Budapest Day 1

Below is St. Istvan's Basilica, Budapest's largest Catholic Church. The church's main claim to fame is the "holy right hand" of St. Istvan. The sacred shriveled fist is in a jeweled box in the chapel. If you put a coin into a box you get two minutes of light to see the hand and photograph it.

My first day in Budapest, I headed across the famous Chain Bridge that crosses the Danube to Castle Hill in Buda.

Then I took the funicular which lifts you to the top of Castle Hill.

View of Pest from Castle Hill.

Below is the former Royal Palace. It now houses two museums.

Military guard outside the Sandor Palace which contains the president's office.

I visited the Matthias Church below.

The Budapest National Gallery below.

The war-damaged building below used to house the Ministry of War. Most of the bullet holes are from World War II, and others are from the Soviets who occupied this hill after the 1956 Uprising.

Then I walked the ramparts of the Fisherman's Bastion which offers beautiful views over the Danube to Pest. In the Middle Ages the fish market was just below here, so the fishermen actually did guard this part of the rampart.

View of Parliament.

View of St. Istvan's Basilica.