24. Budapest, Hungary Part 2
Three Tours - Walking Tour, Hop-on, Hop-off Bus Tour and River Cruise
I'd booked a 2.5-hour walking tour with a local guide, Robert, through the GuruWalk app — the same one that served me so well last year, connecting travellers with independent, self-employed guides. Robert turned out to be engaging, witty and genuinely entertaining. He covered the obligatory history, of course, but most names and dates go in one ear and out the other for me, so I was glad his real focus was on recent history and everyday life in Hungary today.
He pointed out things such as the trail of “genre sculptures” that I otherwise would have missed. These are statues of ordinary people in everyday scenes rather than historical figures. This one has picked up two nicknames over the years, Uncle Klaus and The Fat Policeman, and has become something of a local tradition: passers-by rub his belly for good luck.
Robert also pointed out a whole separate series of miniature sculptures scattered around the city. Here's Kermit, of Sesame Street fame, sitting near a building with a surprisingly varied past. Curious why? Keep reading
First it was the Hungarian Stock Exchange, then the headquarters of the
Hungarian National Broadcaster until it was apparently bought by the sitting Canadian
Ambassador a decade ago with the intention of converting it into luxury
apartments. It has sat vacant ever since - which is exactly why it's become a favourite backdrop for Hollywood films, and why Kermit has taken up residence nearby!
The Parliament Building ( below) is without doubt the most beautiful building in Budapest in my opinon..
The third biggest parliament building in the world, it stands 96m tall (a number that matters, as it turns out), contains 40kgs of pure gold in its decor, and has
20km of staircases! It stands 96m tall contains 40kg of pure gold in its decor, and has 20km of staircases
It is the joint tallest building in the city centre, with Szent István's cathedral (below), which is 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, which I took later on. 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'm half-tempted to try photographing one in every city on this trip.
I took far too many photos of beautiful buildings to include them all, so here are just a few examples, 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.
You might wonder why I ended up on three separate tours. Truth is, I'd never planned on the river cruise - I've always found them a bit overrated in cities like London and Paris. The bus tour was the one I actually wanted, since I knew I'd never cover the whole city on foot. But when the cruise turned out to be included for free, I figured why not - an hour to sit back and let the riverside views drift past. And I'll admit it: I enjoyed it. The day was muggy and overcast after recent storms, and the breeze off the water was a welcome relief.
In the next post, I'm back to one of my favourite things to do on holiday — you've guessed it: food!
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