We liked Budapest so much that we quickly extended our stay here from six nights to eleven. Part of this was due to the perfect sunny weather during our stay, and part was due to the little studio apartment that we rented and made ourselves at home in. Mostly though, Budapest itself deserves the credit. There is something quirky and eclectic about the city, with its Magyar pride, Turkish-influenced thermal baths, never-used Habsburg palace, dilapidated Jewish Quarter, and lingering Communist influence. We never got tired of exploring some new aspect of the city.
Originally two cities, Buda (on the hilly west bank of the Danube) and Pest (on the relatively flat east bank of the Danube) were only united in 1873. The area was first settled by Celts and Romans before the Magyars emigrated from central Asia and called present-day Hungary home (interestingly, Hungarian is not related to the languages of any neighboring countries, but to Estonian and Finnish). Buda is home to one of the city’s most iconic sites: Castle Hill. Overlooking the Danube, Castle Hill (Varhegy) is divided in two parts, the Royal Palace (built, but never used, by the Habsburgs, and now home to two major museums), and a beautiful old town whose “Fisherman’s Bastion” provides an unbeatable view of Pest.
Also on the Buda side of the city, we visited Gellert Hill which provides the foundation for the Citadella, a fortress built by the Habsburgs to quell Hungarian insurrection, and the Liberty Monument, raised in 1947 to commemorate Soviet soldiers who died liberating Hungary. It is one of the few remaining Soviet monuments in the city, though the dedication has now been changed to honor all those who died for Hungary’s independence (the original Cyrillic inscription and several Soviet soldier statues have been removed). Further afield, we ventured into the Buda Hills for a long walk that included a stop at Szemlo-hegy, one of two huge cave systems here (if our tour had been in English we could tell you more about it).
Though we really liked old town Buda, we spent most of our time in Pest – our apartment was here, as are many of the city’s sights. Central Pest’s skyline features two prominent domed buildings: St Stephen’s Basilica (Szent Istvan Bazilika) and Parliament. The buildings are the tallest in the city, by law, at 96 meters, symbolizing the year (896) of Hungary’s unification. The Basilica is named in honor of the country’s first Christian ruler (and patron saint), and houses the relic of his withered right hand (deemed a miracle after his body was exhumed 500 years after his death and his right arm was found to be mummified). Parliament, which was across the street from our apartment, boasts 690 rooms and has its own slightly less creepy St. Stephen memorabilia on display: his crown (the Holy Crown of Hungary).
In Pest we also visited the House of Terror, a fascinating and sad museum devoted to the Nazi and Soviet occupations of Hungary, and spent a day at the City Park’s enormous Szechenyi Baths (it has 3 outdoor and 15 indoor thermally-heated pools), a cultural remnant of the Ottoman occupation. We also made a visit to Memento Park - the graveyard for all the Soviet statues not destroyed after the fall of communism in 1989. At night we enjoyed visiting the so-called “ruin bars” – nothing highlights the quirky side of Budapest quite like them. The bars pop up in old apartment buildings in the city’s Jewish quarter filling the courtyards, parlors, and bedrooms of these abandoned buildings with bright and strange artwork, neon signs, foozeball and lots of young people. Our latest night at the ruin bars started innocently enough, but developed into a pub crawl of sorts whose cast of characters included two ready-to-party Swedes, two curious Australians, a local drunk known as George from Wales, and one random, drunken Hungarian who could barely speak English (but joined us all for some reason).
We also happened to be in town on August 20th, the Hungarian national day and found that from first thing in the morning until late at night, Hungarians celebrate their nation’s birthday with gusto. We followed the crowds to a military flag-raising ceremony at Parliament, Danube boat race and air show, a street fair at which we sampled some Hungarian birthday cake (something like apricot cheesecake), a mass (after which St. Stephen’s right hand was paraded around town to much fanfare, including Hungarian president Pal Schmitt), and then finally back to the Danube for the most spectacular fireworks show either of us may have ever seen. August 20th exemplified what we loved about the city – its vibrancy and eccentricity – and it will remain one of our fondest memories of our stay in this fabulous city.
