Picketts in Poland: Our Visit to Budapest….(Part 2)

Day 2 in Budapest…November 1, 2013

The second day of our visit to Budapest began with a 3-hour bus and walking tour….we traveled the streets of both the Buda and Pest sides of the Danube River. Ultimately, the tour took us to the Buda side and the top of Gellert's Hill.

The hill is named for Bishop Gellert, a Polish-born bishop who was instrumental in converting Hungary to Christianity in the first half of the 11th century. In 1046 however, pagans in the area rose up against the Christians….and killed the bishop by putting him in a barrel with nails driven into it and then rolling the barrel down the hill and into the Danube.

The top of the hill is 140 meters above the Danube….

….and provides a wonderful view of the city of Budapest.

I had wanted to climb the hill…but instead we liked the idea that the tour took us up in a bus.

Though there was little sun, the view of the city was still magnificent.

Atop Gellert's Hill is Liberty Statue, erected in 1947.

The statue was originally erected by the Soviets as a monument to themselves….but after the fall of communism, the monument was dedicated "To the memory of those all who sacrificed their lives for the independence, freedom, and prosperity of Hungary".

Later that afternoon we took a boat tour that passed by Gellert's Hill, and could see the statue from the Danube.

Also atop Gellert's Hill, but not visible, is the Citadella, a fortress built in the mid-19th century by the Habsburgs from Austria, that ruled Hungary at that time.

After Gellert's hill, the bus tour took us further along the hilly Buda side of the Danube, and over to the beautiful Matthias Church, in the center of the Castle Hill area. The church is named for King Matthias who reigned in the 15th century.

This Roman Catholic church was originally built in 1015, but the church in its current form was constructed in the 14th century….

….however this church door dates back to the 12th or 13th century.

This is a very popular and historical church….the site of royal weddings and coronations in Hungary.

Interesting historical fact: After the Turks conquered Hungary in the 16th century, Matthias Church was used as a mosque for 150 years, until the Turks were expelled in the late 17th century.

In front of the church, overlooking the Danube is Fisherman's Bastion, built in 1905….

….on the site of a former fish market.

At the entrance to the Fisherman's Bastion is a statue of St. Stephen, the first king of Hungary.

The Fisherman's Bastion was so named because it was the stretch of river that the fishermen's guild was responsible for defending in the Middle Ages.

Looking across the Danube to the Pest side of the city, the Hungarian Parliament is visible through the first archway of this photo.

Our time on the Castle Hill went by too quickly….but we had scheduled time to return the next day... to explore, take more pictures and enjoy.

Time for lunch….at an outdoor bistro near our hotel. The fall weather was pleasant….warmer than Warsaw. My entree was great….

….spinach ravioli with grilled fresh vegetables, and Mark had a warm soup.

The bus tour had unexpectedly given us complimentary tickets for a boat tour on the Danube. Since we had nothing scheduled in the afternoon we walked to the pier for the boat tour. For the next hour it was interesting to hear about the landmarks on both sides of the Danube.

I especially enjoyed heading toward and under the many bridges that span the Danube.

The oldest and most famous bridge in Budapest….the Chain Bridge. We walked across this bridge the next day.

The driving force behind the construction of the bridge was Count Szechenyi, a prominent statesman in Hungary. The Count was instrumental in having the bridge built after he missed his father's funeral because the ferry service across the Danube was suspended due to bad weather.

All of the bridges that span the Danube were destroyed by the German army in WWII….but this is an exact copy of the original Chain Bridge.

Margaretha Bridge….gold-colored

Freedom Bridge….green

Elizabeth Bridge….white

We enjoyed our sightseeing in and around Budapest, whether on land or water….

….especially this view of the back side of the beautiful Parliament Building on the Pest side of the Danube.

Walking back to the hotel after the boat tour, we came across two more bronze statues.

The first was a young girl playing ball with her dog.

The second is called The Little Princess, although it looks more like a Little Prince to me.

We had read that this is the most photographed bronze statue in all of Budapest….and we came across it unexpectedly, just a few steps from our hotel.

November 1 is All Saints' Day, a national holiday in Hungary….just as it is in Poland and many other countries in Europe, South America, and elsewhere that are influenced by Catholic theology. People observe All Saints' Day by visiting the graves of deceased relatives, to clean and place flowers and candles at the grave sites. People are known to travel long distances to join relatives at the grave sites of ancestors, to observe this tradition together.

On November 1, 2011, in our first year in Poland, we had visited a Warsaw cemetery on All Saints' Day. On this November 1, we decided to find a cemetery to visit in Budapest….

….so we hopped on the escalator down to the Metro (subway). The escalators at the Metro stations were steep, like subway escalators in other cities in the U.S. and Europe….but the escalators in the Budapest subway were the fastest we have ever ridden, anywhere. We felt somewhat like we were hopping onto a moving train!

Following our maps and instincts….and directions from the hotel concierge….we found the closest cemetery to our hotel.

As we walked through a few streets of the cemetery, a feature that was quite interesting were the many large statues near the grave sites.

The lighted candles placed near the graves were popular here, just as they were in Warsaw…."Magyar" in the picture below refers to Hungary and Hungarians.

Interesting monuments….

Hungarians….honor and give respect to their dead.

The graves did not seem to have as many candles as we had seen at graves in the Warsaw cemetery in 2011. We speculated that it was because the graves we saw in Budapest were much older, and the people buried there are not as well remembered by current generations.