Friday, May 26: Hungary Lecture, Jewish Shoes, 'Moses' Fountain, Danube Cruise

A special treat this morning is a 2 1/2 hour lecture / question-answer session with Dr. Zoltan Pogatsa on Hungarian health care, the school system, Hungary's role in the European Union and the Eurozone.  It was very interesting and we could have listened for a lot longer.  Chris took detailed notes.

During the Soviet occupation of Budapest, Jews were rounded up and quarantined in the Jewish sector and many died there.  In addition, many Jews were lead to the bank of the Danube River and shot with their bodies falling into the river.  Our guide explained that when her father was a baby, her father and her grandmother were lead to the river to be shot.  A Nazi guard saw her father in her grandmother's arms and told her grandmother to run.  The Jewish shoe memorial is a collection of bronze shoes set right along the bank of the Danube.

A fountain not far from the Parliament is a square of water jets coming out of the concrete.  The fountain will allow one to pass into or out of the square by temporarily pausing the section of the water jets.  Here is Chick playing Moses and parting the water.

Lunch at Cafe Gerbeaud.

Hungarians are very concerned about our ability to find toilet facilities.  All over town there are markings painted on the sidewalk indicating the nearest facilities.  Very handy.

Tonight we have our farewell to Budapest dinner, a cruise on the Danube River

with views of the Parliament Building.

This concludes the Budapest portion of our Road Scholar trip.  Tomorrow we travel to Prague by bus and will spend five nights in Prague.

See you tomorrow.