Sensational Transylvania - Budapest, Hungary

Chain Bridge

The House of Parliament

As a child, I liked reading about vampires. Not the sparkly, full-of-hair-putty types. The black and red Batman's distant relative types. Say, Dracula. Or Louis de Pointe du Lac. Or Lestat.

I would have picked up a replica of the handwritten notes of Bram Stoker's Dracula if I could understand what was written in it. Two days after, I'm still thinking about the labyrinth, the castles, the possibility of vampires becoming real.

The 'real' Dracula was born somewhere in Romania. But it was called Transylvania then, and Hungary was a part of it.

24-hour travel card for trains and buses.  Very cheap for unlimited rides. (~U$7)

The steel balls on the wall of the Agriculture Building marking the "gunshots" fired by Soviet snipers at kids during the revolution in 1956.

Metal shoes on the embankment of the Danube River that commemorates the Hungarian Jewish victims.

A lion's head at the end of the Chain Bridge.  This is the first bridge built in Budapest.

We were there in time for the Foie Gras festival.  That rolled bread is a traditional Transylvanian pastry.

The fountain of Mathias.  This fountain drips with wine instead of water.  

St. Stephen's Cathedral right on the next street from our lodging.  It has a beautiful exterior....

...and the interior is equally stunning!

The Millenium Monument

Statue of Anonymous.