Budapest

Finally after months of anticipation, we are in Budapest. Or rather Eger, which is a small town 100 km from Budapest. We'd arrived yesterday afternoon and were picked at the airport by a staff of the university. It seems that the Egyptian delegation had arrived earlier and were already touring Budapest. We met them at a restaurant in town where we were given lunch by our hosts. After that we were taken on a tour of the town - which actually consists of two cities - Buda on one side of the river Danube and Pest on the opposite side. I never realised that the Danube runs through this beautiful and old city. Some of the buildings have been there since the 15th century and still looks very well maintained. The Parliament house for one is almost a thousand years old!  I thought it was really awesome. The architecture is simply beautiful  - it looks more like a huge church or even a castle than a parliament house. 

The beautiful parliament house in Budapest

I wish we had more time to really explore this wonderful city. 

Eger itself is about two hours away from Budapest. It's a small university town. Once we had checked in, Repin and Tan Sri went off in search of the conference area and to register as participants. That night we had dinner with the VC of the Eger University at the university itself. It's within walking distance of the hotel so we all walked there and enjoyed the view. Just within a short distance is Eger Castle where they had been beseiged once by Muslim Turks from Asia who at one time conquered this country. That must have been the time of Salah- Ud -Din I think. They didn't stay long in the country however, unlike Spain and Bosnia. Here within a decade they were driven back to Constantinople.

I love this place - just walking around the town gives you a sense of history.