Photos: Budapest, Hungary

Picture 1: The incredible tomato basil soup I had the first day in Budapest. It had smoked cheese in it and the toasted white bread had melted smoked cheese on top. It was amazing and everybody should have soup this good.

Picture 2: Another statue that comes off the pedestal. This one had the figure of a woman fawning over the bust. This statue is in a park of statues next to the river.

Picture 3: The Parliament building. This picture does not do the size and grandeur of the building justice. It is so elegant and decorated that I can’t believe people actually work inside. I wish we could have gone inside to see.

Picture 4: An image of Buda from the Pest side of the river. The clouds this day were doing incredible things. I wish the ambient temperature had been a little warmer, that way when the Sun was covered up it wouldn’t have gotten so cold. After this pic was taken, we wandered over the bridge and hiked up and around the whole riverside Buda, from the government buildings on that side to the Fisherman’s Bastion.

Picture 5: From left to right, Palinka, Hubertus, and Havanna Club 7 year. The Palinka was amazing and I have definitely come to love Balkan brandys. The Hubertus was a bitter and Rae really likes bitters. She enjoyed it quite a bit and Jeff of course had to have some rum. Since we were splurging a little, he went with the 7 year.

Picture 6: Jeff and I walking around the Great Market of Pest oblivious to Rae’s camera. As I think I said in the blog, the stores repeated themselves after every 4th stall or so. It continues to baffle me how every stall in a touristy area stays in business when they all sell the same stuff.

Picture 7: The tank on a pool of nearly still oil in the Terror Museum. The images on the wall are of victims of the Nazi and Communist regimes in Hungary. This was the only place we could take pictures. The mirroring pool of oil had two sources underneath the tank and the oil very slowly pooled over the edge and fell down to the basement. It was a strange effect.

Picture 8: The Heroes Square. Very, very large. If you look closely near the center, you should be able to see Jeff and me. Rae was so far away to take this picture. The 14 statues along the back range from the 10th century up to, I think, the 19th century. There were large gaps in the dates but I guess the other leaders or guys didn’t make hero status. It was very interesting to walk along from right to left and see the change in clothing on each statue as the years went back.