Budapest, Hungary

We arrived in Budapest (pronounced Budapesht) via Frankfurt, Germany. We could have gone through Istanbul, Turkey which would have given us another country we at least touched foot in but the times and long lay-overs made us choose Frankfurt instead. You still needed to go west and then come back east but it turned out to be the shortest time span total. We were struck by the fact that we just walked through the airport in Budapest and never had to go through any customs stations. It was like any US airport; deplane, grab your suitcase, and exit to your transportation.

We did the Big Bus tours again because they give you a good overview of a city and can be used as transportation while there. Our first day was spent doing 2 of the routes plus the Danube Cruise and the night tour. Long day and the final drop off was past their regular route trips so we had to walk 1.6 miles (35 minutes because we kept a good clip) to our hotel. We were beat but had seen some beautiful buildings and had gotten our bearings a little.

One thing I like about Europe is the beauty of the buildings. They just seem to have such character even when they don't necessarily have any special features. They are like an aging aunt with pride. Many have been well maintained and restored but right next to one might be another where the facade is crumbling a little. They just make me feel comfortable and in awe at the same time.

European cities are also such a mix of wide busy streets and narrow ones. The tour buses make some amazing turns into tight streets, too. Kudos to those drivers. Some of the roads we went down were so close you could probably have touched the walls of the buildings. I am surprised we didn't scrape them or take some mirrors off of parked cars along the sides. Inches were the difference in many places.

One of the major features of Budapest is that it is the capital of Hungary and has the Parliament. Their Parliament is the third largest in the world, behind Buenos Aires and London, and is styled after London's. We have pictures of it from the bus, from the Danube, from church spires, from the ground. It is truly an impressive building. You can google the stats. I'm just going to put in some pictures.

This is the backside of the building architecturally, I think, because the more intricate side faces the Danube. This is the side you enter, obviously, and there is a big courtyard in front with additional government buildings around it. The day we were there on foot was the first day of a new Parliament session and there was a small protest going on. It was all low-key and peaceful but there were police ringing the entry areas. We just keep showing up places when there are abnormal events going on, like the street shows in Taiwan. Adds to the adventure, I guess.

At Freedom Square, in the same vicinity, is a statue of Ronald Reagan because he supported Hungary in their bid to be independent from the Soviet Union.


We went up to the Royal Palace area and before we got to the actual Palace, we came to St. Matthias Church. It was originally built in 1015 but that church was destroyed and the current one was constructed in the late 13th century.


The Royal Palace sits on a hill and looks down on Budapest. It was hard to get a complete picture and we were there while the sun was setting behind the building, so that made picture taking hard. It was impressive. The original castle was built in the mid-13th century but was razed and rebuilt 6 times during the last 700 yrs. The last time was in the battle to rout the Turks in 1686. The Hapsburgs rebuilt it. The entry below the grounds was built in 1903.











Another big landmark is Heroes' Square. It was laid out in 1896 for the millennium of the Magyar Conquest of Hungary honoring Hungarian leaders and includes a Tomb for the Unknown Soldier.

We like churches and the biggest is St. Stephen's Basilica, built between 1851 and 1905. It accommodates 8,500 people.

We went through this tunnel on our night tour. It leads up to the Palace area.

It is also on a plaza that leads to one of the 10 bridges that cross the Danube to join Pest and Buda (the two cities that evidentially joined to make Budapest). The Chain Bridge is the most famous of the bridges. It is a suspension bridge, was the first stone bridge to join the two cities, was only the second bridge to cross the Danube, and was built in the 18th century.

There are also some very colorful and artistic roofs in Budapest. In all, it is a very interesting and beautiful city. Well worth a visit if you ever get a chance.