After the cathedral, we visited an ancient castle situated high above the surrounding towns. We could get an excellent view of the Danube River and the countryside.
For lunch, I had the pork knuckle (pig knee). It may have been the fattiest piece of meat I've ever had, but it was delicious.
Our last stop of the day was a town about thirty minutes outside of Budapest. The picturesque town has seven churches and cobblestone streets. We spent about three hours checking out various museums, historical sites, and a famous cake shop serving cakes like those served in the 1800s. They were delicious.
After the tour, we spent the evening walking past some of the beautiful buildings again to see them illuminated. The most beautiful had to be the parliament building, which is pictured below.
There is a heartbreaking monument that we encountered as we walked along the water. It depicts a bunch of shoes along the water's edge. We read that it depicts the shoes that were taken off by a group of Jews right before the Nazis shot them from behind into the river. We heard so many gruesome stories that all happened within the past 100 years. It is very hard to imagine, but these things are still happening, only to different people in other locations. I don't want to get political during these posts, so all I'll say is that it is important we learn from the past.
Current Event of the Day:
While we were walking in the evening, there were protests in the Freedom Square close to the Parliament. The government (which is wildly unpopular in Budapest) passed a bill aimed at closing down a liberal university because of the many supporters and students who oppose the government. At 11:30, a much smaller group of protesters passed by our hotel. We decided to follow them for a while and passively stand and watch the protest. It was all very peaceful, but they were blocking a major roadway in the center of Budapest.