Located at the base of Gellert Hill, the hill that the Citadella (fortress) sits atop, is a system of caves. One of the caves was converted into a chapel in the 1920’s and even served as a hospital for the Germans during WWII. Known as the Cave Church, it was certainly one of the most interesting places that we visited during our time in Budapest. A cross on top of the hill denotes the location of the church, which is also located near the famous Gellert Baths where people gather to enjoy the therapeutic thermal baths.
The atmosphere within Cave Church is interesting due to the lack of natural light and the rugged cavern walls. After its conversion to a hospital by the NAZI army during the war, it returned to serving as a church until 1951 when the Soviet Union had it shut down. The chapel was raided by the Soviet Army, the monks arrested, and the cave sealed up until Budapest regained their freedom in 1989. Today, the monks of the Pauline Order continue to operate the church and hold religious functions on the site as well as maintain it as a tourist attraction.
There is a nominal fee in order to enter the church and walking through the cavern will take you about thirty minutes to fully explore. In addition to the statues and artwork inside of Cave Church itself, there is also a small museum with additional historic artifacts. Exploring the church and understanding its history is certainly worth the effort of walking along the Danube below Gellert Hill. We combined it with our visit to the Citadella, which sits high above. It may not be the most well-known site in Budapest, but if your itinerary allows, we would recommend visiting.
After going to several Hindu temples during our stay in Chennai, going to the Saint Thomas Cathedral Basilica was a unique experience. The church is built over the tomb of Saint Thomas, one of the 12 disciples of Jesus, which is one of only three churches in the world to be built over the tomb of a disciple. You should also make time to visit Saint Thomas Mount and Little Mount, which has the cave where Saint Thomas hid. Combined, these three locations create a truly unique experience inside of the country of India.
The original church over the tomb of Saint Thomas was built by Portuguese explorers in the 16th century and then later rebuilt by the British in the 19th century. The current cathedral was finished in the late 19th century and is in the typical Neo-Gothic style. The white exterior is quite striking especially against the blue skies. Unfortunately we were not able to enter the church while we were there, but we understand that it is very beautiful and that you are able to see Saint Thomas’ tomb.
There are several features that make visiting Saint Thomas Mount and Little Mount quite fascinating. For a small donation, you are able to enter the cave where Saint Thomas hid and there is even a rock that is supposed to have been worn down by his hand. There is also a spring that is just outside of the cave called the Saint Thomas Fountain, which supposed provided healing powers to those that came to listen to him and people still drink from it today in order to be cured. To get to the top of Saint Thomas Mount, where Saint Thomas was speared while praying in front of a cross, you climb up a steep hill and pass by many figurines denoting the history of Saint Thomas. There is a cross carved into a rock that was believed to be carved by Saint Thomas and many believers report that it continues to bleed to this very day.
Seeing both of these locations during our trip was something that was extremely memorable. It can also be a slight refuge from the hectic noises of the city as it isn’t visited by as many people as other place in Chennai.
Everyone has seen pictures of Mount Rushmore, whether on the internet or in a movie like North by Northwest (a truly great movie if you ask us). But like many sites, especially things on a grand scale, there is no substitution to seeing it in person. We went to Mount Rushmore back in July of 2000, which seemed an appropriately patriotic time to go and see such a national treasure. This was truly one of those great family trips that is full of wonderful memories for us. Obviously Mount Rushmore was the centerpiece of our trip, but there were a lot of other great adventures to be had during our trip.
We drove up from Colorado and through Wyoming and Montana before making our way to the Black Hills. Along the way, we stopped at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. We’re sure that most people are aware, but this is the site of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, which is also known as “Custer’s Last Stand”, that occurred in June of 1876. Standing on the grassy hills, staring out at the open land, it is hard to imagine how the men of the 7th Cavalry Regiment commanded by George Armstrong Custer must have felt when they were surrounded by the warriors of the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapahoe nations. The battlefield is located about a five hour drive west of Mount Rushmore and, if you are at all interested in historical locations, it is well worth the drive. It certainly conjures up visions of the true old west, not necessarily the glamorized Hollywood version of the old west, but the harsh and bloody west that was filled with as much violence as there was heroism. Over 270 members of the 7th Cavalry lost their lives in the battle, including George Custer and two of his brothers.
