Summer Adventure 2016- Budapest (part two)

In my last post about Budapest, Ray and I had fallen in love with the beauty of this city, just look at these pictures of Budapest as the sun went down the night before.

Day two we wanted to explore more of the Buda side, specifically the Castle district up on the hill behind where we were staying. So we walked towards the funicular.

Unfortunately, the line for the funicular was very long, so we decided to take the footpaths up to the top of this hill, which afforded us tons of spectacular views.

 

At the top of the steps is the ornamental gateway, which leads from the Hapsburg Steps to the Royal Palace. The bronze sculpture of the bird is the “turul bird”, a mythical creature that is meant to guard the palace. 

Walking along the grounds of the palace of course we saw Roman ruins, where aren’t there Roman ruins? You can see the dome of the palace in the background, which had to be rebuilt after World War II, but was rebuilt in the original style.

Up in the castle district, after walking the grounds and looking at the majestic views of the river and the Pest side of the city, we were walking around the quaint streets, full of cafes and shops, and came to the Matyas Church. It is so beautiful, the pictures just don’t do it justice.  It just looks like Budapest, which makes no sense if you haven’t been there. But look at the tall white spire and the decorative orange tile roof. The name of the church is after the king who enlarged the church. The Turks converted the church into a mosque in 1541 and ran it until 1686, when a statue of Madonna that was hidden behind the walls made an appearance from it’s hiding spot which the Turks took as a sign of their defeat.

We took a lunch break in the charming square next to the church. And we got to try Langos, a Hungarian food that the bartender had told us about the night before.  It’s deep fried dough, topped with garlic, sour cream, cheese and then whatever toppings you want on it (vegetarian!!!)- it was so yummy!

And while we ate, we had some live music, with an amazing backdrop.  Do you see why Budapest was magical and I was in love?

Facing the church and looking out over the town is Fisherman’s Bastion, which honors the fisherman’s guild in the spot where the old defensive walls of the city once stood and fish was sold. The statue is of Saint Istvan, the king who introduced Hungary to Christianity.

Ray and I wanted to do a walking tour provided by the tour bus company, but we weren’t sure where it started, so we had to explore the streets of the old town, walking along the wall that overlooks the hills of town of Buda.  We never did find the walking tour, but we had a great time exploring.

Here are the ruins of the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene, built in the mid 13th century. It was damaged during the 1686 liberation of Buda from the Turks, rebuilt, and all but the tower were pulled down after World War II.

We didn’t find the walking tour, but we did find our way to the Hospital in the Rock, which was in the side of the mountain. It was built into the caverns that existed already in the mountains in preparation for World War II. This was definitely one of the coolest museums I’ve ever been in.  The hospital was used most in 1944-45 during the Siege of Budapest. During the guided tour, given in English, the tour guide told us that at one point Budapest was so badly damaged that the hospital was without food or water.  She explained to us about the awful conditions the patients were forced to be in (recycling supplies taken from corpses, rooms so overfilled that patients- because it was designed to have 60-70 patients but had over 500 at one point- were lined up on the floors.  During the tour you get to see all the rooms in the way they were designed because of all the wax dummies.  To me before we began our tour it sounded like it would be cheesy, but it was visually so interesting to see because you could imagine exactly how it was used, and all the original medical supplies are still in place.

After World War II the hospital was only used in 1956 after an uprising against the Soviet rule. Then it was re-purposed to prepare for a possible nuclear attack.  There were anti-radiation kits, showers, gas masks… There was a caretaker who lived in the hospital and that is why everything still exists as it was. Definitely a very interesting museum. 

Afterwards, Ray and I continued to walk around the Castle District, exploring the grounds of the palace, which is now the Hungarian National Gallery.  

We then walked back down the hillside, taking in the beautiful scenery and castle grounds. 

That night we took a boat cruise that was included with our hop-on hop-off bus tour. We got to really enjoy seeing Budapest all lit up at night, just like our taxi driver promised.

The Royal Palace

Gresham Palace- used now as a Four Seasons Hotel

Hungarian Academy of Sciences

There are several major bridges that cross the Danube in Budapest, connecting the Buda and Pest sides.  The chain bridge was built in 1839-49 and was a major engineering feat at the time because of it’s two towers.  Apparently, the sculpture lions that guard that bridge caused the sculptor, Janos Marschalko, to drown himself because he was so upset that he forgot to give the lions tongues. During our boat cruise we saw lots of people climbing the bridge, or sitting along the chains picnicking and drinking.  Not for me!