We had a free day in Budapest after the European Masters 1000 finished. So of course Vicki wanted to play tennis! It was a lovely morning for tennis but I was rather tired from the two matches, hill climbs and 25000+ steps I walked yesterday!

After tennis and organizing my bags etc for tomorrow, I went into Budapest to see St. Stephen’s Basilica. I took the tram and then the metro (for the first time) to the area near the Basilica. The metro has the list of stops up next shown on the wall across the train tracks…helpful! I used a 30 minute ticket today (2 of them) which gave me time to switch from the tram to the metro and vice versa. It gave me 30 minutes to switch from the tram to a metro train, bus, tram etc.

It is a gorgeous building, outside and inside. I walked up to the dome (364 steps) for a panoramic view of the city. However, while I was walking up the weather changed, and it was rather cloudy and extremely windy at the top. From the top though I could see Buda Castle, the Fisherman’s Bastion and the back of the Parliament building. There’s also an elevator up most of the way to the top. There’s a fee to walk up but not to enter the church. It was super windy at the top…hair raising!

It was pretty busy around the church and inside there was a mass going on with beautiful music and singing. The church was full for the mass. The inside is absolutely beautiful.

I had plans to go by the opera, but it had started to rain and the temperature dropped at least 20 degrees from yesterday so I returned to the apartment. We had a nice dinner at the restaurant by the tennis club, which is quite good and has some unusual dishes…I had a green pea and fish dish.

And that’s a wrap on Budapest for 2025 for me. Next up: Mont Tremblant, Canada.