Budapest

We arrived in Budapest after an eight hour flight from Toronto on Air Canada.

There we stayed 5 nights at Hotel Gellert in Buda, across the bridge from Pest

which afforded us striking views of the city & the Danube. It's quite old (around World War I), and VERY Hungarian.

We didn't like the car/bike traffic and "busy city" feel but, by day 3, we'd started (finally) to use the excellent public transport system and to feel more
comfortable getting around the city.

We went, by bus, up the steep hill to the Buda Castle and Matthias Church and were struck especially by the beauty of (and views from) the Fisherman's Bastion. 

The fourth day we travelled by train to the nearby town of Szentendre. Known as "the town of artists", it's winding streets, cobblestone alleys, ancient feel,
sidewalk cafes (with great food!) and shops (Tana enjoyed) made for a pleasantly relaxing last day.

In Free Walking Tours of Budapest we heard about the inventor of the Rubik cube,

saw imposing structures such as the Great Synagogue and got some sense of Hungary during WWII - and the horrible deportation (and murder) of the Jews in Budapest (in 1944). A delicate monument, "the holocaust tree of life", stands as a powerful reminder. 

Good to have visited Budapest and efforts to see it through the eyes of a good friend who had been there in 1944 and now calls it his "favourite city" helped us appreciate what it was and what it is now. 

It had been surprising warm and sunny during our stay in Budapest and the weather remained unseasonably pleasant throughout the entire rest of our trip. 

From Budapest it was on to Zurich via Swiss Air and then by train to Lucerne

Lucerne

We stayed 3 nights at Hotel Pickwick & Pub, enjoying our small, funky room with its tiny balcony
from which we had a fabulous view of Lake Lucerne and the magnificent mountains.  

We enjoyed excellent meals in the lively outdoor cafes on the water's edge as the ducks and swans swam
contentedly by. We shared a traditional Cheese Fondue (with great crusty bread) on our first night there.
It is a highlight of the trip as the food (e.g. Goulash) in Budapest had been disappointing.

Another highlight was our trip to Mount Pilatus by boat and cog railway – getting there was exciting

And the views from the top were spectacular!  

(But I do still prefer Murren.)

Then it was on to Konstanz with a short stop in St Gallen, traditionally known as St Gall, and in German sometimes Sankt Gallen.)

It is a Swiss town and the capital of the canton of St. Gallen

Konstanz

Where we stayed 2 nights at Hotel Graff Zeppelin, the beautiful exterior of which I remembered fondly rom having stayed there about 30+ years ago with my sons back when they were young boys).

Meersberg,

across the lake from Constance was supposedly the town in which Franz Anton Mesmer, the famous hypnotist was buried. But nobody knew who he was or where he was busied, so we toured the Fort and then set ourselves down in a very good restaurant on the edge of the lake and enjoyed a meal.

Zurich 

was our last stop where we stayed for two nights at a well situated Adler Hotelon the pedestrian street filled with restaurants and shops.

It is a pretty city but (as I recalled from having been there before, an expensive one with not a lot to do.

We mainly wandered around and just enjoyed "being there".

The last dinner on the river.
It felt like we'd been away a long time and we were ready to get home to the cats.