Hungary

The night train to Budapest promised to be a bit of an adventure. The conductor showed me how to barricade my door shut with a length of chain and the ladder to prevent thieves from gaining entrance to my sleeper. The only excitement came from constantly having to open the door for the border police of the countries I passed through on the way to Hungary (Slovenia and Croatia). I didn't sleep too well.

Things got off to a rocky start when I arrived in Budapest. Dad was supposed to meet me there, but he was nowhere to be found. After 3 hours and a few phone calls, he finally showed up. Somehow our signals got crossed and he thought I was coming from Vienna, not Venice. No worries. So there I was in the homeland of my father.


Dad (in the middle behind me), his friend from school and his family.	Budapest is split into two parts: Buda on the left and Pest on the right of the river.


Saving Budapest from the Luftwaffe.	The Matthias church.	Lions guarding the Chain bridge over the Danube.


The Fisherman's Bastion.	The Hungarian Parliament buildings

Me in front of Hero's Square	Lazlo (on the left) was the son of a friend of Dad's who took me around Budapest. We hit some local clubs that night.

These annoying billboards were everywhere in Budapest.	The Buda castle at night.

Dad grew up in a house that used to stand on this site in a tiny village in northeastern Hungary.	This is the school where my dad caused trouble as a child.

We traveled all over Hungary to see the places and people of his youth. After almost a week with my dad, I moved on to Austria for the final week of my trip. My first Austrian stop was Vienna.