Do you have a map?

Saturday was our first day in Budapest (which, we found out quickly, is pronounced Bu-da-pesht) We also found out that when the website for the hostel said they had internet access, luggage storage, and a free map, they actually meant they had none of those things. So we went outside and started to explore senza a map, until we happened upon a gas station and bought one. Budapest is quite large because it is 2 cities combined Buda and Pest, mind blown? So we took a metro to a place where our friend told us free walking tours began and there happened to be an Easter Market in the square, similar to Prague's. They had those round pastries and so of course we had to buy one before the tour began. And it was delightful.
We were just in time for the Jewish Quarter and Pubs tour. Budapest has the largest Synagogue in Europe and it was restored after WWII with the help of Tony Curtis. There is also the last piece of the Ghetto wall inside the courtyard of the synagogue.

This is a memorial to those Jews who were made to take off their shoes and then shot into the Danube by the Nazis.

The tour ended in a really cool pub which was a converted municipal building with second hand furniture and plants along the ceiling. We ended up going back after dinner and the place was a hip scene. If I ever go back to Budapest I would love to go back there with a whole group of friends because its one of those places you can sit, talk, and enjoy the quirkiness. Then Lindsey and I walked around the city and came across this fun dancing fountain, and we both agreed that by Italian standards this would not be considered a fountain, more just random water. We dined at what claimed to be Budapest's first Strudel House, and the duck and dumplings I had for an entree were delicious, however the strudel left something to be desired because it contained no sugar. The only thing that saved it was that it was served with a container of powdered sugar and I heaped that stuff on like there was no tomorrow. The strudel I had in Prague was far superior.

The Jewish Ghetto (More Learning!)

My friends and I went on a little walking tour of the Jewish Ghetto. The Jews of Rome where placed into the Ghetto twice in recorded history. The first in the sixteenth century by Pope Paul IV who wanted them all to convert to Christianity. He placed churches at the exits with a plaque written in Hebrew quoting Isaiah, "I have stretched out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, who walk in evil paths and follow their own thoughts." Which is an unsubtle way of saying the Jews rejected the savior they had been waiting for and they should convert. The Jews were restricted to this section of the city until 1870 when Italy united and the Papal State lost power. The second time, was as you can guess, during the invasion of the Nazis. The lined the Jews up in the main square and told them to produce 110 lbs of gold within 24 hours and they would let them stay. So they collected everything they had and even gentile Romans contributed until finally they had enough, and the next day the Nazis collected all the gold and took all the Jews to the concentration camps. Only 16 of the 1,007 Roman Jews returned. The square is now named 16 Ottobre 1943 after the day this took place.

Irony of ironies, the Jewish Ghetto has some beautiful ruins from ancient Rome in it and as a result, the property values have risen considerably, so now it's one of the most expensive places to live.


This is the Synagogue, the only square dome in Rome.

On a happier note, not far from this precious sign is a kosher bakery that sells the chocolate cake I had for breakfast after the tour.