Tom and Lauren Take Europe

At the end of July, we had our friends, Chelsea and Dan come visit us in Prague! We showed them all the typically sights and ate some amazing Czech food. On Monday we headed for Budapest. When we arrived we went straight to the Hungarian baths. We went to Szechenyi Thermal Bath, which is one of the largest spa complexes in Europe. It was also the first thermal bath of Pest. The bath was constructed in 1913 and is filled by two thermal springs from the area. These springs supply 1,600,000 gal of hot water daily. The water contains sulphate, calcium, magnesium, bicarbonate, fluoride and metaboric acid.

The next day we did all of the major site seeing. Up until 1873 Budapest was actually two cities (“Buda” and “Pest”) separated by the Danube river. Our first stop was the Hungarian Parliament Building. It is one of Europe’s oldest legislative buildings and the 3^rd largest parliament building in the world.

Then we walked along the Danube River and we came across some shoes that were cemented into the concrete. We are were extremely interested but didn't have any wifi figure out what it meant so we stopped at a cafe on the river for a beer and to do a little research. We found out that these shoes were put there as a memorial to the Jews who lost their lives in the war. At that spot along the river the soldiers would line the people up and shoot them. They would fall backwards into the river and they would be carried away but their shoes would still remain on the banks.

We then crossed the Szechenyi Chain Bridge, which in 1849 opened to connect “Buda” and “Pest”. After crossing the bridge, we climbed up to Buda Castle. Buda Castle was first completed in 1265 for the Hungarian kings. The castle is situated on top of a hill and can be seen throughout the entire city. It seemed to remind us a lot of Prague Castle.

Our last stop for the day was the Fisherman's Bastion on the Buda bank of the Danube River. The building was built in 1895 but was nearly destroyed in WWII. The building takes its name from the group of fisherman that defended these city walls during the middle ages.

Matthias Church

Although we had a quick stay in Athens is definitely made a long lasting impression. Both Tom and I cannot wait for the opportunity to go back. It was absolutely insane to learn about things that have happened over 1,000 years ago! I thought Charles Bridge, which was built in the 15^th century, was old. Since there is so much history in Athens we decided to take a free walking tour. Throughout our day we ended up walking over 17 miles!

We started out tour at the National Library of Greece and worked out way towards the Academy of Athens which governs all the education in Athens. This building is known as one of the perfect examples of neoclassical architecture and is one of the highest researched establishments in the country. Outside of this building sits two statues one of Socrates and one of Plato. Both are very highly recognized philosophers that lived and studied in Athens. Plato even went on to establish the Academy of Athens, which was the first institute of higher learning in the western world.

We also learned that the ancient Greeks were the people that came up with the idea of currency. Before they were just trade goods for things that they needed. Much of Athens was also built by very rich people that lived in the city and wanted to make it beautiful. I wish our generations took that same pride in our cities!

We went to the Olympic Stadium as well. This is a stadium that is completely built from marble and is still used today. At this site we learned about the story behind “Nike” and how the “Marathon” was created. In 490 BC a soldier (Philippides) that fought in the Battle of Marathon ran back to Athens to tell everyone of their victory over the Persians. He ran the entire way and when he arrived, before falling to the ground he yelled “Nike” which is victory in Greek. He ran from Marathon beach to the stadium which was 26.2 miles. Every year there is a marathon from marathon beach to the stadium to commemorate that soldier and their victory. That is why when you run a marathon it is a fixed distance of 26.2 miles. (I know I probably learned about all of this in high school but I obviously didn’t pay attention because at that point on our tour my mind was blown! )

Afterwards we went to the temple of Zeus. Sadly there is not much left of the temple but it was still fascinating to see. It blows my mind how these ancient greeks were able to create just amazing buildings during their time. The are very large but also extremely detailed. We later went to the Greek and Roman Forum which was the main area of the city back in the day. It was where all the laws were kept and a majority of the city buildings/temples were there. Greeks are credited with the first ideas of Democracy.

Finally it was time to climb to the top of the Acropolis. The entire day we looked from a distance at the top of this amazing hill and we all couldn’t wait to get to the top! On top of the Acropolis lies the Parthenon, Erechtheion, and Old Temple of Athena.

Partheon was built in 447 BC to honor Athena. This building was supposed to show the success of Athens.

Another interesting fact was that the Roman Emperor Hadrian loved Athens and planned to make it the cultural capital of the empire. He spent a lot of time in Athens and contributed financially to many of the famous buildings of that time.

Once Christianity spread through the Roman empire many of the Ancient Greeks went and destroyed most of the pagan temples. That is why much of the city is in ruins and many of the temples only have the foundations left. The greeks destroying their own city and abandoned for hundreds and hundreds of years. It wasn’t until 19th century when the city was reborn and made it into what it is today. When I think of Athens I think of this old amazing city but in all reality the city had two life times. It had an ancient time and then a modern time and is only 150 (ish) years old.

To end our amazing day in Athens we climbed to the top of Philoppapos Hill and watched the sunset!