Budapest

Our tour of the jewish quarter of Budapest was fascinating. Here, a thriving community of 25% of the population, was driven out of the city after the nazis invaded in march 1944, to their death in aushwitz-birkenau in only 53 days.  Why?  Because the Hungarians were truly nazi sympathizers - despite how successful and important the Jews were to Hungary for centuries.
The Great Dohany Synagogue, largest in Europe, second largest in the worldwas built in moorish and Christian architecture - elaborate and ornate. Now only used for high holidays, the current population of Jews is 100-200,000.
In the courtyard of the synagogue, was a memorial for all those who died in the ghetto.
Our guide pointed out the strong rise of nazism and how bad it is today.
The holocaust museum was profound - explaining the history of Hungarian Jewry where
600,000 died in the whole country. There were 145 synagogues before the war and today 23 still stand.
In the afternoon we took a tour if the city from both the buda and pest sides of the river. Absolutely amazing architecture!
We boarded the river cruise at 5 pm, so together with our existing tour of 20 folks, we are now 104 on board. A fun evening show and great comraderie and sail out!