It was fun for us to be with them and show them some things in Budapest, things that we were excited to see for the first time too! Since our apartment at the Hotel Corinthia is on the Pest side, we crossed the beautiful Chain Bridge (completed in 1849 it was the first permanent bridge connecting Buda to 
Pest across the Danube), lit up at night courtesy of GE Lighting, and then took the funicular up to the top of Castle Hill. We spent a lot of time in the castle district enjoying the view of the Danube and the Pest side, walking along the wall, taking pictures in front of Fisherman’s Bastion, eating ice cream, and shopping at the 
touristy little shops and outdoor vendors stalls. The Castle District is full of cobble stone streets and restored buildings from the Habsburg era. Originally the area was constructed after the Monguls invaded and destroyed most of the "Magyar" settlement in the 13th century. After the sudden death of the Mongul Kahn, they abrubtly left the region and King Bela IV immediately began to build a defensive fortress in the Buda Hills to fortify the region from future attacks (The Hungarian region, and particularly what is Budapest today, has a very deep history of being invaded and ruled by a number of different parties because of its strategic location on the Danube). This castle hill continued to develop while ruled by the Hungarian monarchs, the Turks, and the Habsburgs, each adding a little something different to the complex. The cathedral is exquisite (St. Matthias Church), but we weren’t able to go inside at this point because of some service that was going on.We took Penny and Joe to Gerbeaud, a historically significant coffeehouse,
known for its desserts. It opened in 1858 and many very famous people have frequented it, including Empress “Sissi” Habsburg. It survived the Communist Era, and it’s décor is neo-Baroque…. HUGE dark red drapes and lots of sitting rooms for people to sit and relax. We thought the dessert was okay, but since then we’ve heard that we should have ordered the 7-layer chocolate cake, which is what they are known for I guess… next time.After church on Sunday we took a drive about 20KM north of downtown, to the Danube Bend. It is the part of the Danube River where it turns from north/south to east/west, and there are a handful of quaint little villages that run up and down the shore. We went to Szentendre (settled in Medieval times by Serbs escaping from the invading Turks), which has become a more commercialized little
town with a lot of fun shops and galleries along the back streets of the yellow, green, and orange houses. We walked up and down the cobblestone streets (our poor stroller is suffering), and found a Knight puzzle for Katie. We ate at a restaurant right on the Danube, and sat outside. We all got the Goulash soup, which was delicious!On Monday Joe and Penny took the tram with Heather and the girls to Margit Island, which is this island in the middle of the Danube River. They found a huge fountain and a playground close by that the girls had a blast playing on. It was a great introduction to the next couple of years experiencing this wonderful city.
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