DAY 6 - THE CITADEL, THE GELLERT BATHS AND CASTLE HILL (THE VAR)

We had a busy last full day. We went to the Citadel and Castle Hill, which we had seen from across the river and which dominate the Buda side of the river.  We also spent a pleasant few hours at the Gellert Baths that we had seen on our boat trips


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. 

 The Gellert Baths


 The Citadel in the view from the apartment



The Citadel was on the opposite side of the river from the apartment on the Buda side.  To get there we took a tram and the Metro and finally a bus to the highest part of the hills opposite. The Citadel is the fortification located upon the top of Gellert Hill. The fortress was built in 1851 by Julius Jacob von Haynau, a commander of the Austrian Empire.  Actually built by Hungarian forced labourers, it was finished in 1854. In June 1854 Austrian troops settled in the citadel. After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 and the establishment of Austria-Hungary, the Hungarians demanded the destruction of the Citadel, but the garrison troops left only in 1897, when the main gate was symbolically damaged. It was not until late 1899 when the city took possession of the Citadel. 

Because we were going to the Gellert baths later we left the camera behind, so no photos that morning other than the three we took earlier. 

 This was clearly a popular spot for visitors as there was quite a crowd up there.  We left the fortress and walked down a long and winding path to the river bank close by the Gellert Baths.  We passed lots of folk who were climbing to the top the hard way.

 The Gellert Baths are just one of the many thermal baths in  Budapest.  These are situated in the Gellert Hotel and cost a pretty penny!  There are two outside pools and a number of indoor pools, all at different temperatures,  The hottest was 40 degrees Centigrade.  It was quite crowded but the waters were lovely and the decor pretty spectacular. 


One of the indoor pools





One of the outdoor pools which has a wave maker


The next port of call on a busy day was Castle Hill which  dominates the Buda side of the Danube.  We used our travel passes to good effect, trams and Metro and a bus to Holy Trinity Square by the Matyas Church 


Matyas Church

The impressive tiled spires
The Gothic style altar

The Holy Trinity Column built in 1694 with the aim of protecting the people from the regular outbreaks of plague and in gratitude for its cessation









The Fisherman's Bastion
The Fisherman's Bastion
The view back to the Parliament building from the Fisherman's Bastion



Fisherman's Bastion again

The Royal Palace

Sandor palace to the right which was the former residence of the kings and governors of Hungary and the Prime Ministers Office to the left

The top station of the Siklo - funicular

Up and Down
The Chain Bridge - all the bridges were destroyed in WW2.  You wouldn't know it.

 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