After arriving in Budapest, we stored out bags and headed into the city in a taxi. I'm sorry, my knowledge of the Hapsburg Empire is extremely limited, so I pretty much am repeating what is in the guide book.
Hungary has some of the most amazing gothic buildings, created in the Age of Industrialism shortly after the Civil War, when the German Empire was at its strongest. Don't quote me on this, but as I recall from the little I learned of 19th century Europe, the thrones of Austria, Germany, and Hungary were united through arranged marriages creating a huge territory that used Budapest as its seat of power. The Emperor used his power to create some of Europe's largest and most ornamental government buildings, and while Budapest is cold and clammy in the winter, the buildings remain amazing sights.
Out first stop was the Castle District, which housed the Matayas Church within the grounds of a beautiful castle overlooking Pest (the city is split by the Danube River, with the west side housing the royal and executive branches of the government and being called Buda, and then Parliament and the most peasant-service buildings on the east side, being called Pest).
We could not enter the Church because Orthodox services were being held that morning, but you can see from the outside what a goregous church it is. We also wandered the ramparts and turrets of the castle that overlook the Danube and Pest, and then paid for tickets to wander the catacombs beneath the castle (and get out of the cold). Jeana got creeped out by the catacombs. I have no pictures because they were very dark.
From there we made our way down the hill and crossed the Chain Bridge, a huge suspension bridge that allowed us over the Danube and into Pest. After some light shopping on Vaci Utca and lunch, we made our way to the amazing Parlaiment building, which is only just over 100 years old (that's pretty young in European terms).
The next tour didn't start until 2 PM, so we skipped that and walked to the Basilica of St. Stephen. The Basilica's namesake was the first of the Maygars to accept Christianity, around 1000 AD, and the pope named him king as a reward, and eventually sainted him. The Basilica was completed in 1905 after 54 years of work, and is probably the second coolest church I have been in, second only to St. Peter's and far more impressive than St. Mark's in Venice. Then again, I did not get to visit the Dome of the Rock this week, and that one might be more impressive than St. Stephen's.
So that's St. Stephen's hand in the last photo. Last bit of interesting thing from St. Stephens... when he died, they cut off his right hand and mummified it. Through the years it has spent time in Croatia, Vienna, and at the royal palace in Buda, but has now been restored to its natural home where you can enter a chapel to the left of the main altar and view it. Disgusting, but interesting.
At that point we caught a taxi back to the airport, where I sit typing this before our 6 PM flight to Paris in a couple hours.
While I have a few minutes to kill, I'd like to soapbox about, of al things, fashion...
I am very pleased to say that in the 4-5 days we have beein Europe and Israel, NOBODY is wearing those stupid &^%$ing Ugg boots or Crocs. Those two kinds of footwear are banes of my existence. Crocs were made for gardening, not to wear around in public. They're stupid and dangerous. My frickin' slippers for the house are comfortable, too, but you don't catch me wearing them to the mall. And at the same time, it's clear either the time of Ugg boots either had passed over here or never came to fruition. So people, just let 'em go.
However, after our trip three years ago I did not that fasion tends to start here and then work its way to the US. Those flat Puma shoes that look like they have no sole were extremely popular in Europe when I was here three years ago. I saw people in the States start wearing them about a year later, and I actually don't have a problem with them.
However, one fasion statement I would like to not see cross the big pond is the idiotic appearance of European and Middle Eastern women wearing jeans that had to paint on their legs (because they are so tight) and then tucking the bottoms into over-the-calf boots with 3-inche heels. This serves no function purpose whatsoever, and does not look right when somebody is trying to navigate escalators, airports, or icy conditions. It is not important to look like everybody else or wear "the style"; it's important to not break your ankles and cost the public another $5000 in managing your stupid foot and leg injuries because you think you need to look like that. Please, do us all a favor and dress sensibly.
OK, that's enough of that.
Obviously, next time I write will be from Paris, so au revoir for now!
I was in Budapest the summer of 1989 on a school trip. One of the best city's, hands down, from our trip (we did Eastern Europe & Western Russia...I went with my Russian class). Crazy still--some of the photos you have taken, I have in my photo album!! At least now I can accurately label them (when you're 16, on a school trip, you don't necessarily take notes as to what building is in what city.). Safe travels!
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