Dubrovnik and Split

I got up at 7:30 a.m. this morning, Saturday, May 30, (Katya did not.) to explore the old city of Dubrovnik before hoards of people descended. I walked to the waterfront and through the Ploce Gate of the City Walls to get another view of the old city from the outside.  Then I strolled back into the heart of the city.  The doors to the Cathedral were open, so I went in to look at the altars and the interior design.

Dubrovnik Cathedral 

St. Ignatius

I zig-zagged through some narrow streets and climbed the wide staircase to the unstored square in front of St. Ignatius Church.  The church was empty and quiet.  The interior is done in the ornate Baroque style, with marble columns and pilasters and rich-hued painting.

Leaving that church, I wandered through some more alleys.  Although a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the area inside the City Walls is not just a monument.  The old city of Dubrovnik is a continuously inhabited community.  It is not uncommon to see laundry hanging on the pulley-controlled lines stretching from window to window or glance in at someone going about their household business.

Alley in Dubrovnik

Approaching the Pile Gate, I entered the church of the Franciscan Monastery, which is also in the Baroque style, despite the fact the it, like most of the buildings in the city, have underlying layers dating back to the Medieval era or before.

Church in the Franciscan Monastery

At 9 a.m., I returned to the apartment, and Katya and I took less than an hour to shower, dress and pack up to leave Dubrovnik.  We arrived at the bus station before 10:30 a.m., hoping to get on the 11:00 a.m. bus, but it was full, so we had to wait for the next one at 12:30.  We found some benches, ate some of the food we had purchased at a convenience store and read our books while we waited.

We arrived in Split at 4:30 p.m.  We stopped at the railroad station conveniently located next to the bus terminal and reserved couchettes for Saturday night, when we will take an overnight train to Zagreb and then catch a train to Ljubljana, Slovenia.  After that, we walked the short distance to Dioclecian's Palace, entered through the eastern gate and found our hotel (The Hotel Slavija) after only having to ask for directions three times.  The hotel is wonderful.  We had been upgraded to a large room with a king size bed and a twin bed.  It has its own terrace, from which we can view the Cathedral Bell Tower and the roofs of the city.

Split  Cathedral Bell Tower

After unloading our stuff, we walked through the city and out of a gate to stroll along the waterfront in the balmy weather.  Even though Split, like Dubrovnik, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and people flock to it for the history and culture, the city is still a place where people live and work, including fishermen, whose small crafts and nets could be seen on the piers.

Split waterfront

Fishing nets laid out to dry on the dock in front of small fishing boats

After our promenade, we stopped back in the hotel to get scarfs and books to read, having picked up some food, and found seats at the Peristil, the large square leading to the entrance of Diocletian's Palace.  After relaxing there for a while, we exited through another gate (the north gate) and walked some more, stopping to enjoy some live Brazilian-style music in a park (the Poljana Grgura Ninskog).

I hadn't eating all of my large, cheese-filled, phyllo-dough pastry, but Katya had eaten her food and was attracted to a vendor selling crepes.  We stopped to get one and then returned to our terrace to eat and enjoy the waning light.  

Dubrovnik

Port of Dubrovnik

Today, Friday, May 29, Katya and I enjoyed strolling around Dubrovnik.  This UNESCO World Heritage Site is a feast for the eyes, with stone buildings roofed with red tiles contrasting with the green hills to the north, the cerelean blue sky above and the deep turquoise of the surrounding Adriatic Sea.

Rooftops of Dubrovnik

At 9 a.m., we left our apartment, which is just a block from the Dubrovnik Cathedral, and walked to the Ploce Gate on the northeast side of the walled city.  Climbing up to the ramparts, we walked in a counterclockwise direction along the top of the walls, which encircle the city for nearly 2000 meters. The walls include 3 forts--the most impressive and highest being Fort Minceta--16 towers, 6 bastions, 2 corner fortifications and 2 citadels.

