Day 30 Budapest

Fisherman's Bastion

I bought an all day ticket on the public transportation system, but found myself doing a lot of hiking. Like Istanbul, Budapest is a hilly city and almost all of the major sights involve climbing. To add to the challenge it was very hot and muggy today. I started by going to the new modern art museum, which would have been a disappointment, except that an art historian gave me a private, hour-long, in depth tour of a Hungarian artist by the name of Gerber Pal. On my own, I would have breezed through the Pal exhibit in five minutes, but the young docent was so captivating after an hour I felt I really knew Gerber Pal. The docent came gratis after I paid the $4 entrance fee. If you're over 70, the museum is free. From the museum I took the tram up the river in the direction of Firsherman's Bastion and Matthias Church. Here's where the walking started in earnest as the two are perched high above the Danube from whence you have a panoramic view of Pest (that's what they call Budapest). But that climb didn't compare to the one downriver that took me up to Liberty Statue - again more views of the City. Hot and sweaty, I made my way down, had dinner, then got lost, before finding my way back to the hotel.