We had a great day in Budapest! It definitely has a different vibe than Vienna. It seems a little more fast-paced and has more of a party atmosphere. We have seen a lot of younger people in the city and it is not uncommon to see them walking around with cans of beer at all hours of the day. We are in an apartment on the Pest side of the city and are very close to everything. There isn’t an elevator in the building, so we have to go up 5 flights of stairs to get to our apartment, which is on the top floor.

middle courtyard

Each landing has this pretty tile floor.

We didn’t spend much time on the Pest side of the city today, but we saw a few interesting things while we were out and about.

Curt was disappointed that he won’t get to see Iron Maiden in neither Vienna nor Budapest.

He was amused that the Harlem Globetrotters are playing here.

This was a mural on the side of a regular old building along the street.

This is a monument dedicated to a Lutheran minister named Gabor Sztehlo. He helped around 2,000 people during WWII. The fascist Arrow Cross Party was in power at the time and he somehow saved these people from the fascist rulers. I researched to try to determine what he did, but it was unclear. He definitely did some work with orphans.

We walked across the Chain Bridge and got to see the city along the river. It is gorgeous on both sides! The Chain Bridge was the first permanent bridge across the Danube in Hungary and was opened in 1849. The Buda side has the castle and the older buildings.

View of the Buda side from the road before crossing the bridge.

The Castle

Bridge and Matthias Church

Crossing the Chain Bridge

The funnicular that goes from the river up to the top of the hill to the Castle District. We took the steps because there was a long line.

Another view of the Buda side from the bridge

Looking back to the Pest side

We took a walking tour of the Buda Castle District first. The main attractions in this area are the Matthias Church and the Royal Palace (Buda Castle). The medieval castle that was originally built here was destroyed and there have been many incarnations due to fires and reconstructions. It is currently undergoing another reconstruction to restore the stable areas and the dome. The Matthias Church is also much different from the first church that was built on the site by St. Stephen, the first ruler of Hungary. The church was destroyed during warfare, then rebuilt in a different style, used as a mosque during the Turkish invastion, destroyed by a fire and rebuilt in its original style, damaged during WWII, used as a camp by the Germans and Soviets, and has been renovated/restored several times since then. It seems like everything in Buda is continually being renovated! I apologize in advance for the ton of pictures of the Castle District.

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We met up with Curt’s brother, Scott, who just flew into Budapest today and strolled down from Castle Hill and along the river. We saw a square that students gathered in for the 1956 revolution fighting for independence from the Soviet Union. There was also a statue to Jozsef Bem, a polish General during the Revolution of 1848. Truthfully, we were probably more interested in the little mice that we saw scurrying around the statue than we were in the statue itself!

We decided to walk back across the Margaret Bridge to get some dinner in Pest, but saw that there were some activities on Margaret Island and decided to check them out. We first visited the lighted fountain before heading over to watch part of a European Cup soccer game between France and Romania on a giant outdoor screen. We ended up just grabbing a quick bite to eat so that we could enjoy the game.

After we left Margaret Island we were blown away by the Danube at night!

Margaret Bridge

Parliament building

A gorgeous view of the Parliament building, Chain Bridge, and the Royal Castle with The Citadel in the background on top of the hill

In 2014 we visited many other countries that were greatly influenced by WWII, some that were also controlled by the Germans and then the Soviets. It was very interesting  to hear about the experience from Hungary’s perspective this time. We had a great day and can’t wait to see more of the city tomorrow!