Dubrovnik Cathedral

Katya and Sherri on the City Walls

Originally, the site of the Old City was a high island almost completely surrounded by steep cliffs.  The narrow waterway between it and the mainland was filled in Medieval times so that now it is a jagged peninsula thrusting into the sea.  Since earliest times, it was a maritime trade center.  It prospered and avoided conquest, particularly by the Ottoman Turks, through diplomacy and economic agreements.  The Dubrovnik Republic, an independent city-state, lasted until its conquest by Napoleon Bonaparte.

Fort Lovrijenac from the City Walls

While we enjoyed visiting the Rector's Palace, which houses the Dubrovnik Cultural Museum; the Maritime Museum; and the Ethnographic Museum with its displays of pottery, baskets, tools, household goods, clothing and other items from various periods in Dubrovnik's history, it was randomly roaming the alleys and stairways that enchanted us.  At the end of one alley, we came across a little shop, where a tiny old woman beckoned us to enter.  For sale were textiles and jewelry, and Emma (as she asked us to call her) insisted on showing us many of the handmade necklaces.  She was spritely and garrulous and alternated between showing us inexpensive but good quality pieces and "special" pieces we wouldn't find anywhere else (and couldn't afford).  She was just too engaging, and we had to purchase a few things.

Today, we paced ourselves better than we have been, stopping for lunch at a sidewalk cafe on the Placa and returning to the apartment to rest around 5:00.

Katya enjoying her lunch

At 6:30, we ventured out again and walked outside the City Walls to visit Fort Lovrijenac, an integral part of Dubrovnik's fortifications.  The high cliffs around the fort provided us with great views of the Old City as the sun was getting low in the sky.

Old Dubrovnik from Fort Lovrijenac

Walking back into the Old City through the Pile Gate, we bought some food from a bakery and went to sit on a bench beside the Rector's Palace to enjoy our food.  As we were walking toward the palace, swallows were squawking and circling above the red roofs and around the towers and domes, preparing to settle down for the night.  It was like a seen from an Alfred Hitchcock film.  The early evening was pleasant, so we lingered after our al fresco meal and spent time trying to distinguish the locals from the tourists among the people walking by.

Tomorrow morning, we shall wander around a bit more and then catch the bus back to Split, where we will spend a day and a half.

Zagreb and Dubrovnik

We spent most of today, Thursday, May 28, traveling between Zagreb and Dubrovnik.  But, let me finish writing about yesterday's walking tour of Zagreb first.

Our tour of the Upper Town began at Ban Jelacic Square, a busy, commercial place that has been the heart of the charming city of Zagreb since the mid-17th century.  The statue of the governor for whom the square is named dominates the center.  He is revered for abolishing serfdom and holding elections for the Sabor, or Parliament, in the mid-19th century.  This statue was removed during the communist authorities in 1947 but was returned to its place in 1990.

From the square, we started uphill, stopping first to admire the Neo-Gothic fountain of the Virgin Mary with Four Angels, a needle with the four gilded angels around the base and the Virgin overlooking the cathedral on the top.  The spires of the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary can be seen from many vantage points in Zagreb. Although the building dates from the late 19th century, the original building on the site was constructed when the Zagreb bishopric was established in 1094.  Gothic additions and modifications were made from the 13th through 15th centuries.  A turreted wall was built around the cathedral when the Ottoman Turks threatened invasion, from 1512 to 1521.  In the 18th century, Baroque altars and ornamentation were added.  Finally, much of the church (as well as many other buildings in Zagreb) had to be reconstructed after the huge 1880 earthquake, which is why many of them are now Neo-Gothic in style even when the underlying structure predates this architectural period.

Virgin Mary with Four Angels

One notable thing in the cathedral is the tomb of Aloysisus Stepinac, archbishop of Zagreb from 1937 to 1960. He defended the rights of Jews and Serbs against the Nazi's and was persecuted for it.  He was declared a martyr and a saint in 1998.

