Taken in December of 2014 in Pécs
This giant four-spired Cathedral is home of the Pécsi Roman Catholic Dioceses. Pécs has held a diocese headquarters since the early 11th century. The town that is now Pécs predates Roman times.
Taken in Budapest in December of 2014
This monument was dedicated in 2006, on the 50th Anniversary of the 1956 Revolution. In the autumn of 1956 there was an armed attempt to revolt against the Soviets and the puppet government they’d established in Hungary. After several days, Soviet forces withdrew, and–to wishful thinkers–it looked like the Soviet yoke might be thrown off. However, the Soviets came back with great duplicity and brutality and crushed the uprising.
From the side.
From the back.
Taken in December of 2014 in Budapest
This is the finished product.
Lepény is a Hungarian street-food that some might call a folded over pizza and others might call a flat-bread sandwich. It’s bread (like pizza crust) topped with cheese and various vegetative and / or meaty toppings and cooked on a grill. (I just realized it could also be considered a fancy grilled cheese that starts from a ball of dough and not from pre-made bread.)
Anyway, there aren’t nearly as many lepény vendors as there are for say Kürtöskalács (the cylindrical sweet bread that is so very, very awesome), but the vendor at the Vörösmarty tér Christmas market always had a massive line. (We did discover that part of the long lines had to do with the temperamental nature of the wood-fired grills they used and the long time it took to cook one if they let the fire die down too much.) Still, people stayed in line, and that speaks somewhat to the tastiness of this treat.
Taken in December of 2014 in Pecs, Hungary
Taken in December of 2014 in Szentendre
Béla Czóbel is a Hungarian artist (Post-Impressionist painter), and this statue was made by another Hungarian artist (sculptor) Imre Varga. It sits in a nondescript location in Szentendre. I’m sure Czóbel wasn’t as angry as he appears in this sculpture. Actually, I’m not sure of that at all. He may have been.
Taken in December of 2014 in Pécs
Taken in December of 2014 in Budapest
Andrássy út is a major boulevard in the Pest side of Budapest. It’s perhaps most well-known as the Embassy Row of Hungary. It’s delimited by Heroes’ Square (Hősök tere) on one end and Bajcsy–Zsilinszky út near Erzsébet tér on the other.
A section of Berlin Wall located outside the Terror House (Terror Haza) Museum
Taken in December of 2014 in Budapest.
This is the same little kid’s rink in front of the Basilica in Budapest.
Taken in December 2014 in Pécs.
Love locks are padlocks that people hang in a public space as a sign of affection–often with a message written on them. Some are fancy; others are not. It reminds me of the Shinto prayer boards one sees in Japan. Love locks are a pretty common phenomena, particularly in Europe. The first ones I remember seeing were in Helsinki, but this wall is in Pécs, Hungary.
Tiger Riding for Beginners 