15 Fascinating Facts About the Hungarian Parliament Building
Everyone photographs the Hungarian Parliament — almost nobody knows the story behind it. As a Budapest local, I'm sharing the facts I tell my own tour guests: the bullet holes still visible from a 1912 shooting, the crown jewels hidden here during WWII, and yes, the Freddie Mercury legend. Sixteen things that turn "wow, that's big" into "wait, seriously?"
The Shoes on the Danube: Budapest's Most Emotional Memorial
Just north of Budapest's Parliament building, sixty pairs of iron shoes line the edge of the Danube. They mark the spot where thousands of Jewish men, women and children were shot into the river in the winter of 1944. This is their story — and why every visitor to Budapest should stop here.