Wednesday 15th February 2023

St. Stephen’s Basilica: Parliament Building: Shoes on the Danube Bank Memorial: Great Market Hall: Danube River Cruise

Once more we left the hotel about 8.30am with a plan for the day.  Dave had already checked which trams would take us to the places we wished to visit but we expected to do quite a lot of walking too.

Wanting to see as much of the city as possible, we didn’t want to use the metro.  Later in the day, we realised that the city’s buses have their own lanes so it is also a fairly quick way of getting around.

Emergency vehicles with sirens and horns blaring simultaneously raced through the streets.

Our first stop of the day was St. Stephen’s Basilica and as we walked there we commented on how incredibly clean Budapest is. There isn’t a piece of litter in sight.

The cost of entrance to the basilica, for the two of us was a total of 8000Huf (Hungarian Forint), which is the equivalent of 20 Euro. The fee included entrance to the church hall, the treasury and the roof which is accessible by a lift.

The church hall was interesting with stunning brightly coloured stained glass windows, marble pillars and a huge organ.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We took the lift and got out when it came to a stop, assuming we were on the roof.  There was a sign pointing in the direction of the Treasury which we decided to visit when we were on the way back down.

Then we saw another lift but Dave suggested we climb the steps (expecting that there were only a few). However, there were a lot and it was a narrow metal spiral staircase, but of course, we did reach the roof!

It was in 2003 when the basilica underwent major restoration that the lifts were installed in the old chimney flues, thus making easy access to the panoramic look-out for many.

The dome of the church could be circumnavigated to take in all the views of the major sights plus the outskirts of the city where there are many tall blocks of apartments.  Taking the lift back down, we somehow managed to miss the treasury.

Walking along the side of the river passing many more impressive buildings, we made our way to the Parliament Building. The magnificent edifice, no doubt the city’s most well known structure is situated on the bank of the River Danube.

 

 

 

 

 

Circling the Neo Gothic building we admired the architecture, the details and the statues which include Hungarian Rulers and Military Leaders.

After finding the visitors centre and chatting to someone at one of the many ticket desks, we learnt that the next English tour would be at 12.15pm.  The tour would cost the equivalent of 12.50 Euro per person and be for a duration of 45minutes.

There was an hour to kill before the tour, so we went to a nearby café and ordered hot coffee for Dave and a warming mulled wine for me.

We then sat for a while outside on a bench in the square enjoying the sunshine.  The weather has been excellent, dry and often clear blue skies with sunshine. The temperatures have ranged between –2 and 9 degrees Centigrade so we are wrapped up warm. Considering that it is February, we are very lucky!

There were about 30 people in our tour group and we were all issued with digital receivers complete with earphones and instructed to programme them to the language of our choice. This was a little unexpected as we had been told that it was an English tour.

After we had put our belongings through a security section and walked through a body scanner we were permitted to proceed.

The guide led us up several flights of stairs (132 steps according to our digital receiver) and into an area where we could view the grand staircase.

 

 

 

 

 

This lavishly decorated hall with its red carpeted stairway leads from the main entrance of the parliament building to the Dome Hall.  This staircase is used rarely on state occasions.

Security guards brought up the rear of the group ensuring that we all moved on from one area to the next.

Ornate and colourful stained glass windows decorate many of the long hallways which we walked through.

Many of them had plant designs.

During World War II the building’s staff removed the glass from the windows.

 

They placed them in sand and stored them in the basement in an attempt to protect then. All the windows were then boarded up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The building is symmetrical and has two parliament buildings.  The former Upper House (the equivalent of the British House of Lords) was abolished pre communism and has never been reinstated.

This impressive hall is now included in the tour. Statues of Faith (holding a cross) and Justice (blindfolded) look down on any proceedings that would have once taken place.

The so called Lower House (the equivalent of the House of Commons) is used today for meetings of the Hungarian National Assembly.

Another chamber had statues of people involved in various professions and crafts, both male and female figurines.

The only part of the tour where it is prohibited to take photographs is the magnificent Dome Hall which is home to the Holy Crown of Hungary.

The hall has a double domed ceiling; a huge chandelier holds hundreds of bulbs.  The chandelier cannot be lowered and therefore electricians have to physically climb down into it from the dome via a steep ladder to replace bulbs.

Before entering the hall, we were told to stay a minimum of two metres away from the guards who apparently would be standing to attention and carrying swords. These guards protect the crown 24hours per day.

However, when we were there, there were just two security guards wandering around and chatting to each other plus the security guard who accompanied our tour.

