#st. stephens basilica

[winnistravels]

Discovering St. Stephen's Basilica A Budapest Treasure

[octaviasdread]

(don’t repost photos)

St. Stephen’s Basilica, Budapest, Hungary

[kristo-flowers]

St. Stephen's Basilica, Budapest, Hungary

[travelella]

St. Stephen's Basilica, Budapest, Hungary

Bernard Hermant

[cclarklibrary]

St. Stephen's Basilica

Christmas market

[love-venus-stuff]

More of the same

[dknuth]

Budapest

We arrived in Budapest by bus instead of our ship, and we had to get up and out extra early to do it. The main entry on the ship was full of luggage tagged for people going to the airport, to the official hotel in Budapest, or to a drop-off for those going their own way. As usual, three ships were at the dock; ours was the furthest. The main entries for the ships usually don't line up well, so we passengers had to go up to the top deck and cross from ship to ship there, then down to the entry of the last ship and up the ramp to shore. In the meantime, the staff was doing a bucket brigade with the luggage between ships, lifting them over all the railings. Then we had to wait at our bus for our luggage to arrive and identify it before loading it. It all happened in what looked a bit like chaos but on time and amazing efficiently, no thanks to the passengers.

Our drop-off in Budapest was only a few blocks from our apartment and we had arranged an early arrival there, so we could walk directly there and let ourselves in. In line with our individual inclinations, Cathie wanted a nap after that morning, and I wanted a walk. The main market was about a mile away, PERFECT!

There was a pedestrian street that covered most of the distance. Budapest has many miles of beautiful pedestrian streets with stone paving blocks lined with shops, cafes, and restaurants. So it's a lovely walking city. The cafes, bars and restaurants were all busy and a lot of people on the street.

The whole pedestrian street and many more is paved with stone tiles. They were paving the side streets around it.

It takes a lot of labor compared to concrete, but looks so much better!

The manhole covers in these areas are also beautiful with a bronze finish.

There are also monuments and statues all through the city.

The whole effect is a very inviting atmosphere.

I think a big difference between Europe and the US is people here expect to walk, and enjoy walking. Most Americans want to drive to a store and then drive to the next store. Even the big shopping malls are dying, because people don't want to walk. I love to walk so it is a real pleasure to be somewhere that is designed for walkers!

We were learning more modern local history and much of Budapest was run down and in bad shape until the early 1990's. If so, they have made an amazing transformation in 30 years.

The market building is impressive.

Inside many of the stalls are selling tourist goods, of course, but there are still plenty of places selling fruits and vegetables.

I bought an onion and a pepper, eggs, and some mushrooms thinking of omelets for breakfast. I also got some fruit and bread and spotted a vendor selling dried and candied fruit. I've been thinking that it's been a while since we made fruitcake, in part because the fruit has gotten harder to find. So I went back the next day and bought a load.

The buildings from the late 1800's to early 1900's are the stars of the urban landscape here. But many of the modern buildings are also handsome.

A big question in my mind has been how to get around, since Cathie can't walk as far as she used to. We discussed local transit and the Hop-On/Hop-Off buses. I took a trip across town using the local transit app. I was fairly confused. I knew I needed to start at one transit station and the number of the subway line, or was it the bus, or maybe the tram? There is a small icon of a vehicle, but on my phone, I could not tell them apart. I assumed that it was the subway. It looked like the color of one of the subway lines. But I couldn't find one that had the destination station. So I went back up top and found that it was also the end station for some of the tram lines and one tram line matched up. After that, it worked fine. I'm still not sure if the online ticket I bought and validated at the subway station was valid for the tram. Another problem with transit is while the subway may be efficient, you do not see the city at all!

I decided that all might be confusing for Cathie and got tickets for the HO/HO buses. The first one we took was terrible: the motor was so loud we couldn't hear a thing and the inside of the bus smelled of diesel fumes. The woman making the announcement is incomprehensible to us. The stairs to the top were closed. When we got on, and only later figured out that there was another one in the back.

