The lost post of Budapest (Tuesday)

I realized that when I got home I forgot to write about Tuesday our last day in the city and country!
Like I said this is as much so I don't forget as it is for those of you who are interested :)

Tuesday we had one thing on the agenda. Picking up Elemér's visa and paperwork at 3pm. So we decided to explore Memento Park in the outskirts of the city. Tony requested we take Uber since it worked so nicely the day before and public transportation was 3 transfers and that could make timing a little tough to get back for Elemér's nap. Uber arrived on time and took us about 15 min out of the city. Memento Park (http://www.mementopark.hu/) is quite a unique place. Displayed in the Park are 42 pieces of art from the Communist era between 1945 and 1989. I am glad that this history has been collected and displayed. If anything not to forget the lies believed and the mistakes that were made.

Here are some of the pieces in the collection ( I bought a book that explains each piece and where they were originally displayed)

  

  

  

After we finished reading about the statues and exploring we headed home deciding to take the bus since we were on track with time. So off to find a bus stop. A bus was arriving at the stop around the corner which we though was ours so we ran to catch it, only to find out (after we were on the bus) that we were going the wrong direction.... So after a couple stops we got off and recalibrated where we needed to be going and exactly what bus number we needed to be looking for. Thankfully the bus stop we got off at had a bus arriving in 15 minutes that would take us right to our hotel's area! Bonus was when Tony went to pay the bus drive said 'no charge.' Not sure if he didn't want to mess with tickets or what because the previous driver sold us tickets. The bus ride was nice and cheap!

We decided to have lunch at this 'streetfood' restraunt we had been seeing. It was good but more pricy what you would have paid for real street vendor. I think it was a tourist thing but the food was authentic and good. 

After Elemer's nap and Tony's trip to the Embassy ONE LAST TIME! We were going to go to a pinball museum but it turns out it was closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. So we took one more walk this time down to an unusual building I had seen from the river cruise. 

We then stumbled upon the city market it was pretty cool.

The Great Market Hall (Nagycsarnok) built in 1897 is the most beautiful of all Budapest market halls

(via:http://budapestmarkethall.com/)

  

   

The city’s newest sight, the Whale (Bálna, formerly called CET) opened in November 2013 after a long period of debate and legal dispute between the municipality of Budapest and the constructor.(via: http://www.budapestbylocals.com/budapest-whale.html#history)

(image from:http://www.xpatloop.com/UserFiles/balna3.jpg)

It was a unique place with a lot of cool structure and unique shops but it was pretty empty when we were there. 

  

Lastly we had dinner at an Italian restaurant that Austin picked out. Austin and Elemér had spaghetti and Tony and I had pizza. It was actually a really good pizza! 

Back to the hotel/apartment to do some final packing and then get to sleep. We were soooo ready to get home!!