The Cave Church

Another little oddity in Budapest is the Cave Church. It does exactly what it says on the tin. It is a church, in a cave. Saint Ivan’s Cave (Szent Iván-barlang) is named after a hermit who lived there and healed people. The church was founded in 1926, by a group of Pauline monks after a pilgrimageContinue reading “The Cave Church”

Mega Soviet statues!!

The shadow of the Soviet Era falls long over Budapest and nowhere shows the actual physical dominance of the USSR better than Memento Park. This unusual tourist attraction sits several miles out of the city and hosts some of the regime’s epic statues that used to literally loom large over the citizens. Below is aContinue reading “Mega Soviet statues!!”

St Stephen’s Basilica

Another stop on the Budapest whirl wind tour is St Stephen’s Basilica. One of the top ten most photographed buildings in the world it’s named in honour of Stephen, the first King of Hungary. Apparently his mummified right hand is rather gruesomely still housed in the Basilica’s relic shrine. Today, it is the third largestContinue reading “St Stephen’s Basilica”

Super special spa day!!!

Budapest is famous for its hot springs and proliferation of spas (about 80 springs dotted around the city I believe.) The natural hot water is so bountiful that it is used for domestic hot water apparently!. So you can’t possibly visit Budapest without indulging in at least one of its watery based fun palaces. Today,Continue reading “Super special spa day!!!”

Buda old town

After admiring the fantasy Fisherman’s Bastion and taking gazillions of photos of the tiled roof of the nearby church, we headed further into the old town. From the adorably cute “eye” windows that feature heavily in the local architecture, to reminders of war time damage, the town is full of interesting features. Here’s one of theContinue reading “Buda old town”

Buda’s Castle District

Budapest is literally a city of two halves. Old Buda on one side of the mighty Danube and new comer Pest on the other. Buda is the former capital of the Kingdom of Hungary and sits on the west bank. Budapest is made up of 23 districts, all numbered clockwise, in widening circles. District 1 (The Castle District) isContinue reading “Buda’s Castle District”

Hitting the tracks to Budapest

After a delightful few days of puttering around Bratislava we hop on the train for a few days in Hungary’s capital city Budapest. I was unaware that although Budapest became a single city with its unification on 17 November 1873, it is essentially three different towns separated by the Danube. Buda and Óbuda – theContinue reading “Hitting the tracks to Budapest”