Budapest Trip Report, Day 2: Parliament, Chain Bridge, Buda Castle, Fisherman's Bastion

Day 2, Nov 18, Saturday, 2017

We started off pretty early in the morning for our Parliament visit. We took the metro and reached Kossuth Lajos tér: the square with the House of Parliament ... yes it's 8 am in the clock in the pic below...

We had checked the website earlier for timings of Eng tours and availability. ENGLISH TOURS are available 9, 9.45, 10, 12,13, 14, 15. Tours last for 45 min. Last tour is at 16 in Spanish. We had noticed the 4 tours after 9 were already fully booked. We decided to go early and get the tickets for the 9 am tour. If that was not possible, we were willing to join other lang tours, so that we'll just get to see the beautiful interiors.

Parliament House:

Hungary's Parliament Building is situated at Pest's riverbank. Built at a time when Hungary was still under Austrian influence, the magnificent structure is a symbol of Hungary's independence.

Construction of the Parliament House started in 1885. When it was completed seventeen years later, in 1902, it was the largest parliamentary building in the world with a length of 268 meters and a width of 118 meters (879x387 ft).

The Parliament House is arranged around ten central courtyards and contains more than twenty kilometers of staircase, as well as 691 rooms. The building has twenty-seven intricately decorated spires. The impressive dome, visible from afar, reaches a height of 96 meters. 

The building's facade is magnificent, decorated with eighty-eight statues of Hungarian rulers, pointed arch arcades and numerous gargoyles, spires and Gothic ornaments.

It was drizzling and we were wearing a poncho for a while. We knew the entry point, and the ticket office for Parliament visitors is in the Visitor Center at the end of Balassi Bálint Street. We walked over and got our tickets. 

We whiled away some time at the souvenir shop till the tour started. There is airplane type security and then we joined our guide.

The interior of the Parliament House is as stunning as its exterior, decorated by some of Hungary's best artists. Here neo-Gothic is mixed with Renaissance and even Byzantine influences, especially noticeable in the marvelously decorated staircase hall, with granite Corinthian columns, gilded ornaments and a huge ceiling painting.

Another interesting room is the circular Copula Hall, which features statues of Hungarian monarchs and an intricate, cathedral-like ceiling. The coronation crown and insignia of King Stephen are displayed here. The crown was originally given to St. Stephen for his coronation in the year 1000. The holy crown, as well was a scepter, orb and sword, were originally displayed in the National Museum but moved to the Parliament House in 2000. Only the coronation mantle is still on display in the museum.

We lingered around as the last in each room and took pics. The security guard accompanying was always sweet to allow a few seconds leeway.

After the visit, we came out into the building and looked at the model and armored statues. 

Then we had our packed brunch sandwiches on one of the cafe benches as crowds milled around for the oncoming tours. We were so thankful for our early start and hassle free tour.

We then left the building and walked on the banks of the Danube, enjoying the scenic vista in front of us. 

Thankfully the rain had abated and the sun even bravely peeked out!

This is poet Attila József, one the most prominent figures of Hungarian literature; his poems are taught in every school. He had quite a difficult life and at the age of 32 committed suicide.

Shoes on the Danube Bank (Cipők a Duna-parton): 

This is a Simple but moving memorial of people shot into the river in 1945. During World War II, 3,500 people, 800 of them Jews, were ordered to take off their shoes, and were shot at the edge of the water so that their bodies fell into the river and were carried away.  The sculptor has created sixty pairs of period-appropriate shoes out of iron. Very poignant!

We reached the famous chain bridge.

Chain Bridge (Széchenyi lánchíd)

This suspension bridge was built in 1836 across the river Danube to connect Pest with Buda, at the time still separate cities.

The Chain Bridge was the first permanent bridge in Budapest; the nearest bridge was in Vienna and during wintertime the only way to cross the Danube was by taking a ferry. A temporary bridge was available only in summer: it had to be disassembled each year to protect it against drift ice.

The Chain Bridge, officially known as the Széchenyi lánchíd, is named after count István Széchenyi, the driving force behind the construction of the bridge, after the count missed his father's funeral when the ferry service across the Danube was halted due to bad weather.

The 375 meter (1230ft) long and 16 meter wide bridge opened on November 20, 1849.

At the time the suspension bridge was the longest in Europe and a marvel of engineering with just two towers supporting the spans with giant iron chains. The chains gave the bridge its name, lánchid, Hungarian for chain bridge.