Tomb of Aloysisus Stepinak

Our next stop was yet another church, the Franciscan Church.  There are Baroque elements inside from the 17th century, but the church is noted for the colorful modern stained-glass windows from the 1960's.  

Franciscan Church

After stolling along through a park and along narrow streets, we came upon the bustling and colorful Dolac Market, where fresh fruit, vegetables, meat and fish as well as some clothing and handicrafts are sold in a large three-level square.  Towering behind it is the gold-topped spire of St. Mary's Church.

Dolac Market

After wondering around the market, we took an alleyto get to Tkalciceva Street, a sloping pedestrian street lined with outdoor restaurants and cafes and shops.  At the end of the 19th century the street paved over a creek which had separated the Kaptol, church-controlled area to the east and the secular village of Gradec to the west.  An alley running off the street is called The Bloody Bridge because, before it became paved, it was the location of altercations between church and secular sides.

Tkalciceva Street

Street art on Tkalciceva Street

The next street over is Radiceva, a quieter street with the back walls and windows of palaces on the next, higher street, overlooking it.  After walking up Radiceva, we turned and strolled past the palaces and residences on Opaticka Street.  This brought unto St. Mark's Square, the former main market of Gradec.  Facing it are the Governor's Palace (Banski Drovi), which houses the prime minister, and the Sabor or Parliament, which has held sessions at the site since 1737.  St. Mark's Church, built in the 13th century, dominates the square.  The colorful roof tiles portraying the coats of arms of the Triune Kingdom of Croatia, Dalmatia and Slavonia and the city of Zagreb date from the late 19th century.

St. Mark's Church

Walking down the hill, we came upon the Museum of Broken Relationships, where we stopped to see the exhibits.  The include objects, poems, stories and art work that people from around the world have submitted about failed relationships.  It is a quirky and interesting little museum with the mission of giving people a means of marking the end of relationships.

After visiting the museum, we walked along part of the Strossmayer Promenade, which runs along the southern rim of Gradec hill.  From there, we descended many steps to make it back to the level of Ilica Street.  We grabbed fast food and went back to the hotel, intending to take a short rest.  In retrospect, I realized that we had not stopped to have anything to drink since breakfast, so I suspect our exhaustion was due to dehydration.

Already half-awake, we got up this morning when the alarm went off at 6 a.m., got ourselves ready for the day and packed up our stuff.  Breakfast was served at 7 a.m., and we were there to eat quicky and gather up bread and fruit for the day's trip.  We walked the few blocks to the railroad station and found our car and our seats, with only a few minutes to spare.  Sitting across from us was a man from Adelaide, Australia.  We struck up a conversation which continued for the six hour train ride from Zagreb to the coast.  He had already been travelling in Germany and Eastern Europe solo for over a month, and we think he was pleased to be able to converse at length in English.

The countryside west of Zagreb is beautiful.  The train tracks climb up into the mountains, through forests and wide valleys.  In some parts, bright yellow gorse was growing in abundance.  The route was very windy, and but Katya and the Australian man suffered a bit from motion sickness.  It did not help that we often could smell cigarette smoke quite strongly in our non-smoking car, which mystified us until we figured out that the driver's compartment was in the front of our coach, and the walls and door to his compartment were not sealed from the rest of the car.  We discussed how smoking seems to be much more prevalent in this part of the world than in our countries, sometimes making sitting in outdoor cafes quite unpleasant.

Croatian countryside

The final range of mountains before reaching the sea are granite monoliths soaring into the sky.  The tree line is quite low.  The views reminded me of the mountains in the Cape of South Africa.  White walled houses with red tile roofs cling to the slopes above the clear blue water of the Adriatic Sea.  The city of Split, the final destination of the train, is large and industrial, but with a preserved ancient area to which we will be going in a couple days.  Today, however, we got off the train and went to the adjacent bus station to buy tickets for a four hour ride along the coast to Dubrovnik.  The driver's expertise was commendable as we headed south along a road on the steep slopes overlooking the crystal blue water, a road similar to Highway 1 along the coast of Big Sur in California in terms of vertical drops and continuous curves.  Katya, who took the window seat, slept for a while.  When she was awake, she still suffered from motion sickness.  But we made it to Dubrovnik by 6:30 p.m., caught a taxi to the main gate of the walled old town and walked about ten minutes until we found our apartment, where we will be staying for two nights.

