Having consummately conquered both ends of Buda and Pest, we decided to take a train, a little day trip to Esztergom, a city cuddling up to the Slovakian border in northern Hungary.
Esztergom boasts the largest church in Hungary, the Esztergom Basilica. This serves as the seat of the Roman Catholic Church in Hungary, and is a truly magnificent structure.
We disembarked from the train and began the long trek up stairs and hillsides to get to a vista and view truly worth walking towards. The top of the hill gave us a wonderful view of the city of Esztergom, as well as a sight across the Danube into Slovakia (see ya tomorrow in Bratislava...).
We also got to step downstairs into the catacombs, which was worth the 200 florins just to cool off for a few minutes. They have many tombs down there, including the final resting place of Cardinal Jozsef Mindszenty, who strongly opposed the spread of communism in Hungary, to the point where he was tortured and received a life sentence, forced to live out much life after World War II in exile.
A train brought us back to Budapest, and back to the hostel for some more much-needed napping. I had things to do, but they were contingent on staying awake on the south end of dinner. I couldn't manage that, so the beard will have to be trimmed tomorrow.
We decided to have our "final meal" before going on the economic death sentence that is the Euro in Slovakia and Austria. Appetizers all around, including the best beef tartar you could ask for, and plenty of wine. We finally got around to trying the most famous red wine in Hungary, Bull's Blood. Turns out, it's delicious. And not blood. Or from a bull. Who knew?
Esztergom boasts the largest church in Hungary, the Esztergom Basilica. This serves as the seat of the Roman Catholic Church in Hungary, and is a truly magnificent structure.
We disembarked from the train and began the long trek up stairs and hillsides to get to a vista and view truly worth walking towards. The top of the hill gave us a wonderful view of the city of Esztergom, as well as a sight across the Danube into Slovakia (see ya tomorrow in Bratislava...).
We also got to step downstairs into the catacombs, which was worth the 200 florins just to cool off for a few minutes. They have many tombs down there, including the final resting place of Cardinal Jozsef Mindszenty, who strongly opposed the spread of communism in Hungary, to the point where he was tortured and received a life sentence, forced to live out much life after World War II in exile.
A train brought us back to Budapest, and back to the hostel for some more much-needed napping. I had things to do, but they were contingent on staying awake on the south end of dinner. I couldn't manage that, so the beard will have to be trimmed tomorrow.
We decided to have our "final meal" before going on the economic death sentence that is the Euro in Slovakia and Austria. Appetizers all around, including the best beef tartar you could ask for, and plenty of wine. We finally got around to trying the most famous red wine in Hungary, Bull's Blood. Turns out, it's delicious. And not blood. Or from a bull. Who knew?
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