Saturday in Budapest

 Poor Budapest. It didn't do anything wrong but, in our minds, it will forever be tainted by the fact that this was the city where Ian was so unwell. This morning, we had another appointment with the mobile doctor. She prescribed a different class of antibiotic and also add a steroid nasal spray for Ian's sinus infection. Fingers crossed, this will be the magic bullet that will help him to get better.

We had a hard job convincing Hungarian pharmacists to fill his prescriptions but, we got there eventually. Ian went back to our hotel room, took his new medication and settled in for a rest. Being the hard hearted person that I am, I went sightseeing.

First stop was the Hospital in the Rock. This is the most amazing place. It is on the Buda side of the Danube. This side is hilly and rocky. (Side note: the Buda side of the river is absolutely beyootiful! I wish I had more time to explore it). Because the rock is made of limestone, over time, many caves were created. In the 1930s, these were connected up to create a tunnel network under the city. In WW2, a hospital was built in the tunnel network. It grew to house 200 beds. During the Siege of Budapest in 1944-45, the hospital was overrun by wounded people.

When the war ended, the hospital was closed. It reopened for a short time during the Hungarian Revolution in 1956. During the 1960s, it was repurposed as a nuclear bunker but, thankfully, it hasn't needed to be used for that purpose yet.

After the hospital tour, I had some lovely goulash soup at Goulash and Langosh Bar. The Hungarians really know how to make a good soup. Then, I headed to the very emotional Shoes on the Danube memorial. This memorial has bronze cast sets of shoes alongside the Danube. It remembers a groups of Hungarian Jews who were shot and left to drift down the river. They had to remove their shoes before being executed as shoes were a valuable commodity.

I also got some shots of the outside of the magnificent St Stephen's Basilica. I would have loved to see inside but I should have booked that ahead.

Today, I enjoyed one of my favourite travelling activities. I always like using the public transport system in the citites I visit. I fell like mastering the public transport system means I have really gotten to know the city. European cities tend to have really easy to navigate ticketing systems covering trains, trams and buses so it is generally super easy to get around.