These Boots Are Made For Walking... In BUDAPEST!

This past weekend all the American teachers traveled to Budapest, Hungary. We left school at noon (remember Friday is a half day) and hopped on the first bus we could catch to Banska Bystrica. Because EGT is a boarding school, most of our students also commute at noon on Fridays. To say our bus was full of students was an understatement. I knew that the teachers would probably end up standing the whole hour and half trip to Bystrica, so before we got on the bus I started announcing to the students I saw: "If teachers stand, students get fives." (In Slovakia, a 1 is the equivalent of an "A" and a 5 is an "F.") Most of the students laughed and rolled their eyes, but as soon as I got on the bus, students started hopping up and offering me their seats. I gave one student's seat to Heidi and another to my friend Whitney. Both of them get car sick pretty easily, and it's better for them to be sitting on such windy roads. A few other teachers took some seats as well, but I decided to stand with my students. Standing on the bus for an hour and half with a group of students can make for interesting conversation.

We made our connection from Bystrica to Nitra (Nitra is about an hour outside Bratislava), but sadly we missed our connection from Nitra to Nove Zamka. We ended up catching another train about an hour later. (We didn't know it then, but this would spell bad news for our trip!) Our last connection was flawless, and we arrived in Budapest only an hour and a half later than we originally intended. Unfortunately, we arrived at a different train station. This meant that the directions we had to our hostel were no longer applicable. We decided to hop on the metro and figure out where we needed to go, BUT the metro pass machine would only take forints (the Hungarian currency) in change - very specific change (5's, 20,'s, and 50's). So, we wandered around downtown Pest trying to find enough change for everyone to get a metro pass. After a little scrambling, we took our first metro ride in Budapest.

Standing next to me on the metro was a couple who were very obviously in lust (if not love) with each other. About the time the guy had his tongue in his significant other's each, I started coughing and said to Whitney, "I hate PDA. You know, if I knew know one around us spoke English, I think I would narrate this scene for you." I believe I showed tremendous restraint. It would have been hilarious.

Once we got off the metro, we were lost all over again. By the time we finally made it to our hostel, we had been wandering around Budapest for three hours. We were exhausted. Once we got Heidi to her friend's apartment in Pest, we fell into bed.

The next day, we were up early. We walked and walked and walked. From 8am to 11:15 at night. By the end of the day, my feet were screaming but they were happy to be walking in Budapest.

For those of you who have never been to Budapest, the city is the captial of Hungary, and it is considered an important cultural and economic hub in Central Europe. Budapest is actually a conglomeration of three separate towns: Buda, Pest and Obuda. These cities merged in 1873 and were connected by a series of bridges. The first bridge is known as the "Chain Bridge."
This bridge was considered an architecural marvel. The story is that the architect said he would jump off the bridge if anyone found a flaw in the design. Well, few things are perfect. It turns out a little boy found a flaw - the lions who guard the bridge at both sides are missing tongues. So, the architect jumped off the bridge. I am unsure as to whether he survived the fall.

This is one of the four lions.
You may not be able to see this - but they really do not have tongues.

This is the Chain Bridge. I took this picture of Pest while standing in Buda.
You can see St. Stephen's Basilica in the distance.

We spent Saturday morning in quiet and dignified Buda. This is Buda Castle.

This is St Matthias Church. Much of the building was being remodeled

but what we were able to see was goregous.

The Fisherman's Bastion surrounds parts of St. Matthias Church. The Bastion is large, stone wall that overlooks the Danube River. These are the soldiers standing guard in the wall.

This is Fisherman's Bastion. I think it was the prettiest sight to see in Budapest.

This is the view of Pest from Fisherman's Bastion.

The steepled, red building you see is Hungary's Parliament building.

This is my friend Mark and I after crossed the Chain Bridge back into Pest.

A view of St. Stephen's Basilica from the street.

This is the basilica up close.
The door of the Basilica had woodcarvings of each of Jesus' twelve disciples.


The inscription reads, "I am the way, the truth, and the life."

The basilica was not well-lit, but this is a picture of the ceiling.

It seemed like the entire basilica was outlined in gold.

Budapest has a large Jewish population. This is Donahy's Synagogue.

It is the largest synagogue in Europe.

Located in the Jewish district behind the synagogue, the Holocaust Memorial is a beautiful way to honor and remember our Jewish brothers and sisters who have died. I thought the image of the weeping willow surrounding the ten commandments was powerful.

After the synagogue, Eric, Rachel, Becky, Leah and I went to the "House of Terror." This museum was similar to the Holocaust Musem in Washington, DC. We learned about and even experienced pieces of the the casulaties and consequences of nazi and communist oppression in Hungary. I had very little context in which to frame some of these exhibits. For me, one of the more powerful moments in the museum happened when I considered the word "victimizer." One of the exhibits was dedicated to the "vicimtizers" or the communist oppressers who maimed and killed many Hungarians. This word "vicimtizer" (which means "someone who creates victims") haunted me more than a little.

After the Terror Museum, we were able to meet up with the rest of our group for dinner. Budapest has outdoor cafes and restuarants everywhere! Each chair comes with a fleece blanket for patrons to wrap up in. There are also outdoor heaters for those who get too chilly.

Once we were done with dinner, we walked back to the Chain Bridge to take some pictures of Buda and Pest at night.

On Sunday morning, we woke up early, and packed up our belongings. Becky, Rachel, Leah and I hopped on the metro and headed to Hero's Square. This is a monument for important Hungarian leaders who helped Hungary gain freedom and independence.

A short distance away, we were able to see another castle.




I have absoutely no context for what this statue is. All I know is this is a right-handed man wearing a shroud who is slumped in a chair with an open book is his left hand.

The title of this statue is "Anonymous."

In case you couldn't tell from the pictures, it poured rain Sunday morning.

This is the view we passed on the way to 11:00 worship.

The coolest thing we did in Hungary was worship in a CAVE CHURCH on Sunday morning. Sopping wet and carrying everything we brought with us, we went to Gillert Hill Cave Church to attend mass. This is the entrance to the church.

This church has quite a history! In the 1920s, the cave was adopted by monks who used it for both a chapel and a monastery. Then during World War II, it was used as a field hospital by the Nazis. Later the communists boarded up the chapel and it went unused until 1989.

Today, the cave serves as a church building for the Catholics.

This is a picture of the altar.

This is the "narthex."

This is a view of the church's steeple.
This is the outside of the cave church!

By 12:30 on Sunday morning, we had finished worship. There was not a sight-seeing bone left in our bodies. Exhausted but happy (and a little hungry), we headed back to the train station for a nine hour trip back to T-town.