Another lackluster breakfast.  Claude left early to make a meeting with a business associate he had been trying to connect with for a long time.  Consequently Erin & I went into town to do some errands, then took the tram to the Chain Bridge and walked across to catch the hop-on/hop-off bus to meet the rest of our party at the top of the Buda hills in the castle district.  The traffic that day was incredibly congested so the buses were running late and subsequently packed full.  We ended up waiting over an hour for a bus we could get onto after being frustrating by seeing the rest of our party on one of the buses and waving as they left us behind.

Once we got to the castle district we met up at the patisserie at which we had eaten our pastry snacks the day before.  They had already ordered lunch but I was not interested in eating at the same restaurant more than once, so when Claude arrived from his meeting I grabbed him and Erin and we walked deeper into the district.  We found a nice little restaurant with outdoor seating shaded from the sunny street.  Across the road was a small cobblestoned plaza where some local youths were dancing and playing traditional music for coins.  They were a lot of fun to watch; the young woman playing the violin was quite talented.  The food was delicious.  By now we were used to the diffident manner of restaurant wait staff so the attitude of the waiter was actually quite amusing.  Louis, Sam & Skyler showed up and we all made our way over to the Marzipan Museum.

This is probably the most kitschy museum I have ever visited!  First you enter the gift shop, which offers every type of marzipan you can imagine.  You pay the entrance fee and head into two separate, large rooms filled with glass cases enclosing re-creations of buildings and maps and other items, all made from marzipan.  The variety was quite amusing and interesting!  We all had a wonderful time perusing the exhibits.

After our visit we split up, most of the party heading over to the Labyrinth.  I had been walking for the entire day on mainly cobblestones which are very difficult for people with balance problems, like myself.  I told everyone that I was not interested in much more walking.  Erin decided she wasn’t interested in the labyrinth so she joined me in catching the hop-on/hop-off in the ride back down the hill to the city.  That ride included a whirl through the Citadella area before heading down the hills to the city.  When we arrived we were told that the bus was going to stop for a period of time to allow riders to disembark and look around.

Instead of sitting on the bus and waiting for it to leave again we decided to look at the views the Citadella offers of the area, and to do some shopping.  For a fee one can tour the interior of the citadel but we chose not to spend the money.  We wandered around the structure, situated at the top of Gellert Hill, admiring the statues and the incredibly beautiful view of the wonderful city of Budapest.  At the end of our short tour we climbed back aboard the bus and rode back to the city.  We rode the metro back our hotel, rested up for a bit, then struck out again to the metro to meet the others for dinner.

Erin & I got to choose the restaurant for the evening’s meal, and as it was the last night we were going to spend in Budapest, as well as with Louis & Sam as our travel companions, we chose an attractive high-end Italian restaurant with an extensive menu of food and cocktails – yum!  The beverages were top-rate and the food was delicious.  Once again the company was incomparable and the experience sublime.

We all took a nice walk back through the park and to the metro station, train back to the hotel stop, then another walk to the hotel.  A lovely end to a successful pastry tour day!

— Cindy