Budapest, Hungary

January 7, 2016

Budapest is the capital of Hungary and only a couple hour drive from Vienna that straddles the Danube River. Budapest is a unification of the towns of Buda and Pest in 1873.  Buda was on one side of the river with Pest on the other.  The city was originally a Celtic settlement that became a Roman capital.  In 1241 it was pillaged by the Molgols.  The city was rebuilt and in the 15th century was one of the centers of the Renaissance.  Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, and nearly 150 years of Ottoman rule, the region entered a new age of prosperity in the 18th and 19th centuries.  We spent much of the tour in the bus which was nice to keep Owen warm.  We drove by the Dohány Street Synagogue which is the largest synagogue in Europe.  It was built in 1859 with a capacity of 3000 people.  We visited the Heroes’ Square which has a series of statues of important national leaders beginning with Stephen I from the 11th century and ending with Lajos Kossuth from the mid-19th century. Across a frozen lake from where we had lunch was the Vajdahunyad Castle which was built to no purpose but to be cool in the Millenial Exhibition in 1896. It has Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque architectural styles. Originally, it was made from cardboard and wood, but it became so popular that it was rebuilt from stone and brick between 1904 and 1908. Next we saw the largest and tallest building in Budapest, the Hungarian Parliament.  It was completed in 1904 using the Gothic Revival style.  We were not able to go very close because that was the day that David Cameron from the UK was visiting the parliament.  There were police officers everywhere. My favorite site was the Matthias Church which is a Roman Catholic Church in the Buda section of the city with an extraordinary outlook of the Parliament building.  This church was where coronation for the last Hapsburg king, Charles IV, was performed in 1916. Throughout its history it underwent several renovation in the latest architectural style of only moderate success so it has ended up being quite the mish mosh of styles.  I love the tile roof designs with beautiful oranges and greens. Lastly we visited Saint Stephen's Basilica named after the first King of Hungary. His right hand is kept in the reliquary of the church.  It is kinda creepy to see a desiccated hand sitting in an ornate box surrounded with candles and what not. Saint Stephen's was completed in 1905 with a neoclassical style.  It is much bigger than the Matthias Church. Throughout the city are 80 geothermal springs with a corresponding thermal cater cave system. It was these springs that attracted the Romans to the area. The currency used is the Hungarian Forint that has a 1 to 300 exchange rate.  Thankfully, many of the tourist areas accepted the Euro.  Another very fun trip that I had no idea we would have even visited.