Katya by the apartment where we are staying with a new friend

Dubrovnic with its glistening pavement

The most wonderful husband in the world, Peter, arranged to have roses in the room as a surprise gift for our 21st anniversary.  I am so lucky!

Katya and I had a great dinner at a nearby Italian restaurant and strolled through alleys and up and down stone stairs--it's all stone here!--to get back to our apartment, where we are getting ready to sleep soon.

Once again, I am caught up.  Tomorrow, we explore the ancient city.  Katya is especially excited to be here since scenes from Game of Thrones were filmed here.  We'll see if she recognizes any.

Budapest and Zagreb

On Wednesday, May 27, after enjoying another delicious breakfast in the modern and elegant hotel restaurant, Katya and I took the convenient Metro to Szechenyi Thermal Baths, the largest in Europe.  Situated in the large City Park, the large yellow Neo-Baroque building looks inviting even from the outside.  The complex includes a variety of pools, saunas and steam rooms inside and large pools outside.  We tried out a few, including a very hot sauna.  In one of the large pools outside, Katya and I played a game of chess and attracted the attention of a couple locals, who nodded and murmured their approval for some moves and grunted their disapproval for others.

Szechenyi Baths

After a couple hours, we went back to the hotel and packed up for our next destination.  At 11:30, we left our luggage at the hotel, and, with a couple more hours to spend in Budapest before our train to Zagreb, Croatia, we wandered around Pest.  We were going to go to the Synagogue, but there was a long line that we did not feel like waiting in.  We strolled through Erzsebet Square, got ice cream on Zrinyi Street, stopped in the Four Seasons Hotel to admire the interior again (and use the restroom), walked along the Danube again to the House of Parliament and then explored streets we hadn't before.  We discovered a statue of Imre Nagy, head of the Communist Hungarian government before the Soviet take-over in 1956, admired the symmetry and elegance of Szabadsag (Liberty) Square, surrounded by Art Nouveau architecture with a monument for the Soviet liberation of Hungary in WWII from Nazi German occupation.

Katya with Imre Nagy

Szabadsag Square

We picked up our luggage at the hotel and took the efficient Metro to the Keleti Palyaudvar (Railroad Station).  It was crowded and, although we had been told that we didn't need seat reservations, we were nervous about not having them.  However, the line at the ticket and information office was long, so we took our chances (after having asked several people who didn't understand English) and boarded the train, finding an empty compartment which we were able to keep to ourselves for the entire six-hour trip to Zagreb.  Katya was happy, because she cold stretch out for another nap; she takes them a frequently as possible.

Arriving in Zagreb around 8:30 p.m., we booked our seats for our next destination and then walked past large parks and into the main part of the city to our accommodations, the Hotel Jagerhorn on popular Ilica Street.  We paused to enjoy a couple numbers of old American rock-n-roll music being played live in Ban Jelacic Square.  The streets were lively but not crowded.  After settling into our hotel, we went out again to get a snack.  Katya was tired and, at 10:30, the streets were being cleaned and most of the people had settled into cafes or gone home, so we soon returned to our hotel.

This morning (Wednesday, May 27), after breakfast at the hotel, we set off on a self-guided tour of the city, following the routes in the booklet provided to us by the tourist office the previous evening.  Katya had checked the weather forecast and told me that it would only be 66 degrees Fahrenheit (19 C) and cloudy, so I dressed appropriately; she did not.  We realized this as soon as we stepped out of the hotel and felt the cool breeze, but she refused to go back inside to change into something warmer.  As a result, she was cold and grumpy all day.

