DAY 4 - BUDAPEST

On our second full day we set off by foot to see more on the Pest side of the Danube.  Budapest is fairly compact and you can do a lot on foot.   We first went to St. Stephens' Basilica, finished after 54 years in 1905.
The church was completed in 1905, after 54 years of constructions. - https://www.budapest.org/en/st-stephens-basilica/
The church was completed in 1905, after 54 years of constructions. - https://www.budapest.org/en/st-stephens-basilica/
The church was completed in 1905, after 54 years of constructions - https://www.budapest.org/en/st-stephens-basilica/
The church was completed in 1905, after 54 years of constructions - https://www.budapest.org/en/st-stephens-basilica/
The church was completed in 1905, after 54 years of constructions. - https://www.budapest.org/en/st-stephens-basilica/
To view a larger photo, left click on the image once or touch on a tablet.  To return to the Blog click or touch off the image.


St. Stephen's Basilica
Outside there was lovely young persons' choir singing.  On entering the building we found another choir and we enjoyed some very fine singing.


The magnificent organ - built in 1905
It currently sports a total of four manual keyboards and 6507 pipes (that's a lot) ranging in size from 10 meters to 6 millimeters. It is commonly acknowledged as the greatest and most beautiful musical instrument in all of Budapest.

The main altar

The main attraction - The reliquary containing the mummified hand of King Stephen

The cupola

Bust of József Mindszenty

 József Mindszenty was the Prince Primate, Archbishop of Esztergom, cardinal and leader of the Catholic Church in Hungary from 2 October 1945 to 18 December 1973. For five decades he personified uncompromising opposition to fascism and communism in Hungary.
 
Statue of the Virgin Mary

One of the fine stained glass windows

Yes, Ronald Regan

We were now near the Parliament Building and passed by the American Embassy, well fortified.

The other side of the Parliament building away from the Danube.  A very large building.

On sentry duty

Horse and chariot on the roof of Museum of Ethnography outside the Parliament
A large group of statues which make up the Kossuth Memorial. Created in 1956, the dramatic sculpture surrounds a large column where Lajos Kossuth stands. He was a freedom fighter and influenced the creation of democracy in Europe.









The 6.5 m tall statue of Count Gyula Andrássy riding his proud horse stands on the south side of the building.  He was the prime minister of Hungary between 1867-71,

Panoramic view across the Danube

Just a small section of the front
The full frontage

Across the Danube were fine views of Buda, where we were going on another day.

The steeple is at St. Mathias Church

 The Capuchin Church

The Royal Palace

We decided to finish the day with a boat trip on the Danube with a commentary.  There are lots of boats available and we walked back in the direction of the apartment and easily found one that would be leaving shortly.  The first landmark on the Buda bank was one of the thermal baths - Rudas.

The Rudas Bath


This one is situated close by the Cave Church where Mass is conducted by white-robed monks of the Pauline Order which is the only order indigenous to Hungary.   The church was created in 1930.

The Cave Church

One of a multitude of river cruisers
Budapest is an important starting point for these cruises that can take you as far as Amsterdam to the West and Bucharest and beyond to the East.  The boats are incredibly long.  There were always a few visible from our window either berthed or on the move.

The city’s newest sight, the Whale (Bálna) opened in November 2013 after a long period of debate and legal dispute between the municipality of Budapest and the constructor.  It is principally a shopping Centre

No, it really is a bus and it drove up the bank soon after we passed it

On our way back from the trip we passed through a street market with all manner of foods!

Previous Page

Next Page 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
DAY 17 and 18 - LEAVING VIS FOR SPLIT AND DUBROVNIK To view a larger photo, left click on the image once or touch on a tablet.  To return to the Blog click or touch off the image. We were up early to get the ferry back to Split.  This time we were on the Valun which had taken over the route from the Petar Hektorovic.  We were then going to catch a bus to Dubrovnik which was due to leave in the early afternoon.  All the other buses were running on time but ours was an hour late coming in from Zagreb.  The bus cut inland to get on to the West-East motorway and then cut back to the coast.  Croatia runs along the coast but there is a piece where Bosnia Herzegovina has a small section on the coast.  The bus stopped here for a break and filled up with fuel, it must be cheaper than in Croatia. The refueling stop in Bosnia Herzegovina We took a taxi from the bus station to our apartment.  This was well appointed and the owners lived in the s...
Read more
Image
DAY 15 - EXPLORING THE ISLAND OF VIS We made an early start and our guide turned out to be excellent.  We spent the whole day traveling across the island and back.  He was very knowledgeable and we learnt a lot from him about the Island and the military occupation. To view a larger photo, left click on the image once or touch on a tablet.  To return to the Blog click or touch off the image. Up the hill behind the apartment with a view back to the Town of Vis and Kut On our way out we we told about the time that Tito lived on Vis.  Josip Broz, commonly known as Tito, was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various roles from 1943 until his death in 1980. During World War II he was the leader of the Partisans often regarded as the most effective resistance movement in occupied Europe.  As the Second World War ended and the Cold War began, Vis, then part of Yugoslavia, was transformed by leader Tito into a military ...
Read more
Image
DAY 19, DAY 20 and DAY 21- LAST FULL DAY IN DUBROVNIK To view a larger photo, left click on the image once or touch on a tablet.  To return to the Blog click or touch off the image. On our last full day in Dubrovnik we used our Dubrovnik Card to take a bus ride to the nearby town of Cavtat.  This is a favourite destination of many tourists and we found a group from the cruise ship The Black Watch.  The Black Watch in the distance in Dubrovnik Cavtat has two harbours connected by a peninsular, we walked from one to the other around the coast.   The Western Bay with the Church of St Nicholas in the background A panorama view of the Western Bay We went into the Church of St. Nicholas on our walk around the peninsular. The church was built way back in the 15th century. The Main Altar A secondary Altar There was a second church on the walk - the Church and Monastery of the Lady of the Snow. The legend...
Read more