Hungary: Budapest & Eger

1. A bronze sculpture of the mythical turul bird guards the Royal Palace. This statue marks the millennium anniversary of the Magyar conquest in 896.
2. Looking across the Danube River
3. Hungary's Parliment is the country's largest building -- and is Imre Steindl's Neo-Gothic masterpiece built between 188401902.
4. Me, flowers, just blocks from our hotel
5. The Chain Bridge, with Szent Istvan (St. Stephen's Basilica) in the distance
6. This monument to Imre Nagy symbolizes the insurgent prime minister's 1956 defection from the side of Communism to the side of the people -- a protest that cost him his life.
7. Hero's Square, where the Millennium Celebrations opened in 1896.
8. "Violin man" was part of the SPRING festivities at Mihaly Vorosmarty Square just a few blocks from our hotel.
9. Chess, anyone?
10. Traditional Hungarian food -- DELICIOUS! I tried the goulash here. Paprika was the most common spice in the food. Instead of "salt and pepper" on the table, it's "sale and paprika."
11. A section of Obuda's impressive Roman ampitheatre. The Romans arrived in the region soon after the time of Christ, building this impressive ampitheatre in the middle of the 2nd century A.D..
12. Sunday afternoon in Eger
13. Eger is a delightful old town
14. Through the castle wall in Eger. The Hungarians are very proud that this is the place where they turned back the Turks. Nearly all of the "monuments" we saw celebrate how Hungary endured and subsequently "kicked out" the Romans, the Turks, and the Communists.
15. St. Istvan Hotel where we stayed for our meetings -- this was the entrance to my room.
16. Flowers in a window box.