There's nothing quite like a hotel breakfast at the Intercontinental in Budapest. The food was varied and plentiful and we could see why AM had recommended it (and the Hotel); some fruit even made its way back to the room for us in case anyone wanted a snack later. First order of business for the day - the HOHO bus. We asked the concierge for recommendations but since there is only one HOHO bus line in Budapest, we went with that one. It does have two routes - Red and Green, and the Red had a stop just near the Hotel. The full Red takes just over an hour-and-a-half and it was a good way of getting more familiar with the city. It didn't leave much time though before we were due to meet up with our other friends from the Gold Coast and Melbourne who we are doing the Viking river cruise with. What a fantastic thing to be doing!
After lunch, I jumped back on to the HOHO to go back to Heroes Square - with the Archangel Gabriel in the middle on a high plinth. Alas, this statue was hidden behind scaffolding - as is another statue on the Buda side of the river. Yes, that's right, Buda-Pest is actually two cities, one on either side of the Danube. I had been told this but I really had to be here to understand/feel it. There is so much to look here - some obvious things but others just a glimpse of something down a laneway (from the moving HOHO) - and I've made a note to go back and revisit some of them - like the street with the Basilica at the end of it; and the Margaret bridge, and the Market Hall, and the Shoes on the Duna, and the statues just up from the Hotel. There's a lot but we still have a couple of days here to look around and try some coffee shops - Anna Cafe (highly recommended) and Cafe Gerbeaud (1858) and New York Cafe (The Most Beautiful Coffeehouse in the World).
The good thing is that after some concerted searching, I have finally found the charger for my camera batteries so I will be able to take photos. Before the trip, a mate's son gave me a couple of spare batteries to bring on the trip with me (thanks D) - because you never can have too many batteries - and that was great until I realised I couldn't charge them. The charger has been hiding - and doing a very good job of it. I hoped I hadn't left it in London because it definitely was not in my bag. I know because I pulled everything out twice looking for it. I eventually found it in Sooz's bag and I'm still trying to work out why I put it there. But it's back now and happily charging battery #3 of 4. I left it charging while we went downstairs for dinner at the restaurant - choosing the Lebanese fare over the a la carte menu. Delicious. And then, tired but happy, it was time for bed because we have a big day tomorrow - we are joining our River Cruise.
Bon Voyage!