Today is our only day in Budapest, and we started it out with a bus and walking tour on both sides of the Danube. Buda, the more historic part, is on one side, and Pest, the more cosmopolitan, on the other. Hungary today is only one third it's original size, as it lost the rest of its territory during and after the war. One memorial we saw was that of "The Shoes," a collection of bronzed shoes by the river. During the war, a number of Jews were shot here, so that their bodies would just fall into the river. But before they were shot, they were ordered to remove their shoes, as these were deemed to have more value than the people themselves. We drove past the "Great Synagogue," which is the largest one in Europe. During the war it was bombed and used as a stable, but it was restored during the 1990's after the fall of Communism. We also drove past a couple of places where Liszt and Beethoven once performed.
In the afternoon we rested, packed, and said goodbye to some friends, as we have to be off the ship after breakfast tomorrow. In the evening we listened to some Hungarian musicians sing, dance and play a mixture of American and Hungarian folk music. The fiddler was amazing! This was a good way to finish off our visit to Hungary.
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