After stopping briefly near our hotel at the ornate Orthodox Church, where a service was being held, we began our tour of the Lower Town, starting with Nikola Subic Zrinski Square, a lovely, verdant park with a central promenade that was formerly a open-air cattle market.  It is named for a governor and military leader who died fighting the Ottoman Turks in the 16th century.  The park is bordered by 19th and early 20th century edifices.  The southern end is graced with a Neo-Renaissance building housing the Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Orthodox Church

Arts and Sciences Building

Passing it, we arrived in King Tomislav Square, dedicated to Croatia's first king, who was crowned in 925 A.D.  The square is bracketed by elegant buildings.  The Neo-Classical railroad station is at the southern end of this square and the Art Pavilion is on the north.  To the west, behind the gardens and fountain in Ante Starcevica Square is the Hotel Esplanade, built in 1925 to provide the best accommodations for passengers on the Orient Express.

Our next stop wer the Botanical Gardens, laid out in the style of a English landscape garden, with winding paths, ponds and various greenhouses.  It is another of the parks in the horseshoe or U-shaped design by urban engineer Milan Lenuci in the 19th century.  In the arboretum, there are a surprising variety of trees, including swamp cypress and dawn redwoods from China.  Near the center of the gardens are pools with lotuses and frogs.  In another area, there is a display of carnivorous plants.  The paths also lead to rock gardens, a pond with marsh plants and beds of perennials and annuals.

lotus in the Botanical Gardens

Frog in the lotus ponds

Leaving the Botanical Gardens, we headed north, passing other large 19th century public buildings, including the State Archives and the National Theater.  We stopped, according to the instructions in the guidebook, along Masarykova Street to "admire" a building called Zagreb's first skyscraper, a nine-story, 35 meter high, rectangular, gray concrete.  According to the book, it is an "elegant example of rational modernism...one of the highest achievement of Croatian architecture" between WWI and WWII.  It is truly one of the plainest and ugliest buildings we have ever seen!

Just past this eyesore, along the otherwise pleasant facades of the same street, we found a statue to Nikola Tesla, perhaps the greatest scientist from Croatia.  (He was educated in western Europe and developed his ideas and inventions in the U.S.)  Despite being cold, Katya enjoyed an ice-cream cone; I just enjoyed the colorful display of ice cream that seems typical in Eastern Europe.

Colorful display of delicious ice cream

Walking north, we came to Petar Preradovic Square, a lovely and lively urban space filled with outdoor cafes and noted for its flower stalls which have been a feature since the 14th century.  We stopped back in the Orthodox Church to admire the interior decorations and icons while a service was not being held, walked through the Oktogon Arcade to see its beautiful glass dome, and then returned to Ilica Street.  Along this pedestrian street run sleek sleek, bright blue-painted trams.

Oktogon dome

Only a block or so from our hotel, I suggested we return to allow Katya to dress in warmer clothes, but she chose martyrdom.

I will continue this blog later today, I hope.  It is now 2 a.m.  We returned to the hotel after touring the Upper Town (which I will write about in the next post) and grabbing a bite to eat on Ilica Street.  The plan was to rest for an hour or so.  Katya snuggled into her bed almost immediately and went into a deep sleep.  I had wanted to go back out to shop and get dinner, but I couldn't keep my eyes opened any longer at about 6 p.m., so I lay down for a short nap.  I slept until almost midnight!  Katya sleeps on, and I am tired again.  We have to get up at 6 a.m., get ready, grab a quick breakfast and be on the train to Split, from where we take a bus to Dubrovnik, at 7:30 a.m.

Prague and Budapest

We have been so busy--and so tired when we haven't been busy--that it has been hard to find time to keep a record of our adventures.  We are spending this evening (Monday, May 25) in our hotel to catch up on rest and writing.

