Hilton Budapest:
view from our hotel room:
After taking the metro into the city we huffed it up the hill to our hotel (luckily we had no bags because we had flown Wizz Air, eastern europe's discount airline, and refused to pay 50 GBP for luggage, so we packed lightly) and checked out the Chain bridge along the way.
After checking into our hotel, we explored Old Town Buda. It was a really cute area with a sort of Germanic feel to it. The weather was perfect so we grabbed some sandwiches and ate outside.
Vienna gate (part of the old Buda city walls):
State Archive of Historic Documents:
remaining tower of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene:
After lunch we visited Matyas Church. The elaborately painted interior was stunning but the most unique thing about the church is the colorful tiled roof. While we were visiting the church a thunderstorm rolled in so because our hotel was close by, we rushed back to our room to wait out the storm.
Once the rain cleared up we made our way over to the Labyrinth of Buda Castle. The Labyrinth is a series of caves running beneath castle hill, created by hot springs on calcareous rock. The area has been used as storage, refuge, secret military installation, and many other things over the years. Visitors can wander through the caves on their own and they have rotating exhibits set up in different areas.
After the Labyrinth, we headed for the Royal Palace. There has been a castle on this spot since the time of the Romans but the current version is a rebuild of the 18th century Hapsburg palace. It houses 3 museums including the Hungarian National Gallery, which we visited. There were lots of interesting works by Hungarian artists and great views.
Matyas Fountain (King Matyas out on a hunt with his dogs):
views from the National Gallery:
views over the Danube from Castle Hill:
Hapsburg steps/gateway:
Budavari Siklo funicular railway up to the Castle:
From the palace, we headed south along the river to Gellert Hill. Gellert Hill is the site of the earliest settlements in the area, most likely because the river narrows slightly at this point, making it the easiest crossing area. The monument to St. Gellert, an 11th century Bishop murdered for trying to spread Christianity, stands on this hill and can be seen from throughout the city. We also visited the Rock Church, built into the southern slope of the hill and founded by the Pauline order of monks. It is a really interesting grotto/cave church.
Statue of St. Istvan in front of Rock Church:
Petofi Bridge:
Gellert Hill:
Castle Hill:
our first sampling of Hungarian wine:
The next morning we stopped at Fisherman's Bastion on our way over to Parliament. Fisherman's Bastion was built for the Guild of Fisherman in 1895 on the site of Buda's old defensive walls where fish used to be sold. It looks like a giant sand castle and has great views across the river towards Parliament and Pest.
Fisherman's Bastion with Matyas Church behind:
We then made our way over to Hungary's Parliament building, modeled after the Houses of Parliament in London, and you can definitely see the similarities. We booked a tour for 12:45 and had just enough time to get down to the Central Market Hall before it closed to pick up some Hungarian specialties for lunch, including kolbasz (a spicy salami made with paprika.)
Central Market Hall:
Hungarian chilies:
The tour of Parliament was really interesting. The interior was beautiful and we were able to visit the Old Upper House Hall, which is no longer used as Hungary changed from a bicameral legislature to a single house in 1989 (post-communism.)
main entry staircase:
the stained glass windows in this room are the only originals remaining (they were taken down and hidden during WWII)
Old Upper House Hall:
After our tour, we ate our lunch from the market in Liberty Square, overlooking some great buildings including the former Stock Exchange. We then headed for Central Pest, stopping first at St. Stephen's Basilica. St. Stephen's is much larger than Matyas Church and beautiful inside but not as unique as Matyas. There was actually a wedding going on while we were there but we were still able to go in and check it out.
After visiting the basilica we walked down Vaci Street, Pest's main pedestrianized shopping street, and then down to the Inner City Parish Church, which is the oldest building in Pest, dating from the 14th century.
We then got caught in another thunderstorm so we waited it out with some beers (and some interesting conversation with a Swedish college student backpacking across Europe.) Once the storm had cleared we went to the hotel to get our bathing suits and made our way over to the Lukacs baths. Located just north of Castle Hill, these baths have been operating since Turkish rule and the current building dates from the 19th century. Natural hot springs keep the pools heated; they have 2 outdoor swimming pools, a big bubble pool, and indoor hot baths and steam rooms. It was a great way to end a day of sightseeing!
Lukacs baths complex:
plaques inscribed with thanks from bathers who benefited from the healing waters here:
the bubble bath:
After our relaxing bath visit, we strolled over to Margaret Island, which sits in the middle of the Danube. Margaret Island is one of Budapest's most beautiful parks and there are tons of paths for walking, running, or just exploring. We took a lovely evening stroll before heading back to the hotel and then another great dinner in the Castle Hill area.
Centenary monument:
ruins of a 14th century Franciscan church:
views from Margaret Island:
looking back at Castle Hill from Margaret bridge:
