Budapest, Hungary - Part III

While the men sat through their meeting all day, the women (and Pooh) got to explore the Pest side of Budapest. [This is not meant to be sexist, however it was truly all males that were there for the meeting. It is due to the nature of their business that you will rarely find a woman participating.]

First we went to the oldest marketplace in Europe.



On the bottom floor is all the produce, vegetables, fruit and meats. The second floor has all the crafts and hard goods people bring to the market to sell. These include hand made embroidered items, hand painted ceramics, etc. I bought a beautiful set of hand painted glasses.



Paprika is a large commodity in Hungary. You see it everywhere. They have a Paprika paste that is on the tables as a condiment, in the same manner we have salt and pepper.



In this booth, they were selling pig cheeks.



When we were done at the Marketplace, we walked further done the street and found a nice little restaurant for lunch. I ordered a slice of pizza. Thank goodness Pooh was there to help me eat it!



It wasn't an extraordinary day since the sole purpose was to shop. Since I am not really big into shopping, I looked more at the scenery and people around me. Not sure if you can really see it in the next picture, but that woman is wearing a hat shaped like a turtle on her head!



That night we had a formal dinner at Karpatia Etterem Es Sorozo. Pooh was not able to attend this dinner with us. :-(



As you ate, a Gypsy band came around and played. We found this to be a common occurrence throughout Budapest.


The dinner that night was Duck Leg with Paprika Potatoes and Sauerkraut. Of course, the salad was greens with Liver Pate (usually goose), followed by a bowl of Goulash. We ate so much Liver Pate and Goulash that week!


The next day ventured back into the Pest side, but this time on an arranged tour. We took a bus over the bridge and visited Heroes Square, the Parliament and Vajdahunyad Castle.

This is Pooh on the bus:


First stop was the Parliament Building.


Construction began in 1884 and lasted for two decades. It opened in 1902, although it should have been finished by 1896 for the Millennium to celebrate the 1000th anniversary of Hungary's founding. It is hard to imagine as we celebrated our bicentennial in 1976, and they were celebrating 1000 years in 1896. We learned the Parliament was built on the Pest side, on the banks of the Danube to counter the fact the directly across is Castle Hill and the Royal Palace. You can see the other side of the Parliament across the river in the picture from our room.



Statues outside the Parliament.



From there we headed over to Heroes Square, one of the most visited sights of the Hungarian capital, it is at the end of the Andrássy Avenue, one of the most important streets of Budapest, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The millenial monument was also built in 1896 to commemorate Hungary's 1000th anniversary (of the arrival of Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin).



The two statues on the left represent Work and War.


The two statues on the right represent Peace and Knowledge.



From there we walked over to the Vajdahunyad Castle, stopping at the skating rink on the way. This was also build for the Millennium. It was anticipated the building would be demolished after the festivities, however that never happened, and the buildings stand today, over 100 years later. This skating rink gets iced over in the winter and locals spend a lot of time here.



Vajdahunyad Castle is a 19th-century replica of a Transylvanian castle (Hunyad-castle). The castle was also built for the millennium celebration. It had a massive gate and soaring towers.





There was also a small chapel on the grounds of Vajdahunyad Castle.



All these buildings are replicas of famous Hungarian Buildings that are now outside of Hungarian. Hungary lost a lot of territory in World war I and that land is now owned by other countries such as Austria, Turkey, Serbia, and Romania.

In the courtyard was a statue of who they consider Hungary's first true historian. I never did find out his name. In fact, what we were told was Hungary never knew his name for centuries. It is only the last couple of decades did they figure it out.



From there we walked over to Szechenyi Baths, one of the most famous spas in Budapest. (Pooh is on Craig's shoulder.)


After reconnecting with the bus, we drove to Gellert Hill. Here you can find the Citadella, one of the most exciting monuments of Budapest. Unfortunately we only have pictures of this from the Danube at night. From the top of the hill you have an amazing view over the city and the Danube.




On the way back to the hotel, there were many street closed and a lot of Hungarian Police on the streets. We were told there would be "Gypsy Demonstrations" that day. We were also told not to venture down the hill from the hotel. Here is an article about it, and some pictures.


Since we were scheduled for a dinner cruise on the Danube that night, there was no need to walk down the hill where they were demonstrating. The cruise was late enough that all the demonstrations were done and people dispersed before we headed back over the Pest side that night.

Tomorrow I will post the Danube cruise pictures, as well as some fun ones (or more like random ones). :-)