We have visitors in our apartment. Tim and Jane, Jeremy’s schoolmate and his wife from the UK. After a late night we set off to explore the Buda Castle area. We catch the fernicular railway up the hill and after a few false starts have an enjoyable day exploring this area. The castle and Matthias Church area is super crowded with tourists, more so than any other area of Budapest.
Matthias Church, a Roman Catholic church built in 1015, has been used for the coronation of Hungarian kings for centuries. And during the Ottoman Empire was used by Turks as a mosque in 1526. The current Baroque style was built in the remains after the Turkish era.
Highlights were the views over the Danube to Pest and the Music History Museum which told the story of ethnomusicology and Hungarian composers Bela Bartok and Zoltan Kodaly who travelled to many villages capturing authentic folk music. They discovered that it was impossible to accurately record folk music on a machine and that the best way to learn it was from direct contact with the person singing. Traditionally, folk music is passed down orally from generation to generation.
Fisherman’s bastion is a neo-Gothic terrace finished in 1902 with seven towers that represent the seven Magyar tribes that settled in the area. Standing in Front of King Stephen is this chap, dressed, perhaps, as Magyar warrior and his eagle. It was interesting watching how he communicated with the eagle to keep it calm with all the tourists about. A combination of teeth sucking, whistling, and kissing type noises.
Across the Danube again and a visit to the Art Noveau museum, or Bedu House. Full of interesting furniture, ceramics and other interesting artifacts from the Art Nouveau era in Hungary.
It is a treat just to wander the streets of Budapest and see all the varied architecture. Not all the buildings have been cleaned up from the coal burning days and many buildings need restoration but money has been spent on the city centre and it is a safe, clean, pleasant city to visit.
An amazing soak in the thermal pools of the Gellet Baths ended the day. The Gellet Baths are part of the famous Hotel Gellet in Budapest, built between 1912 and 1918. During the Ottoman Empire there were Turkish baths on this site. (Photos courtesy of Google.)
being... 