We had a great four-hour tour of the city, an excellent guide and superb driver. There were two old cities, Buda and Pest, one on each side of the river. We started in Pest, the flat side. Pest was originally the capital. However, it was completely destroyed in a flood in the 1838, so nothing here is older than 1838.
Our first stop was at St. Stephen's Cathedral. (Different St. Stephen. This one was a bishop in the city.)
A relic. The case contains the right hand of St. Stephen. For some reason they re-opened his casket and in the process decided to cut off his right hand and preserve it as a relic. Why? One story says it was because he had signed a famous document and they wanted to commemorate it by keeping the hand that signed it. Historians rebuff this, saying that St. Stephens was left handed. Another story is it was the only portion of his body that had not decayed. Whatever the reason, here is St. Stephen's right hand.
Is this a statue of Ronald Reagan in Budapest? Yes it is. How can that be?
As a part of our walking tour, our guide took us to this plaza a couple of blocks from the Parliament Building close to the American Embassy. And there was this statue of Ronald Reagan. Our guide (on the left) said that the Hungarian people were so proud and thankful of Ronald Reagan's championing their freedom that they wanted to erect a statue to commemorate him. So, here in the middle of Budapest, Hungary, you have a statue of Ronald Reagan. A surprising sight.
Then over to Buda.
Looking back across the river at the parliament building.
Buda, built on the hills.
