Budapest's Kaleidoscope

Not updated my blipfoto in a while - been in the midst of dissertation and final essay writing since March! But being in Budapest for a week holiday seems a perfect time to restart again!

So the first day- took advantage of the clear skies and warm weather to explore part of the city - mainly getting lost due to complicated street names! There is something strange about being in a country and barely speaking a word of the language - not something I'm normally used to! I've tried to learn 'thank you' and 'hello' at least, but even that is a struggle. Luckily most people recognise immediately that I am a tourist and they tend to speak very good English!

In the afternoon I began following an interesting looking spire in the distance and found myself at St Stephen's Basilica which is situated in a beautiful square. I decided to venture up the tower to the panoramic view, taking over 300 steps to reach the top... I hadn't realised until I arrived at the viewpoint that there had in fact been a lift that would have taken me all the way! Nevertheless the view was pretty breathtaking, the clear skies allowing great visibility of the surrounding city with some amazing architecture. After spending a while up the tower I explored inside the Basilica to find a building of intricate and stunning detail with an impressive central dome (featured in the picture).

After this I found my bearings while enjoying some rich hot chocolate in the square below and planned the rest of the afternoon deciding to visit a gallery or museum or two. Unfortunately I found most of them closed except one interesting art gallery where they told me that most places closed on a Monday - Not something the guide book had mentioned!

Overall a lovely day but now needing to put my feet up after being initially too confused to use the metro and decidedly walking everywhere - but ended up using it eventually and it really wasn't as complicated as it seemed!