When I last wrote, we were getting to set out to see more of Prague.  When we left our hotel, we went directly to St. Nicholas Church in the Male Strana.  The green patina of the dome of this church can be seen from afar in many directions, contrasting with the red-tiled roofs of the buildings surrounding it.  Attractive on the outside, its interior is what astounds.  The columns, the ceilings, the interior dome, the statues, the paintings, the stained glass, the pulpit and all the decorations are perfect examples of the Baroque style.  Fine-grained marble of various hues, including deep carnelian and pale green, contrast with the gold-leaf covered ornamentation.  I'd take a photo and turn in another direction and be amazed again at the beauty.  I found it wonderful, Katya thought the Baroque style was overdone.

St. Nicholas Church in Prague

Pulpit in St. Nicholas Church

altar in a chapel of St. Nicholas Church

Baroque ornamentation and statuary in St. Nicholas Church

After appreciating the splendor of the church, we walked outside and along curving streets to the Wallenstein Palace and Gardens.  Tall hedgerows separate wide paths leading into the main areas.  One large section of the garden is designed to look like a large grotto.  Beside it is the great aviary, which houses four large owls--all sleeping and ignoring the gawking tourists.  Another section of the garden has a large pool with irises growing at the edges.  We were particularly enchanted with the peacocks, especially the albino ones.  The males seemed happy to spread their great tails and pose for the cameras.  (We took way too many photos of them!)

Katya in the Wallenstein Palace Gardens

Albino Peacock

Wallenstein Palace with Prague Castle looming behind 

The palace was built in the 17th century as the resplendant home of the Czech nobleman Albrecht von Wallenstein (Valdstejn).  The remains of previous structures, particularly the cellars of previous Gothic palaces can be seen beneath ground level.  One of these areas has an exhibition of gifts of state from various nations.  The array of ceramics, precious metal work, linens, ethnic crafts and other items--of the highest quality, of course-- was fascinating, and displaying them for the public seemed an appropriate use of these tokens of national friendship.

We also toured a few rooms of the palace, which now houses the Hungarian Senate.  The rooms we viewed were the duke's reception room and antechambers.  The main hall was the second largest in Prague, after that of Prague Castle.  The walls of the Knights Hall are covered with beautifully hand-tooled and colored leather with motifs of flowers, fruits and birds, something I've rarely seen.

Knights Hall in the Wallenstein Palace

Each day, we keep going until we are quite hungry.  After the Wallenstein Palace and Gardens, we found a place right outside where we enjoyed eating on a terrace; Katya had crepes with caramel and bananas, which was, according to her, delicious, and I had a much more healthful caprese salad.

We walked through part of Male Strana to the Charles Bridge, crossing over to explore more of the Old Town of Prague and to shop for gifts.  Along with the usual trinkets and kitsch, there were jewelers selling garnets and amber and shops displaying colorful and expensive crystal.  We wondered into a few shops, talking to the shopkeepers and clerks.  The kitsch was cheap and unappealing.  We had to shop around to find good quality items at reasonable prices, but we succeeded.  For us--and for every other tourist, I'm sure--they offered us discounts, which basically lowered the prices to reasonable levels.  Being no good at bargaining, I accepted the discounted price without haggeling.

After an hour or two of roaming through the pedestrian streets and alleys, admiring the facades of buildings and listening to street musicians, we stopped in front of the Horological Clock of Old Town Hall and sat down to wait for the hour to strike.  The Old Town Hall is four distinct buildings, connected on the inside and was used from the 14th century.  The gothic towers on the ends are ornately decorated.  The clock dates from the 15th century and has been in continuous operation, displaying the time in four manners; the phases of the moon; the times of twilight, sunrise and sunset; and the days of the week of the entire year, represented by numbers and the names of the patron saints of each day.

