This weekend we all travelled into Budapest to spend a few days checking out Hungary's awesome capital city (mainly because Dave hadn't seen it yet). Even though we left Máriapócs at about 4pm on Friday afternoon, it was almost 8pm before we finally checked in to our hotel. We thought we'd lucked out when we easily found a parking space on a nearby street, but our excitement was shortlived as we watched the car in front of ours get slapped with a parking ticket. Daniel quickly jumped back into our car and set off to find another space (which hopefully saved us from incurring yet another fine), which left Dave, Iago and I to find the hotel by foot. This proved to be quite a difficult task as we had no idea where we were. Anyway, after about an hour of driving/wandering around we finally managed to find each other and the hotel. Phew!
On Saturday morning Daniel and I woke up super early and took Iago back to the vet for the next stage in the process of returning him to Australia. In addition to receiving injection and nasal spray vaccinations, Iago also had some samples taken for important blood tests. I'm pleased to say that he was really well behaved throughout all of the procedures, but he did act like a total hero once it was over and his leg was bandaged. There was a lot of overly dramatic limping and licking of the "wound"...which remarkably stopped as soon as we handed him his new chew toy. Hmmmm.
Later on Saturday morning, after collecting Dave from the hotel, we all joined a free group walking tour of Budapest. The tour ran for two and a half hours and took in many of the city's most famous sights, and provided a great introduction to Hungarian history, language, food, customs and scientific contributions. During the first part of the tour we saw some landmarks on the Pest side of the Danube, including the Vigadó Concert Hall, a beautiful building that unfortunately has such bad acoustics that no musician will perform there twice and the Little Princess statue, the first piece of public art commissioned in Budapest after Communist rule and whose golden knees are a product of people constantly rubbing them for good luck. We also checked out Saint Stephen's Basilica, the largest church and equal-tallest building in Budapest and home to the mummified right hand of Hungary's first king. Interestingly, our tour guide informed us that the Basilica is not technically a basilica, but it has came to be known as one because the Pope once incorrectly referred to it as such. And, of course, no one was game enough to argue with the Pope.
After the Basilica, we crossed over the gorgeous lion-guarded Széchenyi Chain Bridge, and climbed up Castle Hill to Buda Castle. From the lookout, we took in some fantastic views of Budapest and learned that the entire scene before us was a World Heritage listed site. After the lookout, we passed by the Office of the Hungarian President (Köztársasági elnöki hivatal). Our tour guide informed us that from 1 January 2012 it is no longer permissable for anybody to touch the exterior of the building and it is now also surrounded by heavily armed guards. Other highlights of Castle Hill included the famous Matthias Church and Fisherman's Bastion, as well as lesser known sights such as a water fountain that resembled a large penis (apparently it's supposed to be a turban), a Trabant car made from cardboard and plastic, and a horse statue with shiny golden balls (the result of lots of rubbing by students who seem to think it brings them good luck during exams). 
When the walking tour ended we decided to visit the nearby Labyrinth of Buda Castle. We really weren't sure what to expect from this attraction. We'd seen information on the web which suggested that it had been closed down in a dramatic government raid last July, but our walking tour guide assured us that it had since reopened under new management. Fortunately she was right! The Labyrinth turned out to be a large 1.5km network of caves and tunnels under Buda Castle. During our visit everything was pretty bare and poorly lit so it was easy to keep running into dead ends and losing our bearings. I think it would have been an awesome place to play hide and seek if we'd had more time. Daniel and Dave thought it would make a great paintball setting.
After exploring the Labyrinth, we made our way back across the Danube to our hotel and started preparing for our next adventure - outdoor night iceskating at Városligeti Műjégpálya, the largest artificial ice surface in Europe. First opened in 1870, the iceskating complex has just been renovated and recently hosted the 2012 European Speed Skating Championships. Unfortunately, while Daniel was quite quick on his skates, Dave and I could hardly have been confused for speed skaters last night. In fact, I spent most of my time sitting on the sidelines! Dave was pretty good, however, and he managed to successfully complete several laps of the massive rink (although he did fall over twice). All in all, lots of fun!
Since the iceskating rink was just across the road from Heroes Square, we all wandered across to check it out once we'd returned our skates. I really love Heroes Square. I think it's such an amazing place and the enormous sculptures always make me feel a strong combination of awe and pride. But I don't think Daniel or Dave felt the same way. They just wanted to punch a horse. And I don't think it was very impressed!
Today we finished off our weekend in Budapest by visiting the Citadella, a massive former military fortress. It sits atop a plateau on Gellért Hill and offers some stunning views of the city. For me, however, the main highlight of the trip to the Citadella was exploring old WWII bunkers which have been converted into a photographic and wax model museum. Many of the images were very disturbing and they left a powerful impression. I was also impressed again by the sheer size and scale of the Liberty Statue which was added to Gellért Hill in 1947. While the statue was originally intended as a reminder of the Soviet liberation of Hungary during WWII, it eventually came to symbolise Hungary's own liberation from communism in 1989.
Anyway, I think that's more than enough history and excitement for one weekend.
- Amanda
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