food courts were all closed or about to close, so we continued on to the Callas Restaurant - it not only had wifi, it was a superb restaurant that we had happened upon by chance.

At the suggestion of the waiter, we both had "Mangalica cigánypecsenye nyárson, burgonya dittával /
„Mangalica” roast pork gypsy-style on a spit served with Ditta potatoes," and we shared a salad. Again at the recommendation of the waiter, we shared a bottle of "Tiffán Villányi Pinot Noir Várerdő 2011 Pinot Noir szőlőből készült, új tölgyfahordós érlelésű, rubinvörös, bársonyos, finom aromájú, elegáns vörösbor. Kitűnően harmonizál a vörösés vadhúsokból készített ételek ízeivel.
An elegant ruby-red wine with a velvety, delicate aroma created from Pinot Noir grapes matured in new, oak barrels. Harmoniously accompanies the flavours of red meat and game dishes."  Before leaving on the trip, Harry's son-in-law Travis said we needed to try some unicom liquor, so after dinner we did that as well.  All was superb.  As we were finishing, the restaurant was preparing to receive a group about 50 people, and their live music began.  You can find more about this excellent restaurant at their website: http://www.callascafe.hu/index_en.html

We then took the Metro back to Keleti Train Station.  As we walked up from the Metro stop, we went through part of the train station near the Migration Aid office - the area was abandoned at that time of the evening.

The one isolated graffiti we saw about Syria was in the underpass that goes under the square/plaza that separates the Train Station from our hotel.

And so ended another day in Budapest.