Pest. February 2019.

We passed this store on the first day here, and Katherine knew she couldn’t leave Budapest without having a unicorn doughnut. She loved looking at it, but did not love how it tasted. She is not a mascapone fan. Her Dad helped out.

In the 18th century, St. Stephan’s Basilica began it’s life as a theater. Plans and fundraising for a new church began in the early to mid 1800s, and the Basilica was consecrated in 1905.

There is beautiful tile work on the grounds right in front of the Basilica and a gorgeous dome inside.

And the hand!!! One of the Church’s claim to fame is King Stephen’s (the first Hungarian King and the Church’s namesake) mummified right hand. At least that’s what they claim. (You can read the whole crazy story on the Basilica’s website if you really want.) They call this holy relic, “the Holy Right.”After the Basilica, we strolled down Andrássy Avenue. There are beautiful homes and shops along the walk. The beautiful Hungarian State Opera House was covered in scaffolding. I’m sure it’s lovely, and they were nice enough to show us a picture of what we were missing. That’s the way it goes sometimes with old cities and old buildings.

Quick stop for lunch- pizza for the kids and chicken paprika sandwiched for the adults.

Andrássy Avenue ends at the city’s largest square, Hero’s Square. It was built at the end of the 19th century, and it honors important people from Hungarian history. It is punctuated by the Millennium Monument. The 36m tall colonnade monument has the Archangel Gabriel atop it, holding the Hungarian Holy Crown of St. Stephen and a double cross. At the bottom of the monument are 7 Magyar Chieftains. Statues on the Left and Right include Hungarian kings, leaders, and military heros.

Beyond Hero’s Square is City Park. My favorite thing in the park was Vajdahunyd Castle.Vajdahunyad Castle was built in 1896. It was designed by Ignác Alpár to resemble various buildings in the Hungarian Kingdom, especially Hunyad Castle in Transylvania. It is said Bram Stoker’s Castle Dracula was based on Hunyad Castle. It is a hodgepodge of architectural styles.

The Ják Chapel. The inspiration for the Castle’s Chapel was a 13th century Abbey Church in Ják (western Hungary.)

Katherine hanging with Daranyi Ignac, a Hungarian politician, in the Castle’s courtyard.

The largest and one of the most popular thermal bath in Europe is the Széchenyi Thermal Bath. This medicinal bath is heated by underground thermal springs, with the water full of healing minerals. It was built in 1913.

After an afternoon of walking (and playing), we were tired and decided to take the M1 back to our Airbnb. Operating since 1896, the MI or Line One is Budapest’s oldest metro line.

A quick nap before we set off again.

The beautiful Dohány Street Synagogue. It was built in the mid 19th century and is the largest synagouge in Europe, holding 3,000 people. Unfortunately, since we scaled back on some of our outings, we weren’t able to get over to this side of town to visit during the day. It did look beautiful lit up at night. This Moorish influenced complex also houses the Hungarian Jewish Museum, a cemetery, Hero’s Temple, and a Holocaust Memorial Park. Beautiful ornamental details.

Budapest has these really cool ruins bars in what was once the Jewish ghetto. The bars are in old dilapidated buildings, left abandoned in the decades after WW2 and the deportation of most of the Jewish population. These alternative spaces have an eclectic feel with their crazy mismatched decor. We visited Szimpla Kert, one of the originals. In the room we were in, my seat was an old 80s style cube tv. There were computer monitors hooked up, with old 90s style screensavers playing. If we had more time and no kids with us, I would’ve loved to do a Ruins Bar Tour. It was really quirky and cool.Yeah, we were those people with their kids and their ipads at the bar. We picked a popular touristy one, so there were all kinds of people there, no one cared. Kids thought all the decorations were crazy.After our quick drink, we headed to dinner at kid friendly (and Scottish chain restaurant) BrewDog.

You know she is really tired when even the iPad won’t keep her up.Andrew tried some of Andy’s hot wings. For a boy who is a super unadventurous eater, it’s always shocking to me he will try hot stuff.