The crown, around a thousand years old is in a glass case in the centre of the hall.  The cross on top of the crown is bent and there are various theories as to the reason for this.  One of which is that it had been stored in a box and the lid bent the cross. Another is that it was damaged while it was hidden, buried underground for its protection.

The crown was kept in the bullion vault at Fort Knox, U.S.A. for many years, again, for its safekeeping.

The tour was fascinating!

Outside we walked the short distance to where, earlier in the day, we had seen a group of Jewish people paying their respects at a memorial.  However, when the people started swaying and holding each other, we decided to visit the memorial later, in order to give them some privacy.  As we left, we heard their voices start to chant in unison; perhaps they were singing or reciting a prayer.

The memorial is a tribute to the Jews that were shot and killed by fascists in 1944-45.  Sixty pairs of men’s, women’s and children’s shoes cast in iron are the stark reminder of the atrocities that took place.

These people were made to stand on the riverside of the Danube, so that their bodies would fall directly into the river.  Before they were shot, they were forced to remove their footwear, their shoes being a valuable commodity at that time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many folk were sat looking at the shoes, silently contemplating…

Continuing along the Danube, we hoped to spot the statue of the ‘Little Princess’ but it wasn’t to be.  Construction work meant that we had to take a detour from the riverside, so on doing so perhaps we missed it.

Enjoying the views and the beautiful winter’s day we walked to Vaci Street and the city’s Great Market Hall.  Vaci Street is full of shops, eateries, souvenir outlets and bars.

The market hall was built in the late 19th century, damaged significantly during World War II and renovated in the 1990’s. Its roof has an attractive pattern, created with green tiles.

The stalls situated on the ground floor have an abundance of meat products, cold cuts of meats, hams hanging from metal hooks next to various flavoured links of sausages.  Fruit stalls have colourful piles of almost every fruit you can think of.

A few stalls sell only paprika. Hungary is one of the largest producers of paprika. There are eight different varieties and it is sold in all types of packaging, many aimed at the tourist market.

The next floor is a food court and seeing as it was well past lunch time we headed there hoping to try some traditional food.  There were only one or two eateries with tables and chairs at either end of the food hall. The remainder of the area was a balcony with stalls selling food, and long thin makeshift wooden shelves where people could stand and eat their purchases while looking over the balcony at the covered stalls below.

Both of us decided to try a Hungarian Langos, a popular street food. The langos is a fluffy fried bread dough served with various toppings.

I chose sour cream and cheese with added onion and mushroom.  Dave’s choice was sour cream and cheese with added bacon and mushroom. While they were filling and tasty enough, we both agreed that we wouldn’t order another one. A downside of course was eating them stood up, leaning at a makeshift table.

As we were leaving the food court, we noticed an eatery with tables and chairs that advertised gypsy music during the lunch time hours.  We both agreed the place would have been a better option.

We headed back to the hotel for a couple of hours before leaving again at 6pm for the river cruise which we had booked on the internet. After taking a tram to Margaret’s Bridge we had about a twenty minute walk before we reached pier 42 where we would board the boat for the hour’s cruise.

The price included a glass of champagne and as Dave dislikes it, I had to drink two!  Thankfully, we were well wrapped up as it was freezing sat outside on the top of the boat.  After a few minutes Dave asked me if I wanted to go inside where it would be warmer but I declined. “No, no, no”, I said emphatically, I wanted to enjoy the views without peering through windows that would probably be partly steamed up.

Unfortunately, just minutes before the boat left the pier, I had a problem with my SD card in my camera but luckily Dave had his camera and of course, we had our phones to take photos too.

 

 

 

 

 

Both of us thoroughly enjoyed the journey along the river.

It was super seeing all the architecture illuminated.

The iconic parliament building, workplace to almost 800 people is my favourite.  I could stare at it for a long while!

Another tram took us to Rakoczi Square where we planned to have dinner. Dave had read good reviews for a traditional eatery there.  It was very small and the clientele we think were all locals, always a good sign!

The waiter spoke excellent English which he had taught himself, he quickly brought us the drinks that we had ordered and explained a couple of things on the menu.  Dave drank a dark brown beer, 7% proof which had a liquorice flavour. I had ordered a Hungarian morello cherry brandy with the hope that it would warm me up, while it was tasty, I couldn’t really pick out a cherry taste.

A ‘Holstein’ pork cutlet is what Dave chose (‘Holstein’ style, is a fried egg atop the cutlet) and my choice was a beef stew with sheep cheese dumplings which was extremely tasty.

After our delicious meal, we wandered back to our hotel.

Another fabulous day. Our highlights today are the tour of the interior of the Parliament Building and the evening Danube River Cruise.

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