Shoes on the Danube

Instead of waking up to chirping birds and sun, we woke to the pitter-patter of rain. Not a great thing when you are on vacation.

We had planned on grabbing a taxi to the New York Cafe, dubbed the most beautiful cafe in the world. So we braved the drizzle and tried to snag a taxi. And we tried, and tried with no success. We finally found a hotel and asked them to call a taxi...but they said it would be 15 minutes due to a traffic jam in town. Ok, we give up and just went back to our great breakfast place from yesterday. Solid breakfast options, great coffee, nice ambiance, all good.

After breakfast it was no longer drizzling, it was out right pouring rain, so back to the apartment we went. Napping and reading were the options of choice, and with jet-lag it was hard to get terribly motivated. Finally at noon, we forced ourselves up and out

regardless of the weather.

We wandered into town and went into St Stephens, a truly beautiful church with an amazing dome and stained glass window. I have said it before, and still believe the Catholics really do know how to build a church.

We continued to wander the main shopping street and finally got two umbrellas (Ken had a rain coat...so he was good). Stopped for a coffee, and finally decided...let's grab that taxi to the New York Cafe. Soon we were in line for a table, which thankfully only took 25 minutes. Don decided that the 4 scoop ice cream dessert was too good to pass up and amazingly ate the entire thing! They had a great piano player and a small band that added to the wonderful atmosphere.

We headed back to the apartment, where Paige and Chris joined us before we headed to dinner at Hungarikum Bistro. While we were waiting Ken and Paige went down to the river where "Shoes on the Danube" memorializes the victims of the holocaust who were marched to the Danube, shot and fell into the river leaving just their shoes behind. One of the pictures shows two pair of shoes...one of which is a small pair that was a from a child. It is unthinkable, but real as to what can happen when crazy people are in power.

Back to the positives...the Bistro serves excellent local food in a friendly atmosphere. With Chris and Paige as our guides, we had some great goulash, cabbage rolls and langos (fried dough with sour cream...basically a heart attack waiting to happen, but really good).

After our great dinner, we headed to an evening cruise on the Danube, which showcased the beautiful buildings and scenery of

Budapest. Truly a wonderful way to end our visit.