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Published: June 26th 2017
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Geo: 47.4984, 19.0408
The day promised beautiful sunny weather as we set out from our hotel ablout 8-30. We walked down Rakozci Avenue towards the centre of the city. found josef nado square from where we took the Hop On Hop Off bus for a tour of the city. We had done these in other places and knew that it is a good way to orientate ourselves. first headed up Andrassy Boulevard. This is a wide street lined with beautiful 19th century buildings including No 60 which was in turn, Gestapo headquarters then the KGB premises. SAt the end of this street was Heroes' Square. We made a note to return there later in the day.
The bus then continued past the railway station and back down to the Danube where we crossed the river using the Elizabeth Bridge. We now entered the Buda side of the city. We drove along the river then wound our way up the hillside to the top. Here we alighted to have a good look around this historical area. We walked along the narrow streets to the Fisherman's Bastion. From here there is a spectacular view across the river to Pest, especially the Parliament buildings on
the other side. We then went to the Church of Our lady in buda Castle. This is undergoing extensive renovations but we were still able to go inside. The walls are covered with murals and traditional Hungarian patterns. Very unusual but beautiful. There are also many stunning stained glass windows.After a drink and writing a couple of postcards we went to the castle. We first stopped at the Funicular railway station. There is a tall column topped by an eagle here. Again the views are spectacular. We then decided to have lunch on the terrace of the castle enjoying the sunshine and the scenery. We just had to try an Hungarian Tokay with dessert!!
After lunch we went back and hopped back on the bus. this took us to the highest point on the hill, the Citadel. This is in a formidable position and the Nazis held out here for a long time at the end of WW2. It is topped by a Soviet statue of a woman holding a palm leaf. It can be seen for miles. From there the bus recrossed the river and took us to the Parliament which we had admired from the other side. We alighted
here and then walked up to St Istvan's Cathedral. This is most impressive with a large dome atop a mainly marble church, surrounded by a large square. We went inside but there was a wedding in progress so didn't get to see much.
From there we walked the length of Andrassy street enjoying the buildngs and the many squares which are located in the street named after famous Hungarians such as Liszt, Kodaly etc. At the top was heroes square. this is flanked by two neoclassical buildings, the Museum of Fine Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art. At the centre of the square is a tall column and there are two semicircular monuments on either side containing statues of various defenders of the city throughout the various invasions that hungary has endured.
Behind this is a huge park. there was a Rock concert going on and there were hundreds of people, mainly families out enjoying a Saturday afternoon in the park, rowing on the lake and picknicking on the grass. We strolled through rather enjoying the beauty of the place as well as the warmth.
We finally walked all the way back to our hotel. All in all we must have walked
for about 3 hours, but having spent three days sitting down we needed the excercise.however, we were pretty tired by the end of it so that evening we stayed in the hotel trying to connect to the internet with varying degrees of success.
We both enjoyed our brief tast of Budapest though!!!
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