1. Budapest, Hungary September 2009

2. Menza, a 1970s-style restaurant

4. Hungarian State Opera House – celebrating its 125 year anniversary

5. The lobby of the Opera House

6. Handing out 125th anniversary gala programs in period costume

7. Broadcasting live opera to celebrate 125 years

8. The unique décor of the Homemade Hostel

9. The inner courtyard of the hostel’s building

10. Modern Budapest

11. Vorosmartyter

12. Vaciutca – a shop-lined pedestrian street that was once the main shopping street for people in the Communist bloc who wanted a taste of the West. This McDonald’s was the first one behind the Iron Curtain.

14. An elegant shopping gallery

15. Great Market Hall

17. Inside Great Market Hall

21. The Great Synagogue

23. Chain Bridge – looking from Pest across to Buda and Castle Hill

25. Danube River

26. Castle Hill A reconstruction of the Royal Palace (destroyed in WW2)

27. The Turul statue – a mythical bird in Hungarian folktales

29. From Castle Hill, looking towards Parliament

30. Chain Bridge, St. Istvan’s Cathedral, and Pest

31. Matthia’s Church on Castle Hill – ongoing conservation efforts

32. Matthia’s Church – the banners have been hanging here since the coronation of Hapsburg Franz Josef as King of Hungary in 1867.

34. St. Istvan (Stephen) – Hungary’s first Christian king

38. Strolling the Danube at night

39. Chain Bridge and Castle Hill

41. Parliament

42. At a ruin bar, Szimpla, with new friends

44. Budapest’s thriving café scene

46. St. Istvan’s Cathedral

47. Danube River and Parliament

49. Parliament

50. A meal flavored with Hungarian paprika

51. New friends Susan and Seth, watching soccer at a rooftop bar

52. Andrassy ut and the Oktogon

54. House of Terror – once the HQ for both the Nazi-supported Arrow Cross and Communist secret police, now a chilling museum

55. A torture cell

56. Example of Communist-approved artwork, “Socialist Realism”

57. In the courtyard, a wall with photos of all the people killed or who disappeared in this building

58. Heroes’ Square, at the end of Andrassy ut

59. Replica of a Transylvanian castle built in City Park

60. The castle’s courtyard

62. Szechenyi Baths

64. Inside the thermal baths

65. A classic Budapest café experience at MuveszKavehaz

69. Liberation Monument on Gellert Hill

70. Cave Church in Gellert Hill

74. Liberty Bridge

75. Budapest’s Keleti train station