So, I have actually done a similar itinerary to this around 10 years ago with Harneet but wasn’t blogging at the time. For that trip, we started in Vienna, headed to Innsbruk before going over to Budapest and Prague. This time Innsbruk got switched to Salzburg. I received a lot of ribbing about not remembering any tips (coz no blogging) so this does feel like a first trip anyway 😉.

I mentioned the train ride yesterday. After 4 hours of standing and getting pushed around, we finally got to Budapest.

Tip: Ubers are okay with you offering to "tip" (I.e. bribe) a driver to incentivize them to pick you. But all in all, install the bolt app since that's what's primarily used in Budapest.

The Airbnb we got was fantastic. So good infact that we decided to kick our feet up, rest, get takeout and skip a planned tram ride. After Lebanese food and some rest, we headed out to a night river cruise by purple liner. The guide Eric was fantastic. Along with some fantastic views, we were provided with insight into the history of Hungary, it's various occupations by Austria, Germany, the Soviet and the varied architecture and how it's a blend of various styles. Also learned that the Rubik's cube and ballpoint pen were invented in Hungary - say whaaa.

This morning then we woke up and headed over to the Buda Castle area where we took the funicular up the hill. We split up for this next activity with half of us heading to the nuclear bunker hospital for a guided tour and the other half taking pics at fisherman's bastion before swapping. The nuclear bunker hospital museum was fantastic. Continued to learn about Hungary's conflicted history and how this underground hospital built among caves functioned effectively during the siege of Budapest, world war 2 and the cold war. Highly recommend.

After some pics at fisherman's bastion, a few of us then headed to Matthias church where there was a service in Hungarian. In Vienna, we heard a service in German. Mom happy! This church also has a colored history. Was a church first, then a mosque, then a church again. Due to conquests and wars, it was rebuilt multiple times and is a combination of gothic and baroque architecture.

We then made our way to buda castle to take in some more breathtaking views.

Our day then wrapped with a Hungarian dinner of goulash and paprikaash at Jardin's cocktail house (which gets it's food from Mama Goulash - Schnitzel house). On the way there, we ended up walking past hummus bar which is one of the best meals I remembered from 10 years ago. Not sure how good it is anymore but was fun to see it randomly.

That's it for today. Time to hit the sack. We have one more day in Budapest!