Long Weekend in Budapest, Hungary
Photos taken May 29, 2010 - May 31, 2010

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Exiting the toll road near Zagreb. To drive from Split to Zagreb costs about 150kune ($30). You travel about 350 kilometers.
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Driving on the highway northeast of Zagreb, towards Hungary. Didn't have many companions on the road between Zagreb and Hungary.
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Croatia / Hungary border crossing. Packed!! Not really. Apparently not too much travel between Hungary and Croatia.
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We stopped at Lake Balaton - Hungary's largest body of water - to break for a few minutes. Watched some fisherman here.
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They caught one!
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Lake Balaton
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Lake Balaton
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Arriving at our fantastic hotel: Art'otel.
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The other half of our hotel. We asked for a triple room because Paula joined Kelly and I -- and they gave us a suite instead. Awesome!
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Our bathroom.
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Provided toiletries.
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Budapest's Parliament Building - inspired by the one in London, apparently. Very cool to see. And the River Danube.
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Budapest's Parliament Building
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Architecture on a building near our hotel.
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Budapest's Parliament Building
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Bridge crossing from Buda side of River Danube to Pest side of river.
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Entry Gate to the 4 Seasons hotel
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Yummmm. Best steak I had in a long time.
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Paula is rich!!! Not really - 20,000 HUF (Hungarian Forints) equals 83 USD. (as of 6/7/2010)
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Interesting-looking church near our hotel.
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Budapest's Parliament Building.
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Riding the subway - Budapest had some pretty old-fashioned ones.
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On the subway
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Couples in love buy a padlock, write their initials on it, lock it on this gate, and throw the key in the Danube River as a sign of commitment to one another.
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St. Stephen's Basilica - named after Budapest's first king. Tied for tallest building in Budapest with the parliament building - symbolizes equality of government and religion.
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St. Stephen's Basilica
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The Four Seasons Hotel
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Visiting the Castle district
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View from the Castle district hill.
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View of Budapest's suburbs.
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Kelly groping a horse. Legend says that this improves one's experiences.
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Fisherman's Bastion. Looks like Disney's castle!
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Fisherman's Bastion
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Fisherman's Bastion
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Fisherman's Bastion
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View of the parliament building from Castle hill
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Fisherman's Bastion
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Sculpture of a man falling
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Parliament Building
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Parliament Building
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Giant Egg inside the parliament building.
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Inside the parliament chamber
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Inside the parliament building.
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Inside the parliament building.
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Touring an old mansion, now the postal service museum.
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Old morse code machine. Still (at least partly) operational! I had fun punching out SOS.
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Postal Museum
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Postal Museum
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Entrance to the Postal Museum
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St. Stephen's Basilica
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Budapest's Opera House
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Budapest's Opera House
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Budapest's Opera House
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Budapest's Opera House
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Budapest's Opera House
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Cheers!
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We shared a bottle of wine for dinner. This bottle was chosen because of the dog on the label.
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Paula and Kelly wrapped up in blankets during our dinner because we sat on the covered terrace as it was chilly and raining outside.
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Art'otel's hallway artwork.
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Art'otel's hallway artwork.
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Kelly asked me to make a funny face. This was the best I could come up with because I was tired :)
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Budapest's Market
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at the market
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at the market
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Budapest Heroes Square
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Budapest Heroes Square
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Budapest Heroes Square
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The Széchenyi Bath house - the region surrounding Budapest is home to many thermal springs. There are several bath houses around the city utilizing the springs. We visited this one, one of the biggest.
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Jay and a bunch of old ladies in one of the outdoor pools. This giant pool was 90 degrees farenheit.
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Széchenyi Bath
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Hungarian gentlemen enjoying a game of chess. This pool was 102 degrees farenheit. A giant pool / hot tub!
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The bath house also had about 20 different pools (big and small ones) inside. Here's Kelly!
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Showing off the architecture in the bath house
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Architecture in the bath house.
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On our drive home, we encountered VERY strong winds. Never experienced anything like it.
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Driving back home.
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Driving back home.
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Driving back home.
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Another wind advisory - posting a speed of 40kmph, when normal speed is 130kmph! (from 80 to 25 mph)
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Driving back home.
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Driving back home.
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