2010 Trip: Budapest Day 3
19th May 2010
Today I did lots of walking. This started off with a walk to the Parliamentary Buildings on the banks of the Danube. Another ornate and beautifully decorated building, with cool statues, gilded ceilings, and eye-popping decorations. I won’t bother you about the details of the decoration, but the building and the process of visiting it is interesting.
Upon arriving, one finds the tourist waiting area, situated 25m from the building itself. The strict, glowering guard lets only a few people in at any one time to buy tickets, which are ridiculously expensive unless you happen to be a EU citizen, then it’s free (yay!). A comprehensive security check starts the tour off with a bang, a few minutes after, we learn about the building’s 150yr history and so on. All very interesting.
It is supposedly the second biggest parliament buildings in Europe, but I don’t believe it (given the biggest is supposedly in London, and I just visited the world’s second largest building - the parliament building in Bucharest). It also was one of the first state buildings to feature electric lighting and there is a fancy system for members to vote electronically. All very cool.
I also met a cool girl called Lenka, from Prague, whilst on the tour. Apparently, she might be able to give a tour of Prague when I get there! Yay! She organises the visits of foreign Vodafone executives to the Czech Republic, who would have thought! After this I walked to castle hill on the Buda side of the river, crossing over the famous chain bridge to get there. I caught the funicular up to the top of the hill and enjoyed the fantastic views over the city and the Danube laid out in front.
From here, I visited the the Budapest National Gallery, which had some fantastic atmospheric baroque and renaissance works, but wasn’t the most sensational gallery ever. After this, I wandered around the streets on castle hill, admiring the view and cool sites such as the Mattias Church (with awesome patterns on its tiled roof). Eventually, while the tiled streets and picturesque streets were very pretty, it was time to head off.
I was rather tired by this time, so I just wandered south along the banks of the Danube. Eventually, I came to Great Market Hall (after crossing the river again). This building, from the end of the 19th century, is a huge atmospheric chamber designed by Samu Petz. For those who are familiar with his style, it is very much similar to the work of the contemporary architect Eiffel. I wandered around the permanent stall, looking at all the fresh produce, dairy, meats, cheeses, pickles, strudels, and pastries. I picked up a few exciting bits and pieces and headed back to the hostel to cook some dinner.
Dinner consisted of canapés of a slightly spicy aubergine and pepper tapenade with camembert. Later in the evening, the main course was a creamy pasta dish with oyster mushrooms (so good!), with steamed fresh asparagus, and hunks of crusty bread. There was even enough left for lunch the next day. Yum!