Tuesday, May 23: National Museum, Central Great Market Hall, Narrated Bus & Walking Tour of Pest, Rain Storm!

Our weather so far has been superb with sunny skies and highs in the 70s.  Today's forecast is for heavy thunderstorms in the early afternoon but we have become accustomed to not believing the forecasts.  We shall see.

Tuesday opens with a visit to the National Museum of modern and contemporary history where spring flowers are in bloom.

We have an expert guided tour of the museum learning about Hungarian history.  Having grown up learning about American history, it is extremely interesting to learn about the history of another country, especially a country which has chosen wrong in many wars and whose more recent violent history I can remember from my own lifetime.

The entrance staircase with murals depicting historical periods in Hungary.

Beverly with a contemporary dress collection.  Who wears it better?

Especially moving to me are portions (hand and ear) from Stalin's statue in Budapest destroyed after communism imploded in 1989 but which was symbolic of communist oppression for many years in my lifetime.

This is the outside of main Great Market Hall near the Danube

displaying many locally produced goods such as sausages

and vegetables containing the colors of the Hungarian flag (look it up),

paprika, of which each Hungarian eats multiple Kg of each year

and leather goods.

Beverly purchases a scarf.  Shortly after this photo, I was chased for taking photos.

Lunch was at the Fakanal Etterem in the Great Market Hall

where we dine on a smorgasbord of Hungarian specialties

including cherry strudel.

After lunch we are taken on a bus excursion around Pest which includes a walk by of the Parliament Building (visited yesterday) with lockspar in bloom.

 Our friends, the Lanes, in rapt attention to our guide.

Agnes, our chief guide, wearing pepper earrings, the pepper from which paprika is made.

In the 1958 (1956?) uprising shots rang out during a demonstration in front of the Parliament which signaled an impending Russian invasion.  A monument displaying bronze balls for bullet holes in a building across the street from the Parliament shows the ferocity of the shooting.

Budapest has a statue of Ronald Reagan who actually never stepped foot in Hungary.  But President Reagan is credited by Hungarians for precipitating the downfall of communism.

Our guided tour and walk ends just outside of St. Stephen's Basilica (see yesterday) giving this view with a camera with a wider lens.

Shortly after we leave our group because we have seen St. Stephan's Basilica yesterday, we stop for beverages just before the skies open up in a deluge of rain.

 Good timing indeed.

After a couple of drinks and after the rain has let up, we continue our walk back to our hotel stopping again at Kollete Bistro for bread, cheese plate, meat plate and wine.  Superb.

A great and informative day with Road Scholar.