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The capital city of Budapest was truly a glimpse of European glory. Divided by the Danube, the sights around the older parts of town kept all of us busy for days. It reminded me of Prague - perhaps not quite as stunningly fabulous, but certainly nothing to sneeze at. Alea drew a picture when we came back of 'her favorite thing on the trip' and drew the palace and Chain Bridge (below).

The Parliament building is astounding. Second only to Westminster (after which it is patterned), it lights up the night sky when seen from the Fishermen's Bastion.

Buried underneath the city are a huge series of catacmbs that have been used and expanded since prehistoric times. One of the more interesting 'tours' that we took was through a reconstruction of history decorating the dark walls of the cave labyrinth. A great stop was at a fountain that had wine (yes really!!) pouring out of it.

Because we were travelling during Easter week, we stopped in to catch the service at St. Stephen's basilica. While we didn't get a chance to see his mummified right hand, we were astounded by the sheer numbers of worshippers and tourists filling the huge church.

Of course, what would a capital city be without grand monuments to the leaders of the past? Heroes Square celebrates past Hungarians (including, apparently, those greatly-feared 'Huns.' Makes sense, I guess.  Alea and Breck weren't too impressed. As happened quite often during the trip, Barbie and the Bionicle came out and began planning a wedding or something...