On the way, we stopped at a small church to admire how villagers built their church without sophisticated tools hundreds of years ago.
(Click on each picture to get the full-size view)
And had lunch (goulash for a raining day) at a roadside café.
The scenery outside the bus was green and lush, with some farmhouses dotted by the roadside or on the horizon. It was soothing, tranquil, and pretty; but after a while it got boring until we entered Hungary when the onboard WIFI came alive. Because the bus company is based in Hungary, it has mobile data service in its home country. The WIFI, though slow, was a welcome relief.
We arrived at Budapest in time to catch its evening rush hours. Our hotel, Radisson Blu Beke, was on a fashionable street not too far from a big roundabout called Oktogon. One of the streets intersecting at Oktogon is called Andrássy Avenue, regarded as the Champs-Elysées of Budapest. Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, this street was the shopping mecca of the Eastern Bloc. Gate 1 arranged the dinner at one of the restaurants in our hotel. We took a walk at Andrássy after dinner and soon decided to call it a day due to the exhaustion from the long bus ride.
The next day, 10/5/2016, we started our tour of Budapest. The city is very beautiful, far beyond my expectation. It’s built along both banks of the Danube river. A smaller part of the city sitting on one side of the river is called Buda; while the larger side across the Danube is called Pest (pronounced P-E-S-H). The Castle Hill on the Buda side, Andrássy Avenue on the Pest side, and banks of the Danube on both sides are all recognized by UNESCO as World Heritage sites.
We started with the Castle Hill on the Buda side. This hilly side used to be the residential area for kings and noblemen. Kings are long gone but the area remains the pricey and preferred housing location for locals.
One prominent building on Castle Hill is the Royal Castle, as seen from the other side of the Danube in this picture. The castle has been razed and rebuilt at least 6 times over the last several centuries. It now houses three museums and the national library.
Further up from the Royal Castle on the Castle Hill are Matthias Church and the Fishermen's Bastion.
Another view of the Castle Hill with the Chained Bridge in the foreground. It is one of several bridges connecting Buda and Pest. The tower on the hill is the Matthias Church.
There is a funicular to go up to the top of Castle Hill.
We didn’t use funicular. Our bus took us up the hill, passing some ornate walls and walkways.
The 500 years old neo-Gothic Matthias Church, the venue of many coronations and royal weddings.
Holy Trinity Square, with Trinity Column on the left and Matthias Church on the right.
Inside Matthias Church are stained-glass windows, intricate frescoes, and exquisite wall decorations.
Matthias Church has a colorful porcelain-tiled roof
Nearby is a neo-Gothic viewing platform, called the Fishermen's Bastion. There are seven gleaming white turrets representing the seven old tribes that established Budapest.
In front of the Fishermen's Bastion is an ornate equestrian statue of St. Stephen.
Our group photo in front of the St. Stephen statue, courtesy of Gate 1.
Members of our group came from all over the country. They were from NorCal, SoCal, NY, DC, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. They were also couples, singles, parents-daughter, and brothers. Our tour director was from Croatia and the bus driver from Hungary. It was an eclectic, easy-going, and fun-loving group.
Views from the Fishermen's Bastion are spectacular.
Here is a view of the Danube, with Buda on the bottom half, and Pest on the upper half.
Hungary’s Parliament, viewed from the Fishermen's Bastion.
St. Stephen Basilica, viewed from the Fishermen's Bastion.
The Chained Bridge, viewed from the Fishermen's Bastion.
I don’t remember if we ever went inside the Royal Castle itself. Here is a picture of the back side of the castle, taken from our bus.
Another vantage point on Castle Hill with picturesque views of the Danube and the city.
After Castle Hill, we crossed the Danube river and came back to Pest. Driving down Andrássy Avenue, the Champs-Elysées of Budapest, we passed the stately State Opera House.
At one end of Andrássy Avenue is the Heroes’ Square.
In the center of the Heroes’ Square is a huge column with an angel on top. At the bottom are statues of the leaders of 7 tribes who founded Hungary.
Our guided city tour only lasted half a day, which was way too short. Budapest has so many places to go, so many things to see. We will definitely want to come to visit again.
Not too far from our hotel is the world’s fanciest McDonald’s. It is inside a train station building, which was built by the person that also built Eiffel Tower
Our optional tour in the afternoon is called Jewish Interest Tour. We visited the Great Synagogue, which was built in Moorish Revival style. This synagogue is the largest Jewish house of worship in the world outside New York City. Its rose window above the entrance is an element of a Christian church; for that reason, this synagogue is sometimes referred to as the Jewish cathedral.
Following the Orthodox tradition, there are separate galleries for women. The second-floor balconies are for women.
In the courtyard is the Holocaust Memorial, in memory of the 600,000 Hungarian Jews killed by the Nazis in WWII.
Next to the synagogue is the Hungarian Jewish Museum. An old Jewish docent, not used to seeing an Asian among a group of white gentiles visiting a Jewish place, kept asking Rosaline why she was there. What chutzpah!
For people interested in the subject of architecture style, Budapest is a treasure heaven. There are many stylish, opulent, and outstanding buildings all over the city. I enjoy looking at buildings and Budapest was very enjoyable for me. I only wish I had more time looking around Budapest.
Museum of Applied Arts, in Art Nouveau style. There are many Art Nouveau buildings in Budapest, and sadly I only got to take this one picture. I was sitting on the wrong side of the bus for other buildings.
From one side of a moving bus, I managed to take pictures of only a few buildings. The street scene with the fin de siècle feel was simply mesmerizing.
There is even a Citibank branch, at a corner of the busy Oktogon roundabout.
In the evening, we joined an optional tour of having dinner on a Danube riverboat.
Major buildings on each bank of the Danube were lighted up at night. The food on the riverboat was above average, but the view of river banks was out of this world.
The Royal Castle at night
Elisabeth Bridge and Inner City Parish Church - the oldest building in Pest.
Parliament at night
Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Pest Redout Concert Hall
Corvinus University
Technical University
Gellert Hotel and Baths Complex
??
Palace of Arts, emitting blue light to make the Blue Danube?
Liberty Bridge
This has been a fun-filled day in Budapest, so much to see and experience. It is a wonderful and beautiful city. We would spend one more morning tomorrow to see Parliament and more.
Budapest, the prettiest city of this trip so far,
Majestic castle, magnificent buildings, and elegant boulevards.
Neo-Gothic, Neo-Classic, Neo-Renaissance, and Art Nouveau,
I could hardly absorb them all.
Definitely need to come back for more,
Further wet my appetite for anything fin de siècle.
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