The view from our hotel on Castle hill. We saw a little of the Danube and a lot of St. Matthias church and its beautiful roof.
St. Stephen's Basilica at night: Gorgeous!
Such a romantic city. I was so glad to be there with Jeff. He had been several times before on business trips. I'm happy that he wanted to share it again with me.
Inside St. Stephen's Basilica.
We were able to go to an organ concert. The organist was fantastic and was joined by a flutist and a bass vocalist who were both excellent as well. The bass was notable since he had been singing since the 1970's. He had a beautiful sonorous voice. We bought our tickets about 30 minutes before the beginning of the program.
Wonderful program!
MATTHIAS FOUNTAIN
In the western courtyard of Buda Palace is Matthias Fountain. The fountain tells the story of Ilonka (heroine of a famous 19th century ballad by Mihály Vörösmarty) and how she fell in love with King Matthias when he was out hunting incognito.
I fell in love with this produce section. So pretty and colorful!
The Central Market in Budapest. The locals tended to shop on the perimeters and the tourist stuff was more toward the center. Some vendors were more popular than others evidenced by longer lines.
Budapest Tram along the Danube. Working since 1866. (not necessarily this particular train, but in general). We did a lot of walking around town, across bridges etc. We hopped on the train from the market to get to the Parliament building.
From Wikipedia: "The composition titled 'Shoes on the Danube Bank' gives remembrance to the people ( mainly Budapest jews ) shot into the Danube during the time of the Arrow Cross terror. The sculptor created sixty pairs of period-appropriate shoes out of iron. The shoes are attached to the stone embankment, and behind them lies a 40 meter long, 70 cm high stone bench. At three points are cast iron signs, with the following text in Hungarian, English, and Hebrew: "To the memory of the victims shot into the Danube by Arrow Cross militiamen in 1944–45. Erected 16 April 2005."
This sculpture was especially touching to me. Sometimes it is hard to believe the atrocities that man can afflict on others.
Budapest Parliament Building. Read more
They have timed entries and we bought tickets for a 4:30 tour. It was about 1:00 when we bought the tickets. So, we had some time to kill before our tour. We wandered down the Danube and saw the shoe sculpture (above), rode the train etc.
An old church on Castle Hill. It has been rebuilt several times and you can see the various attempts to build it up again.
The Parliament building lit up at night. View from Castle hill.
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