Magyar Mayhem - A Pictorial Post

Two weeks ago, I joined my cousin Stefani on a trip to the former Eastern Block countries of Hungary and the Czech Republic.  First on the agenda was Budapest.  It's a very beautiful and cosmopolitan city that's been through many a war in its day, and has been through a lot of rebuilding.  Most of the downtown area looks as if it's from the late 1800s/early 1900s and the ornate detailing adorning the buildings reminded me a lot of Paris.  Instead of a lengthly blow-by-blow of what we did, here's a pictorial of our short stay in the city.

Walking across the Danube via the famous Chain Bridge, which was the first permanent bridge to cross the river, thus joining the cities of Buda and Pest.

Wandering around the Castle District, taking in the lovely view afforded of the Pest side of the city (where we were staying). 

*Hungarian Parliament Building*

The Royal Palace...

Ambling through the surrounding castle grounds we found ourselves outside a little wine cellar offering tastings.  Check the watch - 10 minutes 'til noon.  Yep.  Time to imbibe... 

Fisherman's Bastion...

Matthias Church...(most was covered in scaffolding, so I tried to be creative with my shots)...

We tooled around the Central Market Hall and nosed around in the shops along Váci utca (the street on which our hotel resided). 

Dinner at Fatal - when you're hungry in Hungary, not only is the food delish, but the meals should fill you up...if not, there's something seriously wrong with you! 

Our neighboring tables both ordered the Farmer's Plate (or something like that).  It had Hungarian noodles, veggies, some kind of breaded meat, a "tee-pee" of fried fish, and yes, that is a sausage on top...because why wouldn't there be?! 

St Stephen's Budapest Basilica...

There were a few other sites to see in the city, however our time was limited, and even though Eyjafjallajökull provided us with a few extra hours, we unfortunately spent the time trying to figure out how to get to our next destination.  We did however, manage to squeeze in another meal and a few cocktails to better tolerate our overnight bus ride to Prague.