Budapest: Day 2

Hi All,

I was able to get a pretty healthy sleep the morning of my second day in Budapest. I woke up at 8:00 AM for a tour of the Parliament which I have heard is the one thing you must do in Budapest.

We took the tram from the hotel to the Parliament building and went through their security. After about 100 steps, we finally arrived in the main hall of the Parliament. The building was built out of all Hungarian goods (except for four columns which were a gift from Sweden) and was 100% built by Hungarians. It was a massive building with gorgeous stained glass windows. We were also able to see the crown jewels and the changing of the guards who guard the crown jewels.

Then, we saw one of the discussion chambers. The chamber was similar to one that I saw in the Italian parliament. After that, we left and our tour guide brought us to one of the famous squares in Budapest in front of the Saint Stephen's Church.

We went and grabbed breakfast at one of the restaurants near the square. Then most of us decided to go to the Museum of Terror, a museum about the Hungarian equivalent of the Stasi secret police during the Communist regime in Hungary and their methods of interrogation.

It was by far the best museum I have ever been to. Each of the rooms was so well done. At one point the room is a maze with information on the walls. You feel lost which parallels what the inmates probably felt. My favorite part was the elevator down to the gallows. You could not get down by stairs, only a very slow elevator with a television in the back of it. The television showed an interview with the custodian that had to clean the gallows. He described the different types of cells - normal, ones you couldn't sit down in, ones you couldn't stand up in, interrogation ones, etc. Then, he talked about the executions. It was very powerful. Then, you got off the elevator and saw everything he was talking about. Pretty scary.

After the museum, we met up with a few other people and went to grab a bite to eat for lunch. Then, I headed back to the hotel to rest for a few hours.

That night, we went to a place called Margaret Island for dinner. We ate at an outdoor place which had the soccer games on for the Euro 2012. Before I knew it, it was midnight so I headed back to my hotel.

I really enjoyed Budapest. It had a certain charm to it. It reminded me a bit of Rome. A very cheap Rome.

Michael