2014-4 Budapest, Hungary
Hello All,
Continuing with our tour of Budapest, Hungary, our Viking bus drove us across the Danube River and dropped us in the castle district of Buda. Here we started about a 20-minute walk with our guide to the top of Castle Hill.
Castle Hill, known as Várhegy in Hungarian, was first settled in the thirteenth century, after a Mongol attack led Buda's citizens to seek a more easily defended neighborhood. The royal Hungarian court also decided to move, to the southern end of the hill. By the fourteenth century, there were an estimated 8,000 residents in Buda. After a long (1541-1686) period of Turkish rule, a 75-day siege left Buda in ruins, and Austrian authorities counted a mere 300 people left. This would not be the last heavy attack on Castle Hill. In 1849 and 1945 the area once more came under attack. A completely surrounded German force held out for almost a month in January 1945, in the thirty-first siege of the city.
The castle district is famous for its Medieval, Baroque, and 19th-century houses, churches, and public buildings. We enjoyed walking the cobblestone streets with the many shops and restaurants. It was a beautiful warm summer day.
Continuing with our tour of Budapest, Hungary, our Viking bus drove us across the Danube River and dropped us in the castle district of Buda. Here we started about a 20-minute walk with our guide to the top of Castle Hill.
Castle Hill, known as Várhegy in Hungarian, was first settled in the thirteenth century, after a Mongol attack led Buda's citizens to seek a more easily defended neighborhood. The royal Hungarian court also decided to move, to the southern end of the hill. By the fourteenth century, there were an estimated 8,000 residents in Buda. After a long (1541-1686) period of Turkish rule, a 75-day siege left Buda in ruins, and Austrian authorities counted a mere 300 people left. This would not be the last heavy attack on Castle Hill. In 1849 and 1945 the area once more came under attack. A completely surrounded German force held out for almost a month in January 1945, in the thirty-first siege of the city.
The castle district is famous for its Medieval, Baroque, and 19th-century houses, churches, and public buildings. We enjoyed walking the cobblestone streets with the many shops and restaurants. It was a beautiful warm summer day.
The architecture was quite
interesting and the buildings colorful.
Check out the phone booth in
this photo. You don’t see many of them now days.
Here’s a close up. If nothing
else, it too was colorful.
Shops seemed to be catering
more to the tourist crowd rather than locals.
As we strolled along there
were flower gardens along with statues of folks important in Hungarian history.
They were quite well done.
If you needed to quench your thirst or a snack
to pick you up there were sidewalk stands to satisfy your needs. They had cold
water, fruit drinks and pastries to fix you up.
There was kiwi lemonade,
citrus lemonade, orange lemonade, and strawberry lemonade! We laughed as they
had everything except plain ole lemonade. It sure looked refreshing.
At the top of Castle Hill was Matthias
Church. It was truly awesome and way too large to capture in a single photo.
The first church on the site was founded by Saint Stephen, King of Hungary, in 1015. This building was destroyed in 1241 by the Mongols; the current building was constructed in the latter half of the 13th century. Originally named after the Virgin Mary, taking names such as "The Church of Mary" and "The Church of Our Lady," Matthias Church was named after King Matthias in the 19th Century, who ordered the transformation of its original southern tower, as seen in the following photo.
The first church on the site was founded by Saint Stephen, King of Hungary, in 1015. This building was destroyed in 1241 by the Mongols; the current building was constructed in the latter half of the 13th century. Originally named after the Virgin Mary, taking names such as "The Church of Mary" and "The Church of Our Lady," Matthias Church was named after King Matthias in the 19th Century, who ordered the transformation of its original southern tower, as seen in the following photo.
We found Matthias Church to be equally spectacular
on the inside. During World War II the church was badly damaged. It was used as
a camp by the Germans and Soviets in 1944-1945 during the Soviet occupation of
Hungary. The church was largely renovated between 1950 and 1970, with funding
from the Hungarian Government. The bell tower was restored, along with
renovation of interior paints and frescos. The five-manual organ, which had
been destroyed during the war, was updated and sanctified in 1984. A thorough
restoration program was carried out from 2006 to 2013. Half of the 9.4 billion Hungarian
forint cost was met by the government.
This is a photo of the
ceiling.
And, this is one of many stained-glass windows
within the church.
A short walk from the church
is Fisherman's Bastion. It is a terrace in neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque style
situated on Castle Hill overlooking the Danube River and Budapest. Built from
1895 to 1902, it has 7 turrets to represent the 7 Hungarian tribes who founded
the present day country in 895.
Fisherman’s Bastion offers
panoramic views of Budapest.
There is an outstanding statue
of Saint Stephen at the bastion.
You can also get a completely
different view of Matthias Church from the bastion. An aerial shot would be the
only way of capturing just how large the church it.
With our walking tour over we
hopped back on our Viking River tour bus and crossed the Danube River using the
Chain Bridge. It reminded us of Lions Bridge in Saint Augustine, Florida, with
the two lion statues at the entrance.
In the evening after dinner we
noticed another Viking river longship approaching on the river. And to our
surprise, we let loose our lines from our mooring on the river wall and the
arriving ship tied up where we were. Our crew then tied our ship up to the side
of the other ship. This was the first of many times this would occur at different
locations on our voyage.
It was a beautiful warm
evening and we were sitting out on the top deck after dinner. The crew was
serving complementary Hungarian Palinka, which is a fruit brandy.
At 8:45 pm we were scheduled to depart Budapest for Bratislava, Slovakia. And, right on time we untied from the other longship and proceeded down river.
At 8:45 pm we were scheduled to depart Budapest for Bratislava, Slovakia. And, right on time we untied from the other longship and proceeded down river.
Again, we were confused, as we
had it in our minds that we would be going upstream to Slovakia. Finally, Miss
Barb asked a crew member if Slovakia was upstream or downstream? He informed
her that Slovakia was upstream. Seeing the confused look on her face he went on
to say, “Since it was such a lovely evening the Captain has decided to give us
a tour of Budapest at night.”
After traveling downstream for about 15 minutes he turned the ship around in the middle of the river and we slowly cruised through Budapest for the next 45 minutes. The lights on buildings and bridges were amazing. There were many other tour boats and dinner cruise boats on the river also. It made a memory we will not soon forget.
After traveling downstream for about 15 minutes he turned the ship around in the middle of the river and we slowly cruised through Budapest for the next 45 minutes. The lights on buildings and bridges were amazing. There were many other tour boats and dinner cruise boats on the river also. It made a memory we will not soon forget.
This is the Hungarian
Parliament Building—it was truly spectacular.
As we cruised out of Budapest
we said goodbye to what had been a wonderful visit. We cruised through the
night and arrived in Bratislava about 1 pm the next day, but more on those
adventures later.
Until next time,
Dave & Barb
The Traveling Browns
Until next time,
Dave & Barb
The Traveling Browns