The beautiful bridge towers are decorated with the Hungarian coat of arms. Imposing stone lions, the work of sculptor János Marschalkó, guard the bridge on either side. According to legend, the sculptor threw himself in the river when, during the bridge's opening ceremony, a spectator proclaimed that the lions had no tongues. In reality the lions do have tongues (they're just not easily visible) and the sculptor lived on for several more decades.

The bridge ignited the economic revival of Hungary that would lead to Budapest's golden century and it was one of the factors that made the provincial towns of Pest and Buda evolve into a fast-growing metropolis. The bridge is also a symbol of independence and was the site of demonstrations during the turbulent time of the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, when people demonstrated on the bridge.

We walked on the bridge over Danube, toward the other side, enjoying the sights.

We could see the Buda Castle ( Budai Vár)

The imposing Buda Castle overlooks the city from its elevated position atop Várhegy (Castle Hill), rising forty-eight meters above the Danube. The castle has had a tumultuous history that reflects the ups and downs of Hungary's fortunes. Today the castle, often referred to as the Royal Palace (Budavári palota), is home to a number of cultural institutions, including two museums: the National Gallery and the Budapest History Museum.

We arrived at the Clark Adam Square. This large roundabout is named after the Scottish engineer Clark Adam, who built the Széchenyi Chain Bridge and the Buda Hill Tunnel in the mid-1800s. 

Zero Kilometre Stone:

 The 10 foot tall  limestone sculpture Zero Kilometre Stone on the South side of the Square marks “kilometer zero”  from which all roads in Hungary were measured from. 

Directly across the square we can see the Castle Hill tunnel to the right and to the left is Buda Hill Funicular (Budvari Sikló)

Our options are to wait for the funicular ride or just get a No 16 bus to the top and walk back again. We could not see where the No 16 bus stopped for the trip up, we could just see the stop for going down. There was a long line for the funicular and it was not included in our pass. A tour operator offered us a chance to jump the line by paying him 7 euros instead of 6 for the funicular. We did so and went up.

There was terrific views. We ended at the terrace in front of the National Gallery from where we enjoyed the best panoramic view of Budapest and the Danube.

 This is the Tutul, a special Falcon which had also been the symbol of the Hunnic Empire, led by Atlia the Hun, whose capital city was in modern day Hungary.  

 After the fall of the Roman Empire in Italy, Atlia not only grew to control most of Eastern Europe into Asia from 434-453, but also ran devastating raids on countries like France.  Although long gone when the Magyar settled the area in 896, the Huns were legends for their power and the settling Magyar tribes took the Tutul as a symbol to say both they believed they have some Hun heritage, but also to say they are the choose people to look over the land where Atlia Empire was centered.

This is a statue of Bishop Gellért holding a cross while boldly looking over Budapest.  

Bishop Gellért first came to Hungary from Italy around the year 1000 to convert Hungarians to Christianity.  Many of the local tribesmen who settle the area 100 years earlier resisted the conversion and rolled Bishop Gellért down the hill in a barrel to his death. Shortly after Gellért’s death, Stephen I the first became the first King of Hungary and made Christianity he national religion.  As the population turn Christian they viewed the Bishop as a martyr and gave him Sainthood as Saint Gellért.

Then we walked on toward Fisherman's Bastion: 

Fisherman's Bastion:

Built during the 19th century for the Hungarian Millennium celebrations, this mock bastion features pointed towers and turrets, reminiscent of the fairy tale castles. a lofty vantage point high on the Buda side, surrounded by unique stone battlements and statues and of course the beautiful restored church with the quaint village behind. 

7 turrets represent the 7 Hungarian tribes who founded the present day country in 895 Protected by the guild of the fishermen during the Middle Ages, hence the name.

We bought the entry ticket for the Matthias church and museum and enjoyed the lovely interior.

Matthias church:

 Then we walked out and admired the beautiful surroundings and views

We came down after enjoying the views. We would have loved to trek the Gellert hill, visit the cave church, citadel etc but there was no time.



We bought 4 individual tickets at the metro station, validated 2 in the machine there and took the metro to Keleti. We punched in our 10 digit confirmation number in the yellow machine there and got our printed ticket in a second. We could have easily done this on the day of travel prior to boarding the train. We noticed the lifts don't work at the station and there is a big flight of steps to climb if we take the metro. 

We did not want to inconvenience ourselves, so came to the apt and fixed up a taxi for station to take our train to Prague.

 We then walked out, enjoyed the sight of lit up Budapest and called it a day.

Our report on Prague continues here:

https://adventuretrav.blogspot.com/2017/12/prague-trip-report-days-3-and-4.html

VIDEO LINK FOR THIS DAY'S REPORT:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/atRfGFk4DFsYzfjd2

Budapest 2: Buda castle