We got into Budapest in the evening so we took a cruise along the Danube for a little local food, wine and music.

That was the famous chain bridge of course.

You can take some of the best photos of the buildings in Budapest along the river at night.

In the morning, we explored the Pest side of Budapest this morning…did you know that Budapest is actually two cities? 1/5 of all Hungarians live in Budapest.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budapest

We first headed to the Heroes Square which is full of historical kings and heroes in the embassy district that helped liberate Hungary from various empires (like the Ottomans) but it does not contain the heroes from the 1956 uprising or the overthrow of the communist government in the 90s.

Although we have been to Budapest in the past, we have never checked out the Opera.

An amazing historical building full of culture and style.

They have a different show/performance/music every night.  Today, they were setting up for Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew ballet.  Very tempting to get some last minute tickets…

And when we walked out, one of the local opera singers seemed to want to test the acoustics of the main corridors outside the main stage for us 🙂