The day after Easter Sunday was one of the brightest, sunniest days of our river-cruise trip in March. So you won't be surprised that we packed it to the gills!
Our first mission (so to speak...since this is a post about churches), was to see the Dohány Street Synagogue on the Pest side of the Danube. But on the way...
...we stopped in at this wee church first.
Remember, this was the Monday morning after Easter.
And then we saw the aftermath of a car accident...our first of the entire trip.
Everything about it appeared as though it could have been anywhere!
There she was...just as we had remembered on our Viking excursion when we drove by the previous Friday.
This time we were on foot and could see it up close and personal.
The Dohány Street Synagogue, from 1859, is Europe's largest, seating 3,000.
Sadly, it wasn't open...but we saw a lot!
I was especially mesmerized by all the Stars of David mixed in with the design and architecture.
We peeked through every gate and crevice possible....
...especially at the Memorial of the Hungarian Jewish Martyrs, resembling a weeping willow (1989).
The leaves bear the names of over 400,000 Hungarian Jews murdered by the Nazis.
I just wish we could have gone inside to see the names!
Have you ever wanted to learn Hebrew? I have.
(click any collage to enlarge)
It's the kind of place where you just want to sit and soak it all in!
It so happens that there was an advertisement inside the memorial courtyard that pointed out a Flodni (apple-walnut-poppy-seed pastry) café just down the street. And since it was about that time....
...oh, YES. Just what the doctor ordered. Rachel's flodni, to be precise.
She's "one of the queens of Budapest Jewish cooking. The daughter of a noted rabbi."
Doesn't get more authentic than that...just a few doors down from the synagogue!
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Newly energized, we headed off to another of Budapest's famous churches but stopped off first at the nearby Opera House.
The Hungarian State Opera House, from 1875, is Hungary's largest opera building.
Lucky for us, we were able to step inside the lobby and get a glimpse of the grandeur.
The outside wasn't bad either! (Look at that imp!)
Like I said, we were on our way to see another church, the grand St. Stephen's Basilica from 1905. It's the third largest church building in present-day Hungary, according to Wiki.
If that doesn't grab your attention, wait till you go inside.
And yes, that's a souvenir-coin machine right at the door before going in!
Sometimes there's nothing you can say!
"At the feet of Jesus" came to mind.
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Near St. Stephen's we found the metro station and headed across the Danube to the Buda side of the city. Remember all those churches we saw, clustered near the Matthias Church?
To refresh your mind, see all those steeples? Yup!
We wanted to see what we could of the other churches.
This Elizabeth Temple was on a side street on our way to another church...and wasn't open.
This Church of St. Anne, from 1762, was open...at least for the inside glassed foyer.
It's amazing what pictures you can still take without going all the way inside!
But this Church of Szilágyi Dezso, from 1896, was the one I so hoped was open...but wasn't.
Well, at least it was a treat to behold on the outside. Look at those colored roof tiles!
By then it was time to eat supper and go home. So we did.
And what a great choice it was!
You can never go wrong with a nautical theme...for us!
And because this was our last time on the Buda side of the city, I just had to capture the famous icons again:
By now you should have all these landmarks down pat, right?!
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Other impressions from the day...
...more impressions...
...and more impressions.
This, my friends, is Budapest, with one more day left to go....
