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Published: June 21st 2008
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Inside St Stephen's Cathedral
Note the image of God on the top of the dome. Greetings from Buda or was it Pest???
Our visit to Budapest was a bit of a whirlwind we had a day and a half to visit all the main sights. We arrived late and found our way to the wonderful Alfa hostel. We were later than we thought as we changed time zones, now we are 8 hours behind Melbourne. As Budapest is divided in half by a river, one side is named 'Buda' and the other side 'Pest'. Our hostel was situated on the Pest side of the river.
Joseph the hostel manager asked us to pay in Euros, which was fine except we didn't have the 40 cents needed. After finding out that we been to Israel, a Shekel was good enough payment for him; he was finally able to add it to his coin collection.
Our trip has become a Tour De Stephen - we visited St. Stephen's Gate in Jerusalem - and now St. Stephen's Cathedral in Budapest. It was a wonderful cathedral with many beautiful statues. We have also noticed that throughout Eastern Europe they paint images of God (the classic old man with a big white beard) instead of Jesus on the
A Fountain near the Palace
An example of the many statues we found in Budapest. They all look a little weather worn though. ceiling of their churches, which is the opposite to places like Russia where they only painted Jesus. In the cathedral you could see the "holy right hand of St. Stephen"; it was a mummified hand and a bit creapy, but we still took a photo!! By the way this St. Stephen was the first king of Hungary and then a saint, but we're not sure why he became a saint. We also climbed up over 200 steps to the look out tower; it was a great view from the top. Budapest was certainly a beautiful city and one that has made an impression on the both of us.
From there we explored the Opera House and went to the Chain Bridge to cross to the Buda side and Castle Hill. Unfortunately alot was closed as it was a Monday. Anyway, we had a look around the beautiful grounds and took as many photos as possible until both camera batteries died on us. We decided to head home, make some lunch and recharge ourselves and the batteries, but not before we did a bit of shopping.
In the afternoon we headed or try to head to the parliament. It
A view of Parliament
A view of parliament, Stephen is just an added bonus. was modeled on Westminster in London but had some added gothic features. We weren't able to get very close as there was barriers and metal detectors all around the place. We believe that some Chinese delegates in town for a visit. Why is it when we try to visit place we can't? Along they way to the parliament we walked along the river and discovered a moving little memorial to the people killed by the Hungarian secret police. During WWII they would line people up along the river and shoot them.
The next day we had an afternoon train to Bastislava, but we thought we would see a few more things before we left. We walked down to Heroes' Square, which was more of a circle, and saw the a monument that was built to commorate the 100th anniversary of a battle. We also wandered the gardens and saw more of the beautiful statues that the city is filled with.
It's funny the Hungarians have a thing about their "squares" not really square. One of the main squares was Octagon Square which was in the shape of an octagon so we're not sure if you can call it
A view of Parliament
Another view of parliament, this time Michelle is a special bonus. This was the last picture we took before the battery died. a square. And of course there's the above mentioned Heroes' Square.
We're off to Bratislava now which will be a nice short train ride and surely a great city. We'll let you know.
Hope all is well - love to hear from you all.
Lots of love,
Michelle and Stephen.
xoxoxo
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