Photos Part 4

Here is the next batch of photos, covering a Slovenia through Budapest.

SLOVENIA

The emerald Socha River, up in the mountains near the Italian, Slovenian border.

 Ljubljana (pronounced somewhat like "loo-blee-yana") the capital of Slovenia. Here you can see part of the outdoor market. Up high on the right you can see part of the town's castle.

 Ljubljana's main square.

 A view of the historic part of Ljubljana from up in the castle.

Lake Bled, up in the mountains. You can see a pair of the old boats taking tourists to and from the island in the lake.

Another view of the island. The staircase you can see has 98 steps on it. Local tradition has it that a man is not fit to marry until he can carry his fiance from the bottom to the church at the top.

ZAGREB (CROATIA)

 The central square of Zagreb, the capital of Croatia.

 Zagreb Cathedral.

The outdoor market.

Zagreb's other main cathedral. The roof tiles carry the Croatian coat of arms. Right next to it on the right is the Croatian parliament.

Walking around Zagreb, near the train station.

SPLIT (CROATIA)

 One of the beaches in Split. My hostel was just a two minute walk away.

A view of Split from a nearby hill.

The harbor front with Diocletian's Palace in the center.

 Inside Diocletian's Palace. The bell tower, mini cathedral and restaurants were not part of the original structure.

 Another look at the beach by my hostel.

An absurdly delicious burger I ate at a seaside restaurant.

BUDAPEST

 The Chain Bridge at night. This was the first permanent crossing over the Danube, linking what were then the separate towns of Buda and Pest.

 The Hungarian parliament building, right on the Danube. It is the second largest parliament building in the world.

 Matthias Church. The inside is currently covered with scaffolding and plastic, so for now the outside is the better view.

 A look down at the Danube from a hill on the Buda side of town.

 St Stephen's Basilica. The church holds the severed hand of St Stephen (not the one in the Bible - instead a Hungarian saint by the same name).

 The great synagogue of Budapest, the second largest in the world, after the one in NYC.

 Inside the great synagogue you can find the Tree of Life. It is made of metal and on each leaf is the name of a Budapest resident who became a victim of the Holocaust.

The Szechenyi thermal baths. If you decide to go here be sure you do everything else you wanted to do first, because once you go in you won't want to come out.

Heroes' Square. This is a monument to various famous Hungarians and to the Hungarian (also called Magyar) people.

Another one done. The next batch will continue Eastern Europe.