the chain link bridge with Buda's castle looming above

the "fake" castle built by an enormously wealthy eccentric, downtown behind hero's square

one of the hero's of hero's square - a semi-circular monument containing statues of dozens of former kings of Hungary

the inside of St. Matthais Cathedral, one of the most gorgeous i have ever seen

a view of the parliment building in Budapest, built in the same style of architecture as the famous parliment in London

the spire of a church pierces the sky while the ubiquitis night lights of Buda shimmer in the Danube river

St. Matthais from the outside, built in the Gothic style like Notre Dame in Paris. It is especially famous for its colorful roof

another view of the parliment building at night

atop castle hill, the dome of buda's palace, now a museum, towers above the ancient city

inside St. Stephen's, the faithful light candles while the sun goes down and the beautiful interior fills with dusk.

the ruins of an 11th century monastery, taken from atop a section of it. the only ones around, jill and i decided to go for a little climb.

standing where the ancient celts probably stood, on top of the ruins of the first significant building in buda, at the highest point - the ancient citadel atop gellert hill, the castle and bridge seem small below.

another view of the "medieval-esque" castle

looking up at the inner decorations in St. Matthais, this is what one would see

tthe gate of the chain link bridge, guarded on both sides by lions of Buda, representing the peaceful union of Buda and Pest.

the most treasured ancient historian of hungary unfortunately never revealed his, or her, own name. This statue is dedicated to "ANONYMVS" in his honor

the facade of St. Stephens, above which is written, "I am the way, truth, and light" in Latin

taken while crossing the chain link bridge; a view down the center of the Danube

we ate brunch at a delightful restaurant across from these Turkish baths. although we did not go in these, we visited the historic gellert baths nearby for quite a cultural experience.

underneath castle hill there are labyrinths formed by thermal springs which have been used for hideouts and storage places at different points in history, including both world wars. now a wacky, spooky, and fun tourist attraction, we wandered around exploring for awhile down here.

fog marked most of my trip, giving the beautiful city a type of mystical quality unable to be captured in photographs