Day 31: Gellert Hill and a Ballet in Budapest

After a relatively late start to our day, Julie and I headed down Vaci Street, the main shopping street in Budapest, and then down to the Danube and across the Liberty Bridge.

We were on our way to Gellert Hill, the highest point of the city which is crowned with Budapest's own Statue of Liberty.

The day had started off quite overcast, but then completely changed its mind by afternoon. It became almost too hot, but the blue skies offered a wonderful backdrop to the view of the city. Although we had been warned that the climb would be grueling, I brushed that off a little too nonchalantly. In the past month, I had climbed thousands of steps for panoramic views of Paris on Montmartre, Florence on Piazzale Michelangelo, Nice on Castle Hill, Monaco on the Palais Princier, Siena on the Panorama del Facciatone, and more. Gellert Hill was the hardest but as always, entirely worth it.

Everything was visible and it was a perfect day to see the city in all its beauty, despite the crowds.

After heading back down, we took the most scenic tram ride along the river to a restaurant, passing all the main sites of Budapest on the way, including the Szechenyi Chain Bridge, Buda Castle, the Shoes on the Danube, the Parliament building, and more.

In the evening, we had bought tickets for a comic ballet, Sylvia, at the Erkel theatre. Although modern, the theatre was very classy and more practically designed than the older opera houses; I got to see and hear the show much better than the Viennese opera last week. For $3, we got seats right in the centre on the balcony. It was my first time seeing a professional ballet and I thoroughly enjoyed the fun music and vibrant colours.

Photos by Julie Zhang and Linh Nguyen.