D30: Tourist in Budapest

I love travel days like I had today - no real agenda other than just picking a few historic landmarks to walk to and head out the door with my backpack. Per usual, I began my day with an excellent cup of coffee and this yummy breakfast sandwhich at Dorado Cafe (my second day in a row there) and from there, my objective was to find a sunny spot by the river to read and journal. I ended at a monument, called the Shoes on Danube Bank, commemorating the thousands of Jews that were marched to the river and made to remove their shoes (apparently an important item during the war) before they were shot from behind and their bodies carried away by the water. It is sad.

Later while on my walk, I stumbled upon an old famous church in the city and spent time admiring the golden inside. The church features the literal mummified hand of a King who reigned in 1,000 AD. Hilariously (at least to me), this hand has been stolen several times throughout the years by conquering nations before it returned to its final resting place at the church in the early 1,900s. I also spent some time meditating while in the church and it was a surreal experience. While I am not religious myself, there exists a certain aura and quietness in a church and it made for a very deeply introspective meditation.

That evening I met up with the girl who I connected with on the train here and her friends. They were so fun and we spent the evening touring the Buda Castle and the Fisherman’s Bastion (a huge church) together before ending up across the river from the Parliament building. I left them to go eat dinner and pack up my backpack since I’d be on the move again tomorrow.