When we got off and then caught a later bus it was much newer, quieter, and didn't stink, also the announcer was much better.

The other trouble with the HO/HO buses is they run in a loop, in one direction only. So to go to a place and back would mean doing the whole loop again.

My conclusion was that the thing to do is to spend more time figuring out the public transit options and operations. If the trams or buses work for your destinations it's the best option. The HO/HO buses are only for those who do not want to do that.

We didn't do much in the way of churches and museums. Cathie didn't have the energy and I didn't have enough interest. But St. Stephen's Basilica was just a couple of blocks away, so we went.

The pavement in front was incredible. It was mosaic like that in Roman churches, but outside!

Like much of Budapest, it was built between 1850 and 1905. So it's not ancient. But 150 years of Ottoman rule will really constrict your church building.

We went on the roof and had a great view across the city.

[lucifersunderstudyy]

[allaboutyoupostnthings]

A Prayer for God’s Blessings on Families, Nations, and the World, Day 168, Hungary

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for today. Thank you for what you do for me each and every day and for that which I fail to notice. Thank you for taking care of my family, friends, and acquaintances. I ask that you shield and protect them and guide them in this life. Bring them safely home to you. Let them know that you are there for them. Never let me forget your presence in my life and guide…

[igor67]

Bazilika,Budapest

[optikestrav]

Szent István-bazilika/ St Stephen's Basilica, Budapest, Hungary (construction: 1851-1906)

© optikestrav

[shockercoco]

Little Do You Know

Austin Butler x reader

Warnings - none just fluff

Word count - 1144

a/n - request: "I have a request. I was think about when Austin was in Budapest filming Dune II and reader showing him or the whole crew (Timothee, Zendaya, Florence) around the city in their free time and Austin gets a crush on the reader and the crew teases him about it" - hopefully i fulfilled your vision :)

“You need to get out of this place, you know, get some fresh air,” you tell Austin as you stand in front of him.

He was currently reclining on the lounge chair in front of you reading Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. The book was literally centuries old, but somehow it caught his attention.

“I went out with you guys earlier,” he says referring to you and Florence, his eyes still attached to the book.

“That was for breakfast, and afterwards we came straight back here. I’m talking about just getting out and walking around to explore. This is your first time in Budapest, do you really want to spend your days off from filming surrounded by four walls all day?”

“It’s no use, he’s been stuck in that position all day,” you hear Florence say. Florence was sitting out on the condo’s balcony – it had been rented to the three of you for the duration of filming Dune. She swivels her chair around to join the conversation currently happening inside.

“I’m not taking no for an answer,” you glance at her before looking back at Austin. “This is unacceptable. You have plenty of time to read, the book isn’t going anywhere.”

“And Budapest isn’t going anywhere either, we’re going to be here for a while,” Austin looks up at you while he speaks, but immediately looks back down at his book when he’s done.

You scoff before you snatch the book out of his hands and hold it behind your back.

He lets out a big sigh and says, “really?”

Austin looks over at Florence as if he was silently asking for help, but she says, “I’m not on your side.”

He laughs at her statement before looking up at you. You raise your eyebrows, waiting for him to say something.

“I guess…I can take a break,” he finally says. 

You smile and hand his book back to him, before turning around and heading to your room to change. This causes you to miss the smile he gives you back and the way he stares at you as you walk away. Florence notices, though, but she already knew about his crush on you. It was the main reason he caved in so quickly.

What everyone doesn’t though is his reasoning for not wanting to go out – he doesn’t know how to act around you. When you look up at him he can’t help but smile, he also can’t help the way his neck turns red, but you don’t notice. When you asked him a question and he gave you an answer, he would end up overthinking for the next hour if his response was too long, or wonder if his answer was good enough, or even wonder if he made too much eye contact with you.

“Are you going to tell her, or should I,” she smirks at him as she comes inside from the balcony.

“Don’t you dare,” Austin points at her, and she laughs.

