Beautiful Budapest Days 3/4 concluded….

On the afternoon of Day 3 in Budapest, we visited the largest and most well known building in Hungary, and the symbol of Budapest….the Hungarian Parliament Building.

The side of the building seen from the Danube is actually the back of the parliament building.

The front view would be grand also, were it not for the extensive construction taking place.  

 We were told the construction would all be completed by next year….just in time for the elections.

The Hungarian flag can be seen on the top and front sides of the parliament building. 

Fortunately for us there is an English tour of the inside of the building once a day.

Our guide did a good job of explaining a few areas of the parliament building to our group.

Inside this grand building there is much beauty.  Just opposite of where the guide was speaking is this beautiful view of the staircase to the prime minister's office….not your typical office building.

The planners did not scrimp on creating something so beautiful!

There are waiting rooms and assembly rooms.  Around many of the columns of these rooms are statues representing different occupations in a community….quite unique and interesting.

The chamber where parliament meets is relatively small considering how enormous the building is....

….but it is also very ornate.

A beautiful long hall next to the chamber.

The Parliament building is also a massive government office building, for most of the departments of the national government.  

We saw such a small part of it….which makes me wonder what all goes on inside, and what more there could be to see.

We were not allowed to take pictures in the central Domed Hall, under the main dome of the parliament building.  There, encased in glass and guarded by soldiers that brandish swords every 5 minutes, are the crown jewels of Hungary….including the Holy Crown that was used to crown 50 kings over a period of about 800 years.

 The top of the Parliament Dome is 96 meters in height…the same as St. Stephen's Basilica.  The height of 96 meters was chosen to represent the conquest in 896 A.D. of the land that later became Hungary.  The parliament building was inaugurated in 1896, when the country was celebrating its 1000th anniversary.

The next morning, Sunday, we left for church a little early in order to visit this memorial….the Shoes on the Danube Promenade.  It is located on the embankment of the Danube, just a few meters from Parliament.

The shoes are a memorial to the Jewish people in Budapest…in particular in memory to the Jews who were killed by militiamen in Budapest in WWII.

The account is that the Jews who were killed here were ordered to take off their shoes, then were shot at the edge of the water so their bodies fell into the river and were carried away. 

 The artist who created this monument made 60 pairs of period shoes (from the 1940's), cast out of iron…. 

….and then attached them to the embankment.

Sunday Church in Budapest, Hungary

I absolutely love finding where we can attend church when we visit other cities in Europe….it is an adventure in planning….we have always found the chapel or place of worship. 

The Sunday we were in Budapest, we took a subway to the Buda side of the Danube, walked a few blocks, and happily found the street we were looking for….Hajnoczy Jozsef.

 We were looking for #14….and in less than 3 minutes we found one of the chapels of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints in Budapest.

The service we attended in Budapest was for a ward (congregation) that is much larger than our congregation in Poland. We were grateful for those who translated for us.…it felt good to be in church, and to worship and hear the testimonies of the Hungarian members.

Their hymnbook looked familiar….except for the language, it looked on the outside like the same book that is used in the U.S.  It was more challenging to sing the words in Hungarian…but we tried.

A great Sunday morning for us!

Walking back toward the subway station we saw this very old church…I would have liked to have learned more about it…it was lovely to see.

The Jewish Synagogue

We had passed the synogogue on our bus tour of Budapest two days earlier, but had wanted to get a closer look.  The lines were quite long and there was an admission charge, so we opted not to go inside.

This synogogue is the largest in Europe and the second largest in the world (NYC is larger). 

The features on the outside are beautiful…the windows, tiles, towers and so many fine details.

Near the synogogue were other interesting buildings…It was  impressive to see the details, the paintings and decorative features on the outside of many of them.

European balconies are just lovely….

….including here in Budapest.

Walking through Budapest….

We were told these Fornetti shops were everywhere…though we only saw a couple of them.…they are bakery shops and are quite popular. The smells that came from them were quite enticing!

Mark's last Hungarian meal….I was not hungry for Hungarian food at the time, so I waited while he enjoyed his grilled sausage and grilled vegetables, with dijon mustard.

Two days earlier we had taken a short cruise down the Danube that was given to us at no cost on our bus tour.   Today's Danube tour was planned before we knew we would be given a free tour.

Though cold outside, as we traveled down the Danube it was nice to see a river view of many of the places we had read about and some that we had visited.

We could order food on board…so I enjoyed my Hungarian apple strudel….delicious! 

Our fall days in Budapest were great.  We walked, explored, and enjoyed some beautiful days together.  Our time was enjoyable even though the weather wasn't ideal each day….including when we walked to the subway in the rain, on our way to the airport….

….but we truly would like to return again to Budapest….maybe spring or summer next time!