We took another night train (this time with much nicer accommodations) from Krakow to Budapest. Budapest is actually two cities side-by-side: Buda - which has the Castle Hill area, and Pest - which is the larger part of the city. Pest means "furnace" and refers to the fact that the city is built over large thermal springs. It is a big sprawling city and has very interesting history. It is in the crossroads of east and west; for Hitler it was vital - Hungary was part of the Axis nations - and it was where the battle lines were drawn when the Soviets invaded. Budapest sustained heavy, heavy damage. There are still signs of the war, the following revolutions, and the communist era throughout the city. As you can see by the photos, it is a beautiful city. Our favorite places here were the large Central Market and our visit to the Gellert Baths. But there were some really great experiences including Memento Park (where they hauled all those huge old communist era statutes after the wall fell), the Hospital in the Rock, (no pictures allowed) which was a great underground hospital and bomb-shelter built for WWII and the Cold War (nurses got a discount on the entrance), and the truly gorgeous and unique Cave Church that had been walled up by the Communists and is now restored. We had dinner one night on a boat on the Danube. We visited the Great Synagogue (largest in Europe, second largest in the world), and ate these amazing deserts called Marzipan Burgonya (potato) which consist of yellow cake with chocolate cream filling, covered in marzipan and dusted with cocoa. On my, it necessitated a last minute run back to the central market the morning we left for the airport. This was the only place where we had a spot of bad weather. Lots of rain one day. And very windy as evidenced by the umbrella damage you can see below.
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| Castle Hills District - our hotel is the orange one on the right in the back |
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| Oh, you know; I just like doors |
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| Many photos of Matthias Church; really beautiful roof! |
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| The Central Market - and that week they were having an Indonesian display! |
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| Gigantic veggies |
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| Just one of the MANY statues all over the city; some whimsical but most memorials. |
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| Castle Hill |
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| Memento Park statuary - these things are very large |
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| Locals nicknamed this one the cloak room boy - as in "sir, you forgot"; or "the big butt" (have to see the rear view to understand that one.) |
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| Cave Church |
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| Parliament |
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| Tunnel to Castle Hill |
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| Chain Bridge - before this was built, people had to take ferries or walk across the ice when the Danube froze to get from Buda to Pest |
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| Matthias Church |
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| Beautiful window; wish the photo was better |
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| Looking from Castle Hill across the Danube to Parliament |
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| Parliament |
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| Holocaust Memorial - memorializes Jews shot and dumped into the Danube |
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| St. Istvan's Basilica |
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| The Great Synagogue |
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| Catholic Priests saved 25 Torah scrolls by burying them in a cemetery during WWII; they are in the ark here in the Great Synagogue |
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| Gellert Baths |
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| Castle Hill |
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| Deliciousness!!!! |
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