Walking
in Budapest |
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on any photo for a more detailed view. |
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Budapest is a wonderful city to explore on foot. We were blessed with beautiful weather (not always guaranteed in early October). At left, we're at the castle grounds. At right is the Budapest Marathon. No, we didn't run in it. But we had a lovely view of it when we stopped for lunch at a nearby pub and watched the runners as we drank our beers and ate goulash. |
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Above, a fountain near the Castle.
In the larger view you can see the wonderful detail of this hunting scene. |
The two pictures above are actually from postcards. They're photos of the interior of the Museum of Ethnography, which we visited. The structure was built late in the 19th century and designed by the architect who was first runner-up in the contest to design the Parliament building. A consolation prize! | ||||||
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| A postcard of the inside of the city's main Synagogue, which we did not have a chance to visit. There's a good reason to return! | St. Stephen on his horse.
He is credited with consolidating the tribes into one nation and bringing
Christianity to the Hungarian people in the late 900s. He became the first
King of Hungary in 1000 AD. His is an interesting story. Want to learn more? |
Muemleks, historic markers, are still a running joke with us. On our first trip, we encountered them all over and couldn't understand a word because Hungarian is a completely different linguistic family (Finno-Ugric) than the other languages in Europe. On this trip we invested in a dictionary so we could (more or less) understand them. | |||||
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| A view of the inclined railway- a very nice way to get to the top of Buda Hill. | Above are two pieces in the collection of the museum in the Castle. The icons were a completely different style than those we'd seen in other countries. We liked the painting at the right just for all the detail and action, with all the bad guys (Turks) and their horses falling into the water. We think we can guess the nationality of the big guy on top of the picture. Click on the image for a more gory view. | ||||||
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| The Chain Bridge -- destroyed in World War II, but subsequently re-built. Majestic lion sculptures stand guard at either end. Notice the chain links; they are about 8 feet long. Ingenious! | The facade of a building near Parliament where many people were killed in a 1956 uprising against the Communist regime. | A closer look at the wall. Note the small balls marking the areas where machine gun bullets struck. | |||||
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| Another equestrian statue near the Castle. We weren't sure who he is. | A view of the Fisherman's Bastion, shot from a corner of our hotel room window. | The view from the inclined railway, on our way up the hill. It sure beats walking. | |||||
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