Budapest : Hungarian Parliament

Leaving Prague behind, we hop aboard a small plane to Budapest, Hungary! In just 1.5 hours we arrive at the airport, catch a shuttle bus to the city and rest in our hotel to regain energy for the following day with lots of activities planned!

The Parliament

Probably one of the most popular tourist destinations of Budapest. One of Europe's oldest legislative buildings, and is currently the largest building in Hungary, and the largest Parliament in Europe! This very symmetrical arrangement is designed to serve as a double chamber system, similar to the Capitol of Washington D.C. The center dome hall is designated for joined sessions. Visitors are only allowed inside under guided tours.

The main facade of the building faces the Danube River,

but the official main entrance faces the street on the opposite side of the river.

As you first enter the building, after passing through security, you come across a

model of the Parliament made entirely of matches!

FUN FACT! Did you know that the first noiseless match was invented by a Hungarian chemist in 1836!

We walk up the Grand Stairwell with a view of the amazing frescoes on the ceiling.

A view of the other side of the Grand Stairwell.

As we come to another set of stairs, we enter the sixteen-sided center hall where they display the Holy Crown of Hungary, worn only on the occasion of a coronation. The rest of the time two crown guards guard it.

Central Hall : All sixteen sides has statues of different Hungarian kings and rulers,

along with their coat of arms on the walls and ceiling.

The ceiling of the Central Hall. During communist regime,

a red star perched on top of the dome, but was later removed in 1990.

One of the 16 statues in the Central Hall. This one is of the first King of Hungary, Saint Stephen.

The Hungarian coronation insignia consists of the Holy Crown, the sceptre, the orb, and the mantle.

The Holy Crown is also seen on the Coat of arms of Hungary.

Next we enter the Conference Hall.

Hallway immediately outside the Conference Hall, and the hallway that we took to exit the building.

Each window sill of the hallway has a cigar holder, so that when members went on breaks from their discussions, they could come back for a puff! ...Brilliant!

Close-up of the cigar holder. You will notice that each slot has a number,

to help the members identify their cigar!

Next stop...more Budapest!

Prague : Prague Castle

The largest medieval castle complex in Europe consists of cathedrals, towers, museums, gardens, palaces, and a basilica. The history of the castle stretches back to the 9th century and has been developing uninterruptedly throughout the last eleven centuries! Originally the residence of Princes and Kings of Bohemia, since 1918 the seat of the President of the Republic. Here are photos of the important buildings within the complex.

We make our way up to the Prague Castle District walking the Old Castle Steps, and come to the East Gate where we spot two guards. As we all know, these guards do not interact with people and hardly move!

I'm sure these guards were curious to know what I was doing there at the entrance,

laughing as I was re-taking shots of me jumping in the air, haha!

St. Vitus Cathedral

Contains tombs of many Bohemian kings and Holy Roman Emperors, and is the biggest and most important church in the country.

A view of the cathedral from across the Vltava River

The intricate stained glass inside the cathedral was breath-taking!

Tomb of John Nepomuk : Mentioned in my earlier blog post, this is the saint who was drown in the Vltava River.

There are 2 enormous angel statues on either ends of the tomb.

Using a cross-star camera filter added some kind of spiritual effect to the photo!

St. Wenceslas Chapel : located within the cathedral, relics of saints are kept. The lower part of the walls are decorated with semi-precious stones and paintings about the Passion of Christ. The upper part of the walls have paintings about the life of St. Wenceslas. In the center of the wall is a Gothic statue of St. Wenceslas. The Chapel is not accessible by the public, but can be viewed from the doorway.

The view of the backside of the cathedral. You can instantly tell the Gothic style of the cathedral.

Loreta Church : also within the Prague Castle District, is a historical building created to promote the legend of Santa Casa, a copy of the house believed to be the Virgin Mary's. Within the building is a Treasury that houses the "Prague Sun," a 6000+ diamond monstrance (vessel)!!!!! Photography was prohibited inside, sorry!

Being a Formula 1 fan, I couldn't help but get excited to see the massive Renault Team truck! They were getting ready for the Renault F1 Roadshow in Prague for June 4th. This was a personal highlight of mine today!!

Next Stop....BUDAPEST!!!

Prague : Charles Bridge

A famous historical bridge founded in 1357 by King Charles IV. It crosses the Vltava River and is an important connection between the Old Town and Prague Castle. It is protected by three bridge towers and is decorated by a continuous alley of 30 Baroque sculptures and sculpture groups, mostly from the 18th century.

The thick morning clouds with the drizzly rain gave a very dark, old atmosphere to the area.

On March 20, 1393 John of Nepomuk, a national saint of the Czech Republic, was thrown into the river. Legend tells that he was killed by request of the king, because he refused to tell the king about the queen's confession. People touch the relief for good luck.

Locals say that it's a Prague ritual to touch the cross and the stars with your left hand and make a wish. This location is supposedly where he was thrown off the bridge.

A view of the bridge, the Prague Castle in the distance, the Vltava River and a Smetana statue.

The Charles Bridge is so popular, many artists have recorded music videos here (Linkin Park, Kanye West, INXS, AFI, etc). Also, movies and video games have used this historical site as a scene in their production.

Comi-Con 2010, San Diego

Yet, again, I attended Comi-Con (the world's second largest comic book convention) in San Diego, and it never surprises me to see all the people there dressed as their favorite character. Check these people out!

What?! Sarah Palin at Comi-Con...

The Stormtroopers always look cool!

I can't imagine looking through every single bin to find THE comic!

TRON. I want one of these.

After having lunch in the Gaslamp District, we came across Hasselhoff's crew!

Here are three Knight Rider cars each with a Hasselhoff impersonator.

Then the real David Hasselhoff promoting his new TV series.

Check out Hasselhoff atop a double-deck bus singing/dancing! That was a very surreal moment!

Can't wait to see people at next year's Comi-Con. I think I like going there just to people-watch!