Click on the photo below for our Budapest photo album.
Originally two cities, Buda (on the hilly west bank of the Danube) and Pest (on the relatively flat east bank of the Danube) were only united in 1873. The area was first settled by Celts and Romans before the Magyars emigrated from central Asia and called present-day Hungary home (interestingly, Hungarian is not related to the languages of any neighboring countries, but to Estonian and Finnish). Buda is home to one of the city’s most iconic sites: Castle Hill. Overlooking the Danube, Castle Hill (Varhegy) is divided in two parts, the Royal Palace (built, but never used, by the Habsburgs, and now home to two major museums), and a beautiful old town whose “Fisherman’s Bastion” provides an unbeatable view of Pest.
Also on the Buda side of the city, we visited Gellert Hill which provides the foundation for the Citadella, a fortress built by the Habsburgs to quell Hungarian insurrection, and the Liberty Monument, raised in 1947 to commemorate Soviet soldiers who died liberating Hungary. It is one of the few remaining Soviet monuments in the city, though the dedication has now been changed to honor all those who died for Hungary’s independence (the original Cyrillic inscription and several Soviet soldier statues have been removed). Further afield, we ventured into the Buda Hills for a long walk that included a stop at Szemlo-hegy, one of two huge cave systems here (if our tour had been in English we could tell you more about it).
Though we really liked old town Buda, we spent most of our time in Pest – our apartment was here, as are many of the city’s sights. Central Pest’s skyline features two prominent domed buildings: St Stephen’s Basilica (Szent Istvan Bazilika) and Parliament. The buildings are the tallest in the city, by law, at 96 meters, symbolizing the year (896) of Hungary’s unification. The Basilica is named in honor of the country’s first Christian ruler (and patron saint), and houses the relic of his withered right hand (deemed a miracle after his body was exhumed 500 years after his death and his right arm was found to be mummified). Parliament, which was across the street from our apartment, boasts 690 rooms and has its own slightly less creepy St. Stephen memorabilia on display: his crown (the Holy Crown of Hungary).
In Pest we also visited the House of Terror, a fascinating and sad museum devoted to the Nazi and Soviet occupations of Hungary, and spent a day at the City Park’s enormous Szechenyi Baths (it has 3 outdoor and 15 indoor thermally-heated pools), a cultural remnant of the Ottoman occupation. We also made a visit to Memento Park - the graveyard for all the Soviet statues not destroyed after the fall of communism in 1989. At night we enjoyed visiting the so-called “ruin bars” – nothing highlights the quirky side of Budapest quite like them. The bars pop up in old apartment buildings in the city’s Jewish quarter filling the courtyards, parlors, and bedrooms of these abandoned buildings with bright and strange artwork, neon signs, foozeball and lots of young people. Our latest night at the ruin bars started innocently enough, but developed into a pub crawl of sorts whose cast of characters included two ready-to-party Swedes, two curious Australians, a local drunk known as George from Wales, and one random, drunken Hungarian who could barely speak English (but joined us all for some reason).
We also happened to be in town on August 20th, the Hungarian national day and found that from first thing in the morning until late at night, Hungarians celebrate their nation’s birthday with gusto. We followed the crowds to a military flag-raising ceremony at Parliament, Danube boat race and air show, a street fair at which we sampled some Hungarian birthday cake (something like apricot cheesecake), a mass (after which St. Stephen’s right hand was paraded around town to much fanfare, including Hungarian president Pal Schmitt), and then finally back to the Danube for the most spectacular fireworks show either of us may have ever seen. August 20th exemplified what we loved about the city – its vibrancy and eccentricity – and it will remain one of our fondest memories of our stay in this fabulous city.
Click on the photo below for our Budapest photo album.
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