Budapest

Apr 21-25
AC7714 IAH-YYZ, AC846 YYZ-MUC, LH1676 MUC-BUD, LH1675 BUD-MUC, AC847 MUC-YYZ, AC7713 YYZ-IAH

With work, I had the opportunity to visit Budapest a number of years back, but Tom had not yet had the opportunity to visit.  Budapest is a beautiful city with lots to see and do in a long weekend.  It also gave us the chance to get out to the country side and explore new areas for Hungary for myself.  It was a beautiful spring weekend and we really enjoyed our limited time in the area.

Apr 22

Our connections worked relatively well, and we arrived in Budapest in the afternoon and made our way to the hotel.  My company has a great corporate rate at a beautiful hotel right on the Danube, so we had the advantage of staying at the center of the tourist sites, right next to the subway with full access to the city.  After checking in, we set out to explore the city for a few hours before dark.

Another city with their own big letter display

Local food at the Easter market

Statue in Vorosmarty Square

Looking across the Danube to the castle

Apr 23

After enjoying breakfast with beautiful view of the Danube we picked up the rental car to head north along the river and get out of the city.  Driving was relatively easy compared to some of our destinations, and it was fun to see a different side of Hungary.  Once back in the city we went to the very interesting Momento Park before dropping off the car downtown.  Finally, we decided to chase the sunset for some well-lit scenery to end off the day.

Early start for one of the river cruises

The Elizabeth Bridge

1764 Belgrade Cathedral in Szentendre

Cathedral and surrounding town

Szentendre roof tops

Further up river at Visegrad Castle

Panoramic view from the castle

more of the Visegrad castle ruins

Turret view of the Danube

Royal Palace below the castle

Royal throne

Esztergom Basilica is the tallest building in Hungary

Massive interior and the 71.5m high dome

Beautifully painted cathedral

Some of the detailed statuary in the church

Making our way up the dome

Beautiful surroundings

Booking across the Danube towards Sturovo, Slovakia

Looking at the cathedral from the dome

From the lower town you can get a real sense of the scale of the cathedral

After walking across the bridge to Slovakia we made our way back to the Cathedral

Stalin statue removed from its city home to Momento Park on the outskirts of Budapest

One of the more impressive Soviet statues commemorating Bela Kun's birth

Captain Miklos Steinmetz (one of two Soviet officers that negotiated the end of the Budapest WWII siege

Very imposing communist statue

A little abstract representation of the people

Workers' hands statue

Giant soldier previously at the base of Liberation Monument

Parliament buildings at dusk and the end of a very long day

Apr 24

Back in the city for our final full day in Budapest, we had an opportunity to cover the key sites that we weren't able to cover on our first afternoon.  It was a long day with lots of steps, aided by the wonderful train system, but we covered a huge amount of ground before collapsing back at the hotel.

Starting the day back at the Parliament Buildings

1956 Monument memorializes the victims of the 1956 Uprising against Soviets with bullet pox

Looking across to Buda

Buda's Castle

50 pairs of bronze shoes of the Holocaust Monument, recognizing the Arrow Cross massacre of Hungarian Jews, who were shot and thrown into the Danube

Interior of Parliament

Grand staircase entrance to the Parliament

Legislature

Monument to Imre Nagy, reluctant head of the 1956 Uprising

Reagan statue, erected in 2011 In Liberty Square to acknowledge his role in fighting the cold war

Monument to the Hungarian Victims of the Nazis

St. Istvan's Basilica exterior

The Great Synagogue’s 19th century Interior

Tree of Life monument to victims of Holocaust

Zooming into one of the many victim’s names on the tree

Continuing our busy tour at Castle Hill in Buda

Looking back at Pest, the Parliament and the Chain Bridge

The Parliament Buildings with the surrounding mountains in the background

Royal Palace

King Matthias Fountain

Interior Palace courtyard

13th century Matthius Church

More of the impressive Church Exterior

Statue of St. Istvan 

Matthias Church Interior

More of the Matthias Church Interior

Promenade view from Fisherman's Bastion

Fisherman's Bastion on the edge of Castle Hill as we make our way down

Moving deep into Pest, the Budapest Sign in Heroes' Square

Arpad statue in Heroes' Square

Time wheel hourglass, rotated 180 degrees once a year

Vajdahunyad Castle in City Park

Exterior of the Terror Museum we visited on our first day

Fragment of the Berlin Wall with a literal iron curtin

Budapest Opera House, the end of our long tour and back to the hotel

After a very busy day of touring Budapest from top to bottom, we ended with a relaxing evening at the hotel preparing for our trip home.

Apr 25

After an early breakfast, we made our way to the airport and back to Toronto via Munich and finally home to Houston for me, ending out a great extended weekend exploring Hungary.