Pest

September 23 Pest

Sleep was hard to come by last night as there were mosquitos in the camper. Michelle managed to kill about eight of them (catch and release was not an option) and we must have slept some because we were ready to head for the bus stop by 9 am. We actually ventured out without rain jackets as the sun was shining and the temperature was about 13. It was another easy bus and tram ride to our destination.

Our first stop was St.Stephen's Bascilica (Szent Istvan Bazilika), the largest church in Hungary. It seems that we have learn more about the history and culture of the places we visit in churches than in any other buildings. St. Stephen's mummufied hand is encased in a glass, jeweled container in the back of the chapel. If you pay 100 ft, an attendant will light up the box and you can actually see the hand. Lucky for us, someone had just paid when we got there and so we got to see the hand.

We wandered around the market square and stopped at a coffee shop for a break. The market square is a no vehicle zone filled with boutiques and up scale shops. The window shopping was enough for me.

We dug out our map and tried to orient ourselves. This was not an easy thing for us to do in Budapest. Although at first it was very frustrating, we soon realized that on almost every corner there stood a couple of tourists trying to do the same thing. Knowing that we were not alone in finding Budapest maps a little difficult to follow made it more bearable. The closer we were to the Danube, the more we saw people of so many different nationalities, turning and twisting maps in all directions, trying to find some direction. We, however are never really lost as long as I have Lori in my bag. I merely have to turn her on, touch the Help and then the Where Am I screens and Lori gives the exact location and will even give walking directions to any address.

The House of Terror was our next stop. The Nazis headquartered here in 1944 and used the basement for torture and murder of suspected traitors and others they thought were undesirable. The communist secret police took it over when they defeated the Nazis and they continued to use Andrassy ut 60 as a place of evil. It was somewhat chilling to see the torture chambers and read about those who died here.

We continued up Andrassy ut until we came to Hosok tere (Heroes' Square) a very large square filled with enormous statues of some of Hungary's heroes. There were kings (Stephen, of course), and scholars as well as statues representing work, welfare and knowledge.

Heading back down Andrassy ut, we stopped to peek in the Hungarian State Opera House. We decided against a tour as we were both a little museum weary, but we did look in at this beautiful building.

Our final stop of the day was Socialist Statue Park, which is located along our bus route back to the campsite. After the fall of Communism in 1989 the statues of Lenin, and those glorifying communism, which had been erected in the city, were no longer wanted and so they were taken out of the city and placed in the extreme southern end of Buda. There were only four or five other people in the park and so we had lots of time to roam around and take pictures.

A short bus ride and we were back at Camping Flamingo. I paid our German host tonight so that we can leave early in the morning. Although she knows that I cannot speak German, she rambles on and on, speaking very quickly, and then looks at me very strangely when I don't answer her. She and I have had quite the game of charades for the past three days...she is good at drawing pictures in the air when she does finally realize that I do not understand what she is saying. I think I know where to empty the WC.

Tomorrow morning we head for Gyor. We plan to take a break from the hectic walking tour pace of the past two days.

Thanks everyone for the comments. It feels good to know that you are keeping an eye on us.