Budapest Sightseeing Fishermen's Bastion, Mattyas Church

The WIlliams arrived yesterday and today we're seeing the sights. We started at the Buda castle district, visiting the Mattyas Church and the Fishermen's Bastion. We followed this with the funicular and the Chain Bridge, the Pest side to get pastry and see Hosok Ter (Hero's Square) and the beautiful Szechenyi Baths (just from the outside; we'll go in later in the week. We ended the day by visiting the Buda Labyrinth; save your money on this one; the guidebooks say to go after 6PM so that you'll get an oil lantern and it will be spooky, but really it's all kitsch. Luckily we went in with a big group and so didn't pay for the experience. Hey, it's the Hungarian way!!

We did buy a family transit pass for the day because we know that the police have been cracking down, and it's 6000 HUF (approximately $30 USD) for each person without a pass. We didn't want to have to keep track of individual tickets every tram ride. We were glad we did!

The view from the funicular heading down to the Chain Bridge

Nate and Nate on the Chain Bridge.

The cornerstone of the tunnel at Adam Clark Ter. 

This is Arpad, the founder of Hungary in 896.

More Heroes

Next to the zoo, across from the Szechenyi Baths is the Nagycircusz, the Big Circus. We haven't been, but the lights are lovely.

 And here's why you should buy the ticket for the trains. The officials are not in uniform, but slide onto the trains, come up quietly, show their badge, and demand to see your ticket. They usually work in 2's or 3's and get on at one stop, ride for a few stops and then get off to get on the next train. When people see that they're on the tram or bus, they either quickly punch a ticket or get off.  If you do't have a validated ticket, you get pulled off the train and fined, in cash, right on the spot. We actually think this guy was scamming us; they always work in pairs and his buddy, the guy in the leather jacket behind the pole didn't have an ID to show that he was official.

 These 2 got off right after I took their picture. Definitely they were hoping to make some money for the night out. And they were disappointed....