Budapest-Zagreb

Our train ride from Salsburg to Budapest was very nice.  The Tyrolean scenery in Austria was exquisite!  As we got closer to Budapest Hungary it had markedly changed. It was much flatter and not nearly as clean and prosperous looking as Austria. Budapest has a Buda side and a Pest side separated by the Danube River.  We stayed on the Pest side in the Ibis Budapest Hotel. I am making our reservations as we go along a few days ahead.  I am always mindful to keep them in the City Center and try to keep the price within $100.00 per night. So far we have had some great accommodations!
Our first night in Budapest we went to a  random restaurant within walking distance to our hotel that was advertising music with dinner. There were two fabulous Violinist that serenaded us for more than an hour with wonderful Hungarian Music. Dick said he didn't think that a short guy with such short fingers could play that well.  As it turns out they were very famous in the city and also played on the Holland American Lines in the Caribbean.
On Sunday we went to a very old beautiful church near our hotel called Meserend az Egyeteme. The choir was sooooooo gorgeous!
We took a 5 hour tour of Budapest which was pretty interesting.  We saw both sides of the Danube...Buda and Pest.  The Parliament Building was very interesting, one of 4 of the largest in the world.  It was like going into Fort Knox, the security was so rigid. The Castle was something out of Disneyland, it was so unique.
They were under communist rule from 1956 to 1989.  It was pretty sad.
We took the train from Budapest to Zagreb on a 6 hour train.  We assumed that there would be food to buy on the train......wrong!  It was a good thing we had a few granola bars and apples with us.  Next time we will have to ask that question.
We had an interesting day today in Zagreb.  We did not do a tour but got around  by ourselves on the tram that runs all over the city.  We found our way to the bus station to buy our ticket for tomorrow's journey to Plitvice Lakes a National Park in Croatia.  We will be there for one night and then journey by bus to the City of Split.  We will celebrate our 49th Anniversary in a City called   SPLIT......hummmmm!
Hey, I have a prize questions for the Grand kids only............Who is Marco Polo and where was he born?   It is a place we are going in a couple of days.  You guys know the rules....the first one who e-mails or comments on the blog! I am not seeing many comments on the blog.  Kiara Grandpa loved your comment.