Budapest, Hungary

Budapest, Hungary (yes Kellie Pickler, there is a country named Hungary - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cey35bBWXls) is only a 3-hour drive from Vienna, so we just had to take a weekend trip there, right?  Right!  And since we've both spent a considerable amount of time in post-Soviet lands, we figured it would be a fun stop to visit a Soviet-era monument park (celebrating the Hungarian revolution from Stalin's regime) on our way into the city.  Well, I know I had fun. :)

Watch out world, here I come!

Budapest is a beautiful city!  It's split in two: Buda, and Pest, by the Danube River, and we explored both halves a bit.

View from the Citadel

One of the coolest things, I thought, was that during the World Cup games, they had a big screen at one of the central parks (not to mention practically every cafe) where they'd show the game.  Hundreds of people came to the park to cheer on their teams and just be football fans.  It was a fun atmosphere to sit down and watch a bit of the games.  Right by the park they had another statue, this time of an American, woot woot!

This kid kept photobombing the pic - I guess I just have to share my admiration of President Reagan.

We couldn't have chosen a better weekend to be there, because in the main square on the Pest side there was a book festival!  Those of you who know me well know I'm quite the book nerd, and Tom really learned this throughout our travels.  I'd see a bookshop and we'd have to stop.  Anyway, there were a couple hundred kiosks filled with books, and I spent a good amount of time sifting through the stacks, trying to find something in English I might like.  It was a good time, and I didn't even make us late for the river cruise.  :D
A couple sites downtown:

We also took a bus tour around the city, and I have to admit my favorite part was when the bus driver ran into the bridge!  I'm sure he'd driven under it hundreds of times, but today was not his lucky day, apparently.  Pieces of the bus went flying, everyone screamed as we slammed to a halt.  We barely did any damage to the concrete, though.

Pest is on the flatland to the East, while Buda is on this hills, dominated by the Castle District.

The first Christian in this city of Pagans was rolled down the mountainside in a barrel laced with nails.  I think persecution has changed a bit since then.

Castle District

Castle District

Castle

Mattias Church - Most famous church in the city, appropriately named after me :)

Yeah, another statue - they were everywhere!

The bridges across the river all had to be rebuilt following the destruction during World War II.  Other city tours were a bit more subtle with their wording of what happened, but Budapest just stated simply, many times over, "This bridge was blown up in World War II."  I thought that was funny - no beating around the bush in Budapest.  They also weren't too happy with the Russians when they came in after the war and ended up doing more destruction during their 'clean-up' efforts than during the war.  Anyway, I'm glad the bridges were rebuilt.

Chain Bridge

Margaret Bridge

The Margaret Bridge sits alongside Margaret Island, named after a poor girl who was essentially banished there by her father.  During a war, Margaret's father, the ruler, prayed to God that if he won the war, he would give his daughter to God, to live in the convent on the island for ev er.  And well, they won the war.  But hey, the island has ritzy hotels and parks and things, so it can't be that bad, right?

Along the river sits the most beautiful and most recognizable buildings in Budapest: Parliament.  It's amazing!  We hiked up the hills across the river for some evening shots of it and we got a closer-up look from the river.  I think the building is amazing.  We passed the building a few times, so I have a few shots.

Then we went back in time to the black-and-white days for a few pics from that era.

Naturally, we couldn't be in Hungary without getting hungry, so we stopped in a small village by the border at an "American" restaurant for a thick, juicy, 16-ounce steak.

For the record, I like Kellie Pickler.