Today, we took a Danube Bend tour outside of Budapest to Esztergom and the artist village of Szentendre.
Esztergom was at one point the capital and is still the religious capital. The name comes from Ester, a Celtic goddess, from which we get Easter. The Celts, who were here long before the Romans, left many place names, including the Danube.
Esztergom was built between 1822 and 1856 and Fraz List wrote the dedication mass.
We crossed the Danube into Slovenia in order to get a view of the church from across the river.
Danube behind Esztergom
I also found this memorial to the Jews from the town who died between 1939 and 1945, a grim reminder of the losses.
Szentendre, which comes from the Scottish St. Andrew, had been a Serbian settlement until Yugoslavia was formed and the Serbs moved there, leaving the village empty and artists moved in. It is a lovely little town with winding cobbled streets.
Parliament building by night
That night I did a Budapest by Night tour which took us to a restaurant in the Buda forest for a huge meal, gypsy music, and folk dancing.
Here is a clip of the folk dancers.