Dan in Hungary

This would be my second time in Budapest, and I wanted to see and do some different things this time. I almost booked a one-day boat trip to the north, where there are supposed to be three scenic towns and a great castle or two overlooking the river. It’s called the Danube Bend area. I chose not to book it however, when I saw the weather forecast: cold and rainy. Cold (low 40s) and rainy it was. So I tried to do some indoor things.

I walked to and explored St. Steven’s Basilica. I’ve now seen a lot of old churches all over Europe, but this is one of the most glorious. It was as ornate as any, but more colorful than most.

I also went to Buda Castle, also known as the Royal Palace, to visit the museum inside. It’s the Hungarian National Gallery, with an extensive set of works by Hungarian artists throughout history. It was quite impressive. As usual, I liked the 19th century paintings the best. Budapest also has a Museum of Fine Arts, but I’ll save that one for my next trip.

The next day, Sunday, was very nice: it was sunny, with temperatures in the 50s. I couldn’t go the Danube Bend, however, because the tour only goes on Saturdays in winter. I could have tried to take a train or bus, but thought better of it; there were still other things that I haven’t seen in Budapest proper.

The day began with me on a metro to Hero’s Square. This square is the entrance to a city part called Varosliget, and is also home of the famous Millennium Monument. With great colonnades, statues galore, and a tall central column crowned by Archangel Gabriel, it is truly stunning. The monument was built to celebrate the millennium of the founding of Hungary, as well as it’s conversion to Christianity, lead by St. Steven. Among the statues is Prince Arpad, along with six other conquering Magyars. You gotta love these conquering Magyars.

Varosliget also contains a zoo, botanical garden, famous baths, and Vajdajunyad Castle. Since I continue to be self-conscious about taking them with people I don’t know, I skipped the baths. This castle, complete with a moat, looks like it’s straight out of a fairy tale. I walked around the interior grounds – it is really neat.

As I returned from the metro stop, I had planned to take Vaci street, a major shopping area, back to the hotel. Along the way is Mihaly Vorosmarty Square, where there was some sort of flea market or festival going on. I checked out the goods and the food (which smelled great) and watched first the little girls, and later everyone, do some folk dancing. They even had a puppet show. You just can’t get entertainment like this at home.

Having been to Old Town, in the Castle District before, I wasn’t sure I wanted to go again, but I wanted to do something with the time I had. So I climbed up once again – it took about 45 minutes from the hotel. And I did see some sights that I had missed: the view from the back of the Castle District hill is almost as spectacular as that overlooking the Danube. I also got to see the famous Vienna Gate.