Melissa's Amusings: Germany Vacation- Morning City Tour of Budapest

A very full day of Budapest sightseeing is ahead of us as we start off on the bus for the morning's city tour. This is Peter's, our tour guide, very first time for leading a tour of Budapest. Unfortunately, the very first stop he had planned at Heroes' Square was not accessible due to a military parade practice for some event occurring the next day. So, thru the bus window I was able to get these few photos of the area as we drove by.

Heroes' Square, the place where Hungary's Millennial Celebrations of the Magyar conquest opened in 1896. In the Square's center is a 118 ft. Corinthian column with the Archangel Gabriel on top holding St. Stephen's crown and apostolic cross. At the base are equestrian statues of Prince Arpad and his 6 Magyar chieftains, who led the Magyar tribes in the conquest of the Carpathian Basin.(Many Hungarians are descendants of the Magyars, who migrated from the Urals into the Budapest region in 896.) Two semi-circular colonnades flank the column. Statues of important Hungarian leaders (King Stephen to Kossuth) are arranged within the colonnades and on top are statues representing War and Peace, Knowledge and Glory, and Labour and Prosperity.

The site for various historical events such as the ceremonial reburial of Imre Nagy and other murdered leaders of the 1956 Uprising.Nowadays is more likely to be used by rollerbladers and skateboarders and occasionally the site for events.

The neoclassical Museum of Fine Arts building is located on the northern side of Heroes' Square. The building by Fulop Herzog and Albert Schiedanz was completed in 1906 and houses an extensive array of international art collections, ranging from antiquity to the 20th century.

The tympanum ( supported by 8 Corinthian columns) is decorated with the Battle of the Centaurs and Lapiths, copied from the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, Greece.

Close up look of the parade practice as they go by our bus.

Our next destination is the Castle District in Buda and on the way we pass by these scenes :
The Nyugati Railway Station

One of 3 main railway stations in Budapest. This building was built by the Eiffel company...same company that built the Eiffel tower.

Some scenes of Mission Impossible-Ghost Protocol were filmed in and around this station.

Soproni beer brewed by Heineken Hungaria...I believe our group may have enjoyed a few of these :-)

Everyday life...saw lady on bench leave the bakery on the left with a pastry in hand...yummy :-)

We arrive at the Castle District and have a short walking tour. We pass by the Old Ministry of Defense, a testament to the devastating damage that occurred during the 1945 Siege of Budapest. The siege was one of WWII's longest (102 days) and bloodiest battles and nearly 80% of the buildings were either heavily damaged or destroyed.

The bullet riddled, Old Ministry of Defense Building

close up of bullet holes

I think the earlier disruption of Peter's tour kind of 'rattled' him and from my experience of giving nature walks, boy, did I really empathize with his struggle to get thru his first tour. Our group seemed to lose interest pretty fast and was not as attentive as they were in other tours.

Definitely not a focused group...I wonder what we are supposed to be looking at :-)

While giving nature walks,if I wasn't quite ready for a more structured program I could get away with the method of being able to talk about the variety of things seen along the way. However, for Peter that method was not appreciated by our group.At this stop everyone was more anxious to see the real thing rather than a map of the area.

Actually, I kind of like the map...just needed to be a shorter time here.

When he stopped in front of a store and talked about the handmade cultural arts of dolls, embroidery, eggs, and porcelain, almost everyone thought he was trying to get people to buy from the stores :-(

If we had enough time, I would have enjoyed going into this store :-)

Fortunately, we have just a little ways to go before our last stop with Peter at the Holy Trinity Square- the central point of Old Town.

The red geraniums really add a bright splash of color on such a grey, drizzly day.

fountain/statue in 'Old Town'

I totally missed the fact that we passed by the former Town Hall of Buda ( now houses a section of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences) that is of architectural interest because of its oriel balcony/windows, small towers, courtyard, and staircase. However, I did happen to take this picture of 'Pallos Athene' by Carlo Adami, located in a niche under the east oriel window :-)

The Goddess is holding a shield with the coat of arms of Buda on it.

In the square stands the Baroque Holy Trinity Column originally sculpted by Philipp Ungleich in 1710-13 and was restored in 1967. On top of the column are the figures of the Holy Trinity, the column is decorated with angels surrounded by clouds, and statues of Holy figures are below them. The pedestal has bas-reliefs and the Hungarian crest for decor.

This column was placed after the plague epidemics of 1697 and 1709 to commemorate the ones that died.

From here the Matyas Church looms over us with its Neo-Gothic spire, one of Budapest's landmarks. Originally built in the 13th century this church has undergone several changes, especially when the Turks converted it into a Mosque in 1541.The Turks were overthrown in 1686 and the Franciscan Friars rebuilt it in the Baroque style, but was considered a failure. Then in the late 19th century Frigyes Schulek restored it in the Neo-Gothic style, keeping to the original 13th century plans and adding a few of his own touches.

The colorful diamond patterned roof was one of Schulek's touches, using handmade majolica tiles.

On top of Matyas Tower is a raven, King Matyas's crest animal, with a gold ring in its beak.

We then decide to use the 20 minutes that is left to explore the Fishermen's Bastion. This structure was never meant to be a defensive building, as its name implies. Instead, it was built simply for its whimsical beauty with viewing terraces, where wonderful views of the Danube and Pest may be enjoyed.It was also built in honor of the Guild of Fishermen who had defended this area during the Middle Ages.

The 7 conical towers represent the 'tribal tents' of the early Magyars.

Even though the area was crowded with people there were plenty of terrace areas...

Jim setting up a picture

I wonder if Geoffrey got some of those conical towers to frame his picture?

to enjoy these awesome views.

Domes and spires standout in these views.

Margaret Island, a park in the middle of the Danube is seen in the distance.

Liberation Monument on top of Gellert Hill seen in the distance.

The Baroque twin towers of St. Anne's Church are seen towards the left on this side of the Danube River.

Pest side of the Danube has the dome and towers of St. Stephen's Basilica as a landmark.

The Parliament is Hungary's largest building and is the country's symbol of democracy.

The arches were fun for framing the pictures.

Three from our group also using the arches.

From the bastion the Matyas Church and the Hilton hotel were also seen. The Hilton, built in 1976, was controversial for being so modern in the 'Old Town'.

The hotel does combine the remnants of a 1254 Dominican Church and a late Baroque Jesuit Monastery in its design.I did not get pics of them :-(

reflection of Matyas Church in the windows of the Hilton

This would be a nice place to have some tea and cake

What I really enjoyed at the Fishermen bastion was the overall sandcastle look of the structure. Others describe it as a Disney fairy tale castle with all its turrets, parapets, and sweeping staircases. It instantly puts you in a 'wonderland'!