We left Vienna early Saturday and drove to Budapest. This is a conjunction of two ancient cities Buda and Pest separated by the Danube River, which is quite wide at this point.
Buda is the Westernmost extreme of the Alps and is very hilly. Pest is flat as a board and is the Easternmost extreme of the vast Hungarian plain.
Now, bridges span the river and the city is one. But one senses a little friendly rivalry - much like New Zealand & Australia (only on a much smaller scale) between the two.
Our hotel was in Pest - it would have been much more expensive to stay in Buda with no really advantage.
In addition to Budapest, we made an excursion on Sunday to an ancient fortress at Visegrad and then on to the small village of Szentendre where it seemed there was a very high concentration of tourist oriented businesses.
So, I have two days of photos, so bear with me!
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| The focal point of Budapest is St Stephan named after the first Christian King |
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| The high altar is a little unusual in that a statue of Stephan is central rather than a figure of Christ |
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| Side altars are common in old churches where several masses might be being said at overlapping times. (You can still see this at St Peter in Rome) |
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| This statue of St Stephan is the center of the high altar |
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| The center cupola |
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| The Ambo |
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| We were blessed to celebrate mass in a side chapel which houses a first class relic of St Stephan |
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| As always, Fr Chris gave a thought provoking homily |
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| Many of the chapels have no secondary altar and Fr Chris said mass "ad orientum" - in this case not quite facing away from the congregants, more of a 45 degree angle |
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| This reliquary holds St Stephans fist |
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| Outside the church, street performers |
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| A short comfort break in a local curios shop left the rest gathered waiting |
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| Then a short bus ride to Hero Square where Hungarian heroes of the ages are honored |
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| The Archangel Gabriel holds the Crown of Hungarian royalty and an Apostolic Cross |
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| The square is bordered on one side by the Hall of Art displaying cutting edge works |
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| The other side is the Fine Arts museum |
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| Mary Lou, one of our traveling companions |
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| This marker commemorates Pope John-Paul II holding mass here in 1991 |
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| The grounds of the museums and park are used for many functions - including photo shoots |
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| The City Park is immediately adjacent and includes a small artificial lake that is used for boating in the summer and ice skating in the winter |
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| The Vajdahunyad was one of several structures built especially for the Millennial Celebration in 1896. The rest were torn down, but local opinion preserved the castle |
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| The next stop was a local restaurant for a chance to have some genuine Hungarian fare |
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| The greenery growing on the wall is real |
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| The final stop Saturday was the Citadella where the Liberty Statue dominates |
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| The display of military hardware was of great interest to the kids - of all ages! |
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| You could try your hand at archery for 400 Florints |
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| "Meet at the rock at 4 PM!" |
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| The main thing about the Citadella is the magnificent view - the green domed structure is the Royal Palace |
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| The Danube River |
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| The red domed building is the Parliament |
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| The view looking south |
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| The city is filled with churches! |
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| St Stephan is prominent |
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| The river is popular for day trips and evening dinner cruises. |
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| The Citadella from the Chain Bridge |
Sunday
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| Bright and early Sunday morning, we were off (in quite a dense fog) for an ancient fortress Visegrad |
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| The fortress is high on a bluff overlooking a double S-bend in the river, making stopping traffic more straightforward |
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| Did I mention the dense fog? |
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| What the fortress looked like in the day |
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| Our guide Mary in one of the many exhibits in the fortress |
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| Wax figures gave an idea of what court life was like |
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| A proclamation from King Robert! |
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| This model shows the fortress and a palace on the river which was buried by a mud slide - location, location, location! |
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| Did I mention the fog? |
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| These nearby chalets seemed pretty nice! |
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| Was it something I said? |
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| The Royal Couple! (For only 2 Euro!) |
Szentendre
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| The next stop was Szentendre, a small village which at one time was remote and attracted a few visitors interested in the arts |
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| Now, there are more than a few visitors! |
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| Heeding Rick Steve's advice, we got off the beaten path and explored churches. Unfortunately, this Catholic Church was holding mass so we could not enter |
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| Szentendre is a compact village reflecting Serbian origins |
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| We decided to go to the Greek Orthodox Church just down the hill a little |
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| A strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary |
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| Icons are the main decoration |
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| Mass is actually said out of sight of the congregants, behind these doors |
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| No seats - Mass is attended while standing |
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| Communion is distributed while the people kneel here - the priest is in the center |
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| We also explored the small museum next door |
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| We passed this small Jewish prayer room |
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| Lunch in the central square of Szentendre at the Corona (the "crown") Lots of folks had goulash |
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| We ate with Fr Chris & Gus |
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| I had wonderful filled pancakes |
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| While Theresa had a caprese (but of course, they didn't call it that!) |
Back in Budapest - Sunday Mass!
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| St Anne is named in honor of Mary's mother |
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| The top of the pillar in front honors Mary |
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| A small statue nearby |
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| Fr Chris says mass with Dic assistiing |
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| Prior to the beginning of mass, Fr Chris offered the Anointing of Healing for anyone who cared to come forward |
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| "By the mystery of this water and wine may we share in the divinity of Christ just as He humbled Himself to share in our humanity." |
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| "This is My Body! Take and eat, all of you!" |
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| The church is replete with wonderful works of spiritual art - here a marvelous pieta |
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| The two side altars had very unusual art - essentially "shadow boxes" - glass covers over a scene made by 3-D figures |
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| This very modern looking building is very close to the church |
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| While the building is elegant, the frieze at the top is the most significant |
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| This building was at one time headquarters for an insurance company - now apartments |
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| The Chain Bridge was the first to span the Danube - a young man could not reach his dying father because of bad conditions on the river and decided to build the bridge |
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| Our last stop of the day was the Fisherman's Bastion |
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| It is pretty clear that this is not an ancient structure but is a replacement for what was probably destroyed in WW-II |
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| We were unable to tour the Church of Our Lady (aka "Matthias Church" or "Coronation Church") due to a celebratory mass to rededicate it after a 7 year renovation |
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| I was struck by the way the arch frames the statue of St Stephan (Istvan) |
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| The plaza is pleasant and offered great views of the city and the Danube |
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| St Stephan |
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| The four sides of the monument tell the story of Istvan's impact on Hungary |
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| At the lower right of this photo, a statue caught my eye and I'm hoping to learn what story it tells |
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| It appears to be a priest and a man - but what is the priest gesturing toward? |
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| Pillar in front of "Matthias Church" |
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| St Stephan dominates the city skyline |
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| The parliament |
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| A souvenir shop |
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| Dic & Jo Ann |
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| Beautiful (and sometime a little unusual) architecture is everywhere in Budapest |
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| A small church not far from our hotel |
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| The train station |
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| Typical street scene |
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| "50 cents Euro please" |
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| A nice street fair to mark the end of summer was going on a few blocks from the hotel |
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| A huge Synagogue about 5 blocks from our hotel - built from a donation by Tony Curtis' father |
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| Our driver Joseph |
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| Our tour guide in Hungary Chaba |
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| The best part of a pilgrimage trip is the people you meet |
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| They will leave the bullet holes in this building as a reminder of the destruction of WW-II |
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| Back to the hotel for a great chicken and potato puff dinner |
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| The hotel (Continental) had a rooftop pool |
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| and hot tub |
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| A nice bar |
Tomorrow we bid adieu to Hungary, drive through Slavakia to Wadawice, then Krakow, Poland
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