I would guess that most people in Switzerland do not attend church. Nevertheless, religious holidays are plentiful even in the non-Catholic cantons. Tom's office was closed on both Good Friday and "Easter Monday" (day after Easter) which made for a 4 day weekend. We were called to go.....somewhere! We originally hoped to go to Istanbul, but being farther south (and warmer) and having much Christian history, it is a popular Easter destination. By the time we looked, it was crazy expensive. We quickly abandoned that plan and headed to Budapest instead which was also on our list of places to explore. We found it to be similar to Vienna and Prague - no shortage of beautiful buildings.
Sadly, the weather was again not our friend. We were forced to explore in the cold rain. One afternoon we got lucky and it was a very welcome change.
I started this entry about 3 weeks ago. Now so much more has happened... I better get this finished! I'm sure everyone is curious - what will come next?
Budapest has the largest synagogue in Europe. Sadly, it was also Passover so we could only view it from the outside and go in the attached museum. It was also impossible to get a decent picture of it from the street in the rain so yes, this is a postcard.
 |
| every leaf is engraved with a name of someone lost in the Holocaust |
 |
| hats made from the Torah and clothes made from prayer shawls = sick! |
Nighttime views of Buda look better at night than in the cloudy daytime sky.
 |
| Royal Palace - now museums |
Parliament Building - notice long line on the right side. Guests can only enter as part of a tour. Very inefficient way of selling tickets - we waited 30-45 minutes while watching English and German tours be crossed off the list of available options for the morning. We opted to scrap the idea and move on.
 |
| St. Stephen's Basilica |
 |
| Basilica interior |
Bridge over the Danube between Buda and Pest which we crossed on foot several times
 |
| Are we still in Switzerland? |
 |
| or maybe in the US? |
 |
| near Downton Abbey with Branson waiting? |
 |
| funicular up to the palace |
 |
| don't move! |
 |
| official residence also known as Sandor Palace |
There
happened to be a Spring festival in the Royal Palace courtyard while we were there. It was fun to see food
and wares for sale and folk dances. The food was out in the open and not
wrapped. Not exactly what we're used to.
Specialty bread product cooks while rotating on a spit. When done, you can choose toppings of cinnamon, chocolate or nuts. We opted for cinnamon and nuts which they put on two different sections of the roll instead of combining. I assume the cocoa powder was sweetened, but we'll never know.
 |
| not bad, but definitely for outdoor eating only - very messy |
 |
| Is long, braid-able hair a requirement or dance ability? |
Here are some short video excerpts of folk dances with and without instrumental accompaniment:
We actually watched the women with only their voices as accompaniment after the others and it seemed really dull in contrast.
 |
| Hungarian bagpipe? |
 |
| now you can see why we rode the funicular up! |
 |
| How can an April Fool's baby not be silly? |
 |
| Happy Birthday Tom! |
Trip highlight: Bach's St. Matthew Passion at the Budapest Opera House! There were "subtitles" like at an opera, but shown on a screen high above the chorus and other visuals accompanying the text. That was our church service for Easter 2013. Would be hard to beat.
 |
| Budapest Opera House |
 |
| interesting - sip hot wine while driving? |
Hot
chocolate was tasty and very hot. It was also served in a glass without
a handle. I had to wrap my napkin around the glass to drink it. Not the
best plan.
 |
| Parliament on the Pest side |
Fisherman's Bastion, or the best place to get views of the Pest side of the city.
 |
| did I mention it was raining? |
 |
| Matyas Church - never went inside because there were services in progress |
This is what the Hungarians think tourists want to buy - they were everywhere:
EGGS! Some displays nicer than others.
Babushkas
Not sure what you're supposed to do with these plastic peppers....
Heard
of House of Hungarian Wines? We hadn't either, but it was fun to taste
their wine and it was warm and dry inside - a bonus! One dessert wine purchased to bring home.
 |
| fun colorful phone booth |
Tom made some new friends
 | |
| Cave Church |
Finally, we got some sun before we left.
Even with sun, it was still cold and windy, especially on the bridge. I wore my hood most of the time and then had no peripheral vision. Note to self - always bring a hat when traveling between October and April. It would be nice to visit Budapest with better weather conditions, but it may never again be so high on our list of places to go.
