Saturday, 4 October. After all the great weather we'd had, we could hardly complain that the last full day of our tour turned out to be overcast, cool, and drizzly. This was a free day, and we still had a couple places we wanted to see in Budapest. Lee and Maggie joined us as we walked to the subway about 10:30 and rode to St. Stephen's Basilica (1851-1905). This is the largest church in Hungary. The outside of the Basilica had been cleaned since we'd seen it in 1998, and it looked like a new building. The pavement in the square in front of the church was filled with inlaid designs.
 

We made our way back to the subway and rode two stops to Oktogon Square. The guide on our city tour had mentioned Liszt Square as we rode by, and Jane wanted to see it up close. It was a short block from the subway stop. We could see its potential, but this was clearly not the best time to see it. Not only was it still drizzling, but the square's main attraction was the many outdoor cafes that lined it, and of course, all of these were closed at this time of day.

As we left the back of the square, we heard music coming from a rather plain building on the next block. I remembered seeing the Academy of Music on my map, and sure enough, that was it. We walked around the building until we found an entrance. We asked an attendant if we could look around and,after finding someone who understood English, we got permission to see the ground floor. We followed the sound of music down a hallway running along one side of a large auditorium. Peeking through a narrow slit between curtains, we could see the orchestra and conductor. We learned later that this was the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Society Symphony Orchestra practicing for a performance that night.

We walked back to the subway and took it to Kalvin Square. It was a short walk to Market Hall, a nice place to spend a rainy day. We explored it pretty thoroughly this time, then about 1:00 had lunch in the second floor cafeteria. It was 2:15 by the time we walked back to the hotel.

Jane wanted to rest, but at 3:00 I went out to explore by foot. I particularly wanted to see the Kiraly Baths up close. These thermal baths were built by the Ottoman Turks in the 16th century, though not much of the original structure remains. It was a long walk for me since the baths were in Buda, just short of the Margit Bridge. By the time I got there, though, the rain had stopped and the sun was out. I was surprised at the dilapidated condition of the exterior of the baths. One side was covered with graffiti. The only door I saw was in such bad condition I couldn't believe it was still used.

As I passed the Protestant Church on the way back, I noticed it had been cleaned, except for the tower. The 885-foot facade of the Parliament Building across the river also was in the process of being cleaned, and the difference was startling. I had my last walk across the Chain Bridge and got back to the hotel about 4:30.

All four groups in our tour gathered in the hotel breakfast room at 6:00 for a farewell drink. We said our goodbyes and exchanged a few addresses. Afterwards, several of us went down to the basement Taverna Pub for dinner, serenaded by the ubiquitous strolling musicians. We went back to our room about 8:30 and packed for our morning departure.

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