First Hours in Budapest

This is the Budapest Opera House. We were close to getting tickets, but it didn't work out.



Inside the Opera House lobby even the ceiling was beautifully painted and unfortunately quite dark.

This is outside of St. Stephan's Dome. Built over the course of half a century and completed in 1905. The original dome collapsed during a storm in 1868 and much of the church had to be rebuilt. Inside the church is quite dark and gloomy. The mummified right hand of St. Stephan is preserved in the church, but we skipped that part of the tour. We loved the sculptures that were perched everywhere around and on the building.






St. Stephan's from the street.


The church is so big, it was difficult to get it totally in one frame.



This is just one of the doors that lead into our beautiful hotel, The Four Seasons Gresham Palace. It was created in the Art Nouveau style.

Our hotel sat on the Pest side of the city. The locals call it "Pesh" as in Budapesh. Buda, meaning hilly, describes the other side of the city. The Danube divides the city but is connected by many bridges. The most famous of which is the chain bridge.






This is the Buda side of the city and the other end of the Chain Bridge.


The view of Parliament from Buda.