Horological Clock on Old Town Hall Tower

House with white on black Renaissance decoration

Katya and I learned a great number of facts about this clock and the Old Town Hall as we began a two and a half hour walking tour of the Old Town, which we joined spontaneously after the clock struck 7 p.m.  The well-informed and garalous tour guide led us through the streets and alleys and into some buildings, explaining in great detail the architecture and history of the buildings.  We learned that many of the buildings with Renaissance or later edifices hid earlier construction.  We learned about the use of the Italian technique of white on black sfigilio painting on edifices and the use of symbols--such as the blue horse, the three carp and the golden ring--which are found as ornaments above doorways to designate the address.  This practice dates from the time when most people were illiterate and the posting of house numbers and street names was of little value.  We  viewed the imposing 15th century Powder Tower, one of the remaining parts of the Old Town forticiation, considered the royal route even today; walked through and admired the Art Nouveau design and decorations of the Municipal House; strolled through Tyn Yard and learned of history as a place where traveling merchants paid customs, received protection, set up shops and stalls and found accommodations; and viewed the facade of the Cathedral of Our Lady before Tyn, with its various architectural styles, including Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque.  Along the way, we learned a bit of Bohemian and Czech history, particularly about the King Charles IV.

Tired and hungry after the long tour, we made our way back to the hotel, admiring the castle on the hill at night and stopping to eat food from the bakery beside our hotel.  We had a taxi scheduled for 10:30 p.m., which took us to the main train station, where we caught an overnight train to Budapest.  In retrospect, we should have paid the small amount of money which would have procured us berths in the couchette car, because we did not sleep well at all in coach, mainly because it was chilly in our cabin.

Prague Castle at night

We arrived in Budapest at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, May 24.  Despite our fatigue, we managed to find an ATM and get Hungarian florins and purchase tickets for and ride the Metro to our hotel off Andrassy Ut (Street), the K+K Hotel Opera, a place of sleek design and understated elegance.  (I rather splurged on accommodations because they are so much cheaper than the U.S.)  We left our luggage and began our exploration of Budapest.  Our first stop was St. Stephen's Basilica (so named because his right hand is in a reliquary there!), but mass was being held, so we left after listening to the organ and choir briefly, to return later.  Of course, we were hungry and Katya had been craving a sandwich from Subway.  Serendipitously, we came upon one at the end of the square in from of the church.

After fortifying ourselves, we walked to the Danube River, a wide, silt-filled waterway flowing swiftly through the city.  (It looked like about 5 knots.)  We strolled along the waterfront away from the famous Chain Bridge, encountering the moving memorial to Budapest Jews who were told to take off their shoes on the quay before being shot by Arrow Cross militiamen in 1944 and 1945, their bodies dropping into the moving water.

Shoes on the Danube, Budapest

Next, we came upon the enormous and imposing white House of Parliament.  There we found the memorial to the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, which was violently suppressed by the Soviet controlled government, resulting in the death of 2500 Hungarians and the exodus of 200,000 refugees.

As we walked beside the flower gardens in front of the House of Parliament, we unexpectedly encounted the Changing of the Guard, where the men showed off precise formation, marching and displaying of arms.  After taking the opportunity to have a photo with one of the guards, we walked back to the church, where another mass was being held, so we walked on.

flowers by the House of Parliament

Changing of the Guard on the steps of Parliament

Katya with one of the guards

We found the famous Synagogue closed because of the Pentacost holiday, so we made our way back to the basilica for a third time, where another mass was being performed but was almost over.  We waited and then were able, finally, to walk around the santuary.  The gleaming marble surfaces, deeply hued paintings, stained glass and gold ornamentation are a visual delight, although Katya found them, once again, focusing more attention on wealth than on spirituality.

dome in St. Stephens Basilica

We walked the short distance back to our hotel to check in and collapse on our beds, having purchased tickets for an evening performance by the Hungarian Folk Ensemble at the Danube Palace.
We wanted to eat before the performance, so we set out to find some place before 8 p.m.  We ended up in Erzsebet Ter (park, I think), where we enjoyed watching dozens of couples dancing to Latin music around a fountain and locals relaxing throughout the area.