Anyone who has travelled with multiple children in the car, in our case three of them, knows that a long drive can be a trying experience. Especially back in the dark ages of 2000, before all of the handheld and mobile devices that exist today to occupy their time. As we left our home and made our way onto the highway, we turned to kids in the backseat and said to them with a grave and serious tone, “This is going to be survival of the fittest. We’re not going to play referee, so you’ll have to resolve any disputes amongst yourselves. If that means that there is only one child left when we reach South Dakota, then so be it.” Of course we were kidding (kind of). However, it turned out that despite just a couple of issues, such as the oldest child jabbing the middle child with a pencil in the leg, they were fairly well behaved and we all survived mostly unscathed.
We continued east to Mount Rushmore National Memorial, arriving as the sun was going down. The following day, we spent our time hiking around Mount Rushmore and viewing the enormous figures of the founding fathers carved into the side of the mountain. It is definitely worth taking the time to hike around the trails and see the views of the sculpture carved into the side of the mountain from different angles. Seeing the profiles of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln from various perspectives allows you to fully appreciate the detail in the work of art. Also be sure to go and see the Crazy Horse Memorial. Although not completed, it is still an impressive site and will hopefully, one day, be the fitting tribute to all Native Americans as it was intended to be. If it is completed, it might become the world’s largest sculpture.
That evening we decided to go out for a nice dinner at a local restaurant. On each vacation, we would always try and go out for one special dinner where the kids could order whatever they wanted from the menu, no restrictions. It is a nice change of pace from the fast food that provided the majority of our meals when travelling back in those days (we’ve learned a lot since then 🙂 ). This was to become our first lesson in “paying it forward”. When the meal was finished and we asked the waitress for the check, she informed us that our entire tab had already been paid. Wanting to thank whoever the generous person was, we asked where they were sitting so that we could appropriately express our gratitude. She informed us that they had already left the restaurant. We now endeavor to hold up that tradition, randomly choosing someone to pick up their tab and always ensuring that they don’t know that it was from us. It isn’t about seeing their appreciation, it is just about the feeling one gets by doing something good for someone else.
There was still a lot more to do and see while we were in South Dakota. While investigating things to do in the area, we came across information about several caves that are operated by the National Park Service. One of the, Wind Cave National Park, offered a candlelight tour that is extremely limited in the number of guests that can participate and takes you to parts of the cave that other tourists can’t see. So, we had booked tickets for that tour in advance of going to South Dakota, which we’re extremely glad that we did. We had some time to kill before our tour, so before going to the cave for a little spelunking, we went to Cosmos Mystery Area. It is actually a pretty interesting site where things seem to defy the normal rules of gravity. We’re sure it is all just an optical illusion, but it was fun just the same. From there, it was off to the cave (sorry no pictures to show you of this), where we were given a handheld lantern with a candle. We lit our candles and our ranger led us into the depths of the cave. Wind Cave is one of the longest and most complex caves in the world and has a unique geological formation on its walls called boxwork. The highlight of the tour was when, at the deepest part of the cave on the tour, the ranger had us all blow out our candles and sit in absolute darkness as light can’t reach that part of the cave. Needless to say, it was quite an amazing day.
So, we needed something to top that experience and we were able to do that the next day. We drove an hour south of Mount Rushmore to Hot Springs, which is home to the Mammoth Site. The Mammoth Site has the largest concentration of mammoth remains, both wooly and Columbian, in the world. It is an active paleontological dig site where you can actually get your hands dirty and help dig up some of the bones. Seeing something that old being discovered first hand as they excavate the earth and expose the remains is something that you won’t soon forget. For us, of course, it was about seeing the kids get excited to play paleontologists for a day and understand a little more about the history of our world.
We weren’t done with our trip yet, though. On the next day, we were off to Custer State Park during the day to do some hiking and we had booked a Hayride Chuck Wagon Cookout at Blue Bell in the park. If you want an up-close experience with herds of buffalo, this is the best place to do it, maybe even better than at Yellowstone. In addition to the buffalos, there were also wild herds of donkeys, who were very friendly, perhaps too friendly. There are also plenty of trails to get out and enjoy the great outdoors and we took a pleasant hike to a beautiful lake. The chuck wagon dinner was a ton of fun and they even got the kids, all of them, including the 15 year old, up and dancing to the chicken dance. It was truly the perfect ending to a very memorable trip.
If you haven’t been to South Dakota or to Mount Rushmore, you should definitely make it a location to get to some day. The mountains are beautiful, Mount Rushmore is amazing, and there are a lot of fun things to do in the area. We even found time to go to Wall Drug, which is supposed to be the world’s biggest drug store. It was a little hokey, but sometimes you have to look at life’s oddities as well. Most importantly for us, it was a time of family bonding and sharing great experiences. This was also one of the last trips where the entire family was able to go together due to kids getting older, making it an even more precious memory.