You took responsibility for being the tour guide around the city, this is what you do in all new cities. Anytime it was someone else, you just ended up being in charge in the end, but of course you took suggestions.

“Where to next?” you ask everyone behind you as you look down at the minimap on your phone. Timothee and Zendaya had finished filming for the day and ended up joining you guys on the sightseeing journey.

 The sun was setting and you all had just left St. Stephen’s Basilica, or as the locals call it Szent Istvan Bazilika.

“Oh, now you want to ask us?” Timothee jokes from behind you, causing you to turn around to see him smiling at you, Austin standing next to him with his hands in his pockets. You continue walking, but backwards to keep moving.

“Well I wasn’t going to, but I figured it was rude to not hear from the group,” you joke back with a shrug of your shoulders.

“I’m fine with you leading, you’re doing a great job,” Zendaya says from beside you, Florence hums in agreement from the other side of her. You look at Austin for his answer, and he just nods with a grin on his face

“Well thank you, I’m glad my service is appreciated,” you say to no one in particular and then look back at Timothee.

“Do you have a suggestion?” you raise your eyebrows at him.

“Well since I’m the only one that seems to have a problem, nope,” he laughs and you smile back.

Meanwhile, while you were talking to Timothee, Austin was watching you. He watched the way your face lit up as you joked with Timothee, the light from the sunset reflecting on your face. He watched how the whites of your teeth showed when you smiled and the way your lip gloss made your teeth look even whiter.

When you bumped into someone on accident from you walking backwards, he watched the way you immediately apologized and helped the person pick up their dropped belongings. He saw the embarrassment on your face when you turned back to the group to ask, “So no one was going to tell me that I was going to crash into someone?”

You easily brushed it off and turned around to continue walking, allowing Austin to stare at you as much as you wanted. When he heard you laugh at something Florence said, a grin instantly appeared on his face.

Austin felt Timothee nudge him in his side to get his attention. When he looked over, Timothee leaned in with a smirk to whisper, “you’re making it so obvious, just tell her.”

Austin playfully pushed him away. He did want to tell you, he just didn’t know how to tell you, which he knew was ridiculous because you wouldn’t be the first girl he admitted his feelings to. Another thing holding him back was the thought of you not liking him back and just seeing him as a friend.

What Austin didn't know, though, you had feelings for him too, but you were one of those people who would never admit their feelings first. You getting rejected? No. There was no way you could just move on and pretend like it didn’t happen. 

Florence and Zendaya both knew how you felt and kept asking you to tell him because according to them “It’s obvious Austin likes you.” You just thought they were saying that to try and convince you, not knowing it was actually true.

Eventually, Austin would admit his feelings to you when it felt like the right time, and of course you would say yes. When everyone found out that you were dating, you two would have to deal with the endless amount of teasing and ‘I told you so’s’ because little did you both know, the feelings were reciprocated.

[riseofthecommonwoodpile]

while reading Religious Poverty and the Profit Economy in Medieval Europe, i came across this passage that is so "If the Jew did not exist, the Antisemite would invent him" that i was taken aback:

At Toulouse in the eleventh century, there was a legend about some Jewish traitors who, more than a century earlier, had given over their town to the advancing armies of Islam. One can understand that civic pride might keep alive such a story of defeat, if there was a clearly established case of treachery involved. But it was a curious civic pride that at Toulouse invented a defeat— for the Moors never took Toulouse— in order to punish the descendants of the supposed traitors. In any event, to perpetuate the memory of this tale, tradition ordained that a Jew stand before the Basilica of St Stephen on Easter Day and be ceremoniously struck in the face; one year the appointed Jew died from the blow. This cruel practice came to an end early in the twelfth century, but only through commutation by an annual money payment to the clergy.

[travelella]

St. Stephen's Basilica, Budapest, Hungary

Massimiliano Morosinotto

[cclarklibrary]

Christmas Market, St. Stephen's Basilica

Less crowded in the day, easier to get some food.

[love-venus-stuff]

Oh to see such beautiful piece of art