Dancing in the park

Just off the park, we chanced upon Jack's Burgers, where we purchased good pizza slices and sat outdoors to eat them.  We strolled around with other tourists plus many locals enjoying the beautiful Sunday evening before going to the theater.  The evening included pieces performed only by the eleven member all-male orchestra, including seven violinists, one bass player, one clarinet player and two men playing two cimbaloms (traditional Eastern European hammered dulcimers).  Interspersed were fantastic and lively dances by ten performers, half of them women and half of them men, in colorful costumes.  We recognized several of the instrumental pieces, including Brahms' Hungarian Dance No. 5 and Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody.  In one piece, the women danced with wine flasks balanced on their heads; the structure of the dance coupled with the anxiety that one of the glass containers would fall and crash on the stage kept us riveted.

After the performance, we walked past St. Stephen's beautifully lit in the night and happily reached our hotel and, more importantly, our comfortable beds.

St. Stephen's at night

This morning, Monday, May 25, we began by enjoying the abundant variety of food at the breakfast buffet in the hotel, elegantly and colorfully arranged in the large wood paneled room, and then set out for Buda Castle.  A fine rain was falling but it was not cold (although Katya was).  We put up our umbrellas and made our way to and across the Chain Bridge.  On the other (Buda) side of the Danube, we rode the funicular to the top of the hill where the castle complex sprawls.  Because of the rain and the fact that we arrived before the museums opened, the castle grounds were nearly empty, and we strolled around outside, purchasing a hand-woven cloth from a vendor just setting out her wares.

Buda Castle Palace

At 10 a.m., escaping from the rain and (according to Katya) chill, we went to Castle's Budapest History Museum.  There, we learned quite a bit about the history of the palace and the royalty, as well as the earliest inhabitants dating back to the Stone Age.  We were able to explore the maze of rooms in the old Gothic cellars and see the medieval Kapolna Chapel.  There were displays about the history of the famous Matyus Church on Buda Hill, which peaked my interest in visiting it. ("Not another church!" complained Katya.)

Kapolna Chapel

When we left the museum housed in part of the palace, we walked through the courtyards and along the walls of the castle before reaching the main streets of the castle complex, lined with lovely edifices housing shops and restaurants.  We were hungry but too tired to make a decision about what and where to eat, so we kept going.

Katya on the street at Buda Castle complex

After a few blocks, we made it to Matyus (Matthias) Fountain in the square in front of the church.  Gothic spires and the tiled roofs in colorful geometric designs delighted our (or, at least, my) eyes.  Katya was pleasantly surprised by the vast interior, which, unlike the Baroque churches we had seen, included painted columns holding up the high vaulted ceilings and more muted, although still vibrant, colors.  Once again, I seemed to take photos every time I turned around.  The play of light and the new perspectives offered among the arched nave, chapels and apse continually attracted me.

Matthias Church

Matthias Church, chapel of the Black Madonna

geometric and flora designs on the colomns in St. Matthias Church

Stained glass window in Matthias Church

floral designs on vaulted ceilings

Colorful tiled rooftops of Matthias Church

After walking through the museum in the upper levels of the church tower, we left the castle area and made our way down the hill to the river, where, against Katya's will, we glanced at a couple other churches.  We enjoyed looking across the Danube toward Pest.  The House of Parliament looked even more grand with its Gothic Revival architecture from across the river.

House of Parliament from across the Danube

By this time, nearly 4 p.m., we had totally missed lunch, and the known goodness of the pizza we had eaten the day before drew us back to Jack's Burgers.  Sated, we walked back to our hotel to spend the rest of the day resting and catching up on photo captioning and blogging.

Tomorrow morning, after breakfast, we are going to one of the famous bath houses to soak in the hot pools.  In the early afternoon, we catch a train to Zagreb, Croatia.