到此一遊: Trip to the former Austro-Hungarian Empire

To Take advantage of my EU passport, which gives me almost 50% discount in the admission fee, I went to visit Budapest Országház, the Hungarian Parliament Building on my second day.

Budapest Országház - the perfectly symmetric Parliament Building, symbolize the equal power (at the time) between the House of Commons and the House of Lords

Main Entrance to Budapest Országház, but only entered by the significant AND only on special occasions

Museum of Ethnography, right cross the Parliament Building

Magnificent staircase in the Parliament Building

More magnificent staircase in the Parliament Building

Yet more magnificent staircase in the Parliament Building

Still more magnificent staircase in the Parliament Building

The meeting room of the Parliament Building

Wall decor in the Parliament Building

After a rather solemn visit to the Parliament Building, I decided on a whim to join a local Ghost Tour for some quirky fun.

So here I was gathering outside Sütõ utca with a few other tourists, waiting for our ghostly tour guide to show up.

The Ghost Tour is just a little walking tour about folklore and history. It depends a lot on the group you tour with, in my case my group are very into it even though they don't think the Budapest tour is as spooky as its counterparts of other city.

Incidentally, when I introduced myself as from Hong Kong originally, Cindy, the only female tourist in our group, told me her dad is Hungarian American but her mom is from Hong Kong. At first I thought she was just kidding until she said she had stayed in Tai Po the last time she was in Hong Kong. Then I took a closer look at her and indeed she is an Eurasian

There was never a dull moment with Cindy around

After all these ghost talk what better to calm your nerve than a good meal? Thanks to the info from the waiter of the previous dinner, I learnt that my visit coincide with the Budapest DiningCity event. Sort of like Boston Restaurant Week, the Budapest DiningCity allows you to sample a pre-designed 3-course meal for just 3300 HUF in participated restaurants.