Bike Beeeze Budapest City Tour

Breakfast?

Its no wonder we chose self catering over a continental breakfast when we could.
First stop on our sightseeing Budapest day, was Szent Stevens Cathedral.

Next, even though we had biked across town yesterday we were still a little bemused about bike road rules and safety so today we treated ourselves to a local guide to learn a little about the city.

Starting point...
Anna, our first guide, gave us a quick Hungarian history lesson.
"There was a war. We lost."
...apparently this was repeated throughout their history. Hungarians all proudly claim descent from the Mongol hoardes of Ghenghis Khan.

Our group included 2 Brits and 4 Toronto Canadians. Anna is on the right in black singlet and pink pants.

Heros square, where Anna gave our history lesson. The Kings of Hungary are between the columns, except for the ones they don't want to remember.
We ended up with 3 tour guides... Anna left us at lunch and Sarah took over, plus we had a trainee accompany us for half the day too.

The Opera... apparently there is some rivalry between Austria and Hungary so this is bigger!

This eclectic collection of building styles... medieval, baroque, roccocco, renaissance...reflects the eclectic collection of rulers Hungary has served under over the years.

Lunch with Sarah

Our group at the baths.

After lunch...goulash soup and bread, we crossed the Danube and pedaled UP hill, on cobblestoned streets, to take in views of the city.

And Saint/King Stephen. Note the halo... All their Kings are Saints...or is it thsy the Saints are Kings...
Coffee and food were our first priority after the tour... with one last bit of shopping at the markets before blatting back over the bridge to get that world famous picture of the second largest Parliament building in the world - yes it is bigger than Austria's. (Westminister is the biggest.)

Our final task, before returning to our hotel to pack, was to return the bikes ...

Safely locked under 24 hour surveillance.
Stats:
25km cycled
Total:380km
Steps:11000
Coffee:2
Cakes:0- whoops-how did that happen?
Number of times we crossed the Danube: 4
Shoes purchased:2 more pairs... only one pair each.