We had a private tour scheduled with Emily starting at 1:30pm. The plan was to see the Jewish Synagogue as well as Parliament. Return to the ship for dinner and then pick back up for a night illumination tour starting around 8:30pm.

Emily was amazing. I have information overload and one million pics to try and organize. This won’t be easy.

She picked us up at the ship and we headed toward the synagogue first.

Emily found a spot on the street and parked and we began to walk the few blocks toward the synagogue. Before we left the car she advised Greg and Carey if they had hats to bring them to cover their head inside. Greg didn’t bring one today so he borrowed his mom’s.

The architecture was a mix of old buildings in either really good shape or really bad shape. The city is renovating many buildings around the city to restore them to original like conditions.

During WW2 when the Nazi’s occupied Hungary they created a ghetto that was walled off where all Jewish people lived. There were about 70k people living here. They were only allowed outside the wall one hour a day so they could leave the area to get food. There was an average of 15 people in a two bedroom flat. The wall was destroyed but portions were rebuilt as a memorial.

There were many alleyways with many outdoor restaurants and bars that were all decorated.

Turns out we aren’t visiting the Synagogue as planned today because of the start of Yom Kippur.

This Synagogue holds 3k people and was built in the 1850’s in 4.5 years based on donations. A donation allowed you to “own” a seat within the Synagogue which was almost a status symbol. People could get mortgages approved based on their seat.

Men and women sit on separate floors. There are an equal number of seats on each floor.

There was a cemetery behind the Synagogue which is typically not allowed in Jewish tradition. The reason is that this is within the ghetto and so many people died before the walls came down that mass graves were created. There are 24 mass graves here that each contain 80-100 people in each. Only half of the people could be identified.

Sidebar…Emily explained that the Buda side is where all the people with money live. It’s hilly and green with big houses and yards. The Pest side is flat and where the parties are. She kept repeating that no one would live in many of the places we visited but that’s where all the airbnbs are.