Budapest first day

Bridge under construction close to Budapest

Budapest is divided into two parts, the Buda side and the Pest side. They were united 150 years ago. The Buda side is the one with the hills where the palaces are and the Pest side is flat and more modern. We left the boat today for the last time on an excursion that makes one stop on the Buda side and one stop on the Pest side. We went to the main plaza in Buda which contains the Matthias church, the Buda castle, a statue of Saint Stephen and the Fisherman’s Bastion. The bastion has incredible views of the Pest side. Here are my pictures.

Looking up at Matthias church
Statue to heroes

The next set of pictures are of the outside and inside of the church. The church has amazing tile work on the roof and then incredible inside with also a lot of tile work. I would say it was influenced by Islamic mosques but it was not geometrical.

Pictures taken from the bastion

Looking south, downstream
St. Stephen’s cathedral
The Parliament building
Fisherman’s bastion
Back of Matthias church
Looking north , upstream

Two more pictures from down in the plaza. One is statue of Saint Stephen, and the other is of an unknown bird. Anybody know what kind of bird this is? King Stephen I was the first king of Hungary from about the year 1000 until his death in 1038. He established Christianity as the main religion of Hungary.

Views of the parliament from the bus as we cross back over to the Pest side. Also pictures of the architecture on the Pest side. The architecture dates back to the 17th and 18th century.

The stop on the Pest side was at the grand market where we were able to have a lunch and enjoy the sights of the market.

Lunch was pork stew with paprika, of course, and a batch of wonderful vegetables
The strawberries look almost as good as Sauvie Island strawberries
The actual market from the outside

Our evening excursion was to a restaurant out in the forest, where we were entertained by a Romani band and dancers. Unfortunately, the meal itself is not much to write home about but the entertainment was wonderful and the atmosphere of the place was great. It was an enjoyable evening.

This might look like a hammer dulcimer, but in reality, it worked like, and sounded more like a piano.
We were given plenty of opportunities to get up and dance with the troupe.
Reggie and I with two of the friends that we met on the boat. They are both American retired school teachers and we’re just fun to hang around with.

4 thoughts on “Budapest first day”

  4. Robbie –

    Some years ago, my late wife and I were privileged to stay at the Gellert Hotel and spa. Our Buda guide made a point of showing us where the Gabor families lived. We had the best strudel ever in Pest and a fine trip up the river ( or was it down) to neighboring communities.

    Enjoy!!!

    Henry

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