We started out with a tour of the Parliament building, which you saw photos of yesterday from across the river. Wow, what a building. We came in the side door and then climbed up 96 steps to the rotunda. The rotunda dome is 96 meters high. The Maygars founded Hungary in 896 so the number 96 is important. And many of the buildings around here were either built, refurbished, repaired, whatever, for the world exposition of 1896 to commemorate Hungary's 1000th birthday. This building was one of them.
Another cool lion - I LOVE these great lion statues!
Part of the 96 stairs. The main doors that open on to this stairway are only opened for important people - kings, presidents, prime ministers and the pope. We were not important enough for the door to be opened for us.
All that shiny stuff you see in all these photos is gold leaf. She said how many kilos of gold is adorning the building but I don't remember..... it's a lot!!!
The building was built using only Hungarian workers and only Hungarian materials. The only exception are the black pillars you see below which were a gift from Sweden. Or was it Switzerland. I forgot my notebook in the hotel and didn't make proper notes.
Because they don't have too much marble in Hungary, and because they wanted to use only Hungarian materials, they used much artificial marble which at the time cost 3 times as much as real marble. The rug in this room was the biggest in Hungary (in Europe??) It was made by Hungarian women (don't remember how many) and took 9 months. Instead of the normal 20,000 knots per square meter, this one has 100,000 knots per square meter.
This was funny. This was just outside the room where the congress met. That metal thing is a cigar holder. It was not permitted to smoke in the chamber, so the delegates would light a cigar in the hall and then put it in one of the grooves, remember which number (they each have a number) and after the vote could go and retrieve their cigars.
Hungary used to have a two part legislature like ours, but now they have only one. So the Parliament building has two wings, originally one for each part. Now one is used for the legislature and this one is for tourists to see and is also available for rent for meetings.
After that we walked past the American Embassy, through a little park, and back to our square and went into St. Istvan Basilica. First, this is a picture of our hotel while standing at the door of the Basilica. I said our hotel was 1/2 a block from the church. Not really - we are pretty much right next door. See the building in the middle of the picture with a blue vertical sign on it's left side of the middle row of windows - that's our hotel.
The church's main claim to fame is the mummified "Holy Right Hand" of St. Istvan. For 200 Florits you can turn the lights on for 2 minutes and try to take a picture. Here's one stolen from the internet for free:
This is another church where every square inch is painted or stenciled. The parliament was like that too - painted and stenciled everywhere.
This is one of the side altars. See the typical Hungarian lace and embroidered cloth.
The plaza in front of St. Istvan has some really cool designs - does anyone see a quilt here?
After a little rest we walked up Andrassy street - guide book says sort of the Champs Elysees of Budapest (not really, but a big wide street with lots of impressive 19th century buildings and a lot of embassies).
This is the museum of terror which was the headquarters of the soviet police. We really wanted to go in here, but it's closed for renovations.
At the end of the street is City Park, first with some impressive statues of Hungarian heros including St. Istvan and Matthias:
This is sort of like Budapest's Central Park - a castle, a zoo, a thermal bath and lots of gardens and places to stroll and relax. The castle was built for the 1896 exposition and meant to be temporary, but the locals loved it so much that it was rebuilt of brick and stone. One of my books called it schizophrenic - as you can see, it couldn't decide what to be, so it's a mish mash of architectural styles (I should have paid better attention in art history).
Me and another lion, but it's too far away to see the lion
This isn't a lion, but looked like a really mad creature. Maybe it's a badger. After loosing the Rose Bowl.
And this is the baths. Apparently that is one of the things we should do in Budapest is enjoy the baths. There are hot pools, cold pools, whirlpools, all sorts of pools. Rick Steves said you shouldn't leave without enjoying the baths. But we won't. I know many of my friends love to go to Hot Springs, Arkansas and go to the baths and get a massage and all that. But I have zero desire to do that. The whole idea of the baths and the massage and all of it.... not for me. Here's the outside of the bath house.
From there we took the subway back to our neighborhood. It is the oldest subway on the continent (London's is the only one older). It is so shallow (it is right under the street) that you have to figure out which platform you want before you go down the stairs from the street. We told our hotel guy that after walking to Parliament, we had walked to City Park. He said really? That is a really long way. Then he was suggesting things for us to do tomorrow. He suggested the market - we said we were there already yesterday. He said - you walked all over castle hill and THEN you walked to the market??!! He was impressed.
Tonight we ate at an all-you-can-eat-and-drink Hungarian buffet, which was great, because we got to sample a lot of different dishes. I had a soup that was absolutely to die for. In fact it was so good that while Armando ate desert, I had another bowl. This looks like it - I will have to try to make it when I get home. http://budapestcookingclass.com/menu/soups/chicken-ragout-soup-with-tarragon/
1 comment:
I can hear you speaking as I read - glad you are able to share so I can experience the trip and still sleep in MY bed! Thanks!
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