24. Budapest Part 2 of 3

I had booked a 2.5 hour walking tour with local guide Robert using the GuruWalk app which I found so handy last year. The app includes independent self-employed tour guides such as Robert which I liked. Robert turned out to be a very engaging, witty and entertaining guide. He of course covered the obligatory history, but as most of these names and dates just go in one ear and out the other, I was happy that Robert's focus was more on recent history and contemporary life in Hungary. 

He pointed out things such as the trail of “genre sculptures” that I otherwise would have missed. Genre sculpture is a type of sculpture that depicts scenes from everyday life, often with a focus on realistic detail and human emotion. They don't depict historical figures. This one has been called variously Uncle Klaus or The Fat Policeman. It has become part of the urban culture with passers-by rubbing the large belly for good luck.

Robert also pointed out a whole other series of minature sculptures that kept popping up all over the city. Here is Kermit from Sesame St, located near the building below which has had a very varied history. 

First it was the Hungarian Stock Exchange, then the headquarters of the Hungarian National Broadcaster until it was bought by the Canadian Ambassador a decade ago with the intention of converting it into luxury apartments. Currently vacant, it has been the scene of a dozen Hollywood films, which is why Kermit is now nearby!

The Parliament Building ( below) is without doubt the most beautiful building in Budapest. 

The third biggest parliament building in the world, it is 96m tall (this is significant!), contains 40kgs of pure gold in its decor, and has 20km of stairs !! It is the joint tallest building in the city centre, with Szent Istevan’s cathedral (below), where the walking tour began.

Their equal height symbolises the fact that the church and state were considered the two most important players in the city at the time of construction. 

The above photo of the front of the Parliament building was taken from the top of an open top bus tour, from the Buda side of the Danube. The height of 96m also reflects that the city was founded in 896 and the city's first metro started in 1896. No other buildings are allowed to be taller than 96m, so Budapest is a very low-rise city. 

There are loads and loads of historical buildings .... and some not so historical such as one of the many Irish pubs! I wonder will I be able to get a photo of one Irish pub in every city I visit!!

I took far too many photos of beautiful buildings to include them all, so here is just a few samples, including the Royal Palace,  Fisherman's Bastion and one of the wrought iron bridges. These photos were taken from a river cruise that I took, which was included in  the hop-on hop-off bus tour mentioned earlier.

End of part 2.