While I was wandering around St. Stephen's Basilica in Budapest, I found myself thinking of that distinction that some people make between “tourist” and “traveler.” Google it sometime and you'll see that about 5 million people have written something about it.
There are all sorts of theories, but the one that seems to make the most sense to me is that a tourist carries a selfie stick. It just says, “Look at me,” instead of “Look at that.” I can't think of any other meaningful distinctions.
Of course, other “travelers” would say they go to the out of the way places and go out of their way to meet the locals. We do that, too. But we also visit a lot of “touristy” places, such as St. Stephen's Cathedral in Budapest.
Hey, there's a reason why they're “touristy.” It's because they're extraordinarily attractive and represent some higher level of man's achievement.
I like mountains as much as the next guy, and I love photographing nature. But, honestly, what really turns me on is art. The expression of man's artistic tendencies is vastly more interesting to me than nature.
I think it's because art is within us all. Everyone has the potential to create something extraordinary. And that's why I like looking at extraordinary stuff like St. Stephen's. At first glance, it seems a sort of run-of-the-mill Eastern European neoclassical (with Baroque touches) monument. But the more you look, the more it reveals.
Its design, its color, its line and shape, and its sculpture make a whole that's more than the sum of the parts. Sort of like Budapest in general, which I now count as one of our favorite places.
Such beautiful photos…as always!!
Thank you, Marilyn.
I love visiting cathedrals and churches for their art and history. This one is incredibly beautiful! One could spend hours looking at every detail.
We did Ana, until Kris finally said, “Can we go eat now?” Otherwise, I might still be there.
St. Stephan’s is gorgeous! I love the reds. Great shots!
Thanks, Corinne. It’s an easy place to shoot, if you can hold your breath while you squeeze the shutter.
Thank you for sharing these beautiful photos! That statue of Mary is stunning! My wife and I are hoping to get to Budapest soon, and we will definitely be spending some time in this wonderful cathedral.
You are lucky to be going there. It’s a beautiful city with so much beautiful architecture to see. Be sure to check out the Matthias Church on the Buda hill. If anything, it’s even more spectacular than St. Stephen’s. Here are some photos of that: https://travelpast50.com/fantastic-painting-of-matthias-church-budapest/
I loved Budapest, and the Basilica, but you really captured it in these photos – I’m jealous of your photography! Nice job.
Thanks so much, Sean. It’s a beautiful place.
Your images are incredible! Budapest is my favorite city in Europe so far. We look forward to visiting again. We missed seeing this wonderful place. We went by it often enough, but for some reason did not visit. I hear about the tourist versus traveler debate all the time. We do both, and don’t care what anybody says. It’s like you said , there is a reason a place is touristy in the first place :-).
Thanks, Kemkem. Budapest is easy to shoot, because it presents so much unusual beauty in its architecture. It’s now on the list of our favorite places to be a tourist, or a traveler, or a vagabond, or a gypsy, or a gadabout. Labels are sort of a drag, no?
Gorgeous pictures of my favorite city.
Thanks, Debra. It’s one of our favorites, too.