Budapest, Hungary

 We didn't have much time in Budapest so we had to make the most of our hours. We took a train from Slovakia to Budapest and our first experience in Hungary was a fail. We couldn't find the bus that would take us to our hostel because all of the roads around the train station were under construction and they had made temporary bus stops in new locations. So it really wasn't our fault... We ended up taking a taxi and had a really lovely taxi driver who made sure we were at the right place before dropping us off. Good thing too, because the first location was not the right one. We didn't stay at the hostel that we booked, but were transferred to another one and we got a private room for the misunderstanding. This started a trend for Leigh and I's hostel experience throughout Europe.  The first full day in Budapest we went to St. Stephen's Cathedral and climbed to the top to get a view of the city.

 We went to Dohány street Synagogue after the church. This is said to be the largest synagogue in Europe. The interior was decorated absolutely beautifully! There were frescos and chandeliers and lots of great lights. To view it, you had to be part of a tour. Even though ours was in English, we still struggled to understand one word of it.  Our guide had such a Hungarian accent, I doubt anyone in our group really knew what she was saying.
The area around this synagogue was blocked off and used as the "Jewish Ghetto" during WWII. Many people died on the steps of that synagogue. This memorial below is probably my favorite memorial I have seen to date. How appropriate to have a weeping willow. The leaves have individual names of people who did not survive the Holocaust.

 We walked around and enjoyed the rest of Budapest. We crossed the river into the Buda side really only once to get a good view of the parliament building. We also ate over there. For the most part we stayed on the Pest side. I really loved Budapest and actually strategically planned to not see everything so that I have an excuse to go back!

 We went to a market and tried a langos with sheep's cheese on it. It was really good. Eve had told us to make sure we tried a langos. Good Advice! It was like fried bread with a cream cheese spread on it. All of this good food wasn't helping our waist size any!

 They used hungarian paprika in a lot of the dishes and I thought the food was delicious!

This was another memorial along the Danube River. It honors the Jews who were killed by fascist Arrow Cross militiamen in Budapest during World War II. They were ordered to take off their shoes, and were shot at the edge of the water so that their bodies fell into the river and were carried away. It represents their shoes left behind on the bank.