Jews and Frickin´ Steep Hills

Today was more or less evenly divided between Jews and some really frickin´ steep hills.

In the morning, we visited the Great Synagogue-- billed as the largest synagogue in Europe and the second largest in the world, after Temple Emanu-El in New York. It is very beautiful and very much in the European style of ornate houses of worship (albeit without all the statuary and imagery of the many churches we have been visiting.) Indeed, after spending so much time in churches lately, it was sort of refreshing to walk into a synagogue-- finally, some landsmen!

The only unfortunate part of the visit to the Great Synagogue was our tour guide. She spoke limited English, and what she said was not really worth tuning into. For most of the twenty minutes (we paid for an hour) that she spoke to us, she listed the various donors to the reconstruction effort and told us which prominent Hungarian Jews had not been generous. Unfortunate stereotypes flashed in my head. I think she spent a total of five sentences on the history of the building.

She did tell us a ˝joke˝ which went like this--

The Orthodox grandfather was sitting at home on Shabbat. He forgot to turn on the light. And you know flipping the light is a sin. So he called to his grandson: ˝Janus! (That is Hungarian for John) I bought you a big bottle of kosher slivovitz brandy, but I cannot find it!˝ And so, Janus turned on the light! The End.

I don´t think it is necessary to offer commentary. The sheer hilariousity of the joke speaks for itself.

Afterwards, Zak and I walked across the lovely Elizabeth bridge to Buda. Our first stop was the famous Cave Church-- an underground sanctuary built in a natural cave in the side of the highest hill in Budapest. The church was nice-- if a little bit dank. We set out to climb the hill, to reach the Liberty Monument (erected in 1945 after the Nazi defeat) and the Citadel (built by the Hapsburgs after the 1848 revolution.) The hill was significantly higher than I realized, and I am deeply out-of-shape. I made it to the top of the hill without having a myocardial infarction, but only barely.

It was worth it. The views from the top were magnificent. Budapest´s urban landscape (which has been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO) is really something to behold. I think Zak and I took about 300 pictures of the Parliament Building alone (thank God for digital!)

After wandering back down the hill, we realized that we now wanted to see Castle Hill, so back up we went. The whole complex was very nice. The Castle is not as grand as those in Vienna, but well worth looking at up close. Even cooler was St. Matthias Church-- a traditional, Gothic church that is completely covered in colorful, geometric paintings. Zak and I shared a beer at a little beer garden looking out over the city before descending Castle Hill.

We took a meandering walk back to the hostel, where both us have been chilling for the past few hours. Zak is making noises about going out later, I am thinking about an early night. I am starting to understand the wisdom of resting a little bit between bouts of sight-seeing-- I believe that my back and feet will thank me for it.