Our Little Corner of the World...More Touring of Budapest!

Continuing on through Budapest...
...we made a stop at the Heroes Square.

Now...the interesting thing about Heroes Square isn't so much the grandeur of the
memorial figures...or the grandeur of the large square...
what's amazing to me is that the square was constructed to celebrate the
one thousandth anniversary of Hungary....
Hungary is 1000 years old!!!
That's pretty impressive!
She's gone through many an upheaval and incarnation,
but she's been in existence for 1000 years!!!

I'm sure this building doesn't date back a thousand years...
but I'm darned sure it wasn't built in the past Century either!

The detail is exquisite...
...and another reason Budapest is one of the most beautiful cities in the world!

I do regret that we didn't get into this beautiful Temple.
The Dohany Street Synagogue is the largest synagogue in Europe.
It is gorgeous from the outside...and I've seen photos of the interior,
and it is equally gorgeous on the inside.
To go inside we would have had to go back to it the next day, because on this day...
we were heading out to the country side for a horse show!!!

Clouds were starting to roll in...
but the country side was beautiful!

I was hoping for something a bit more Cavalia...
...it was more of a cheesy history lesson of Budapest and the importance of the horse
in their collective history.

It was amusing!

And Art got to show off his skill with a whip...
can you see it???
He was actually pretty good!

Then we went for a little ride...

Then there was a walk through the farm...

...and the stables!!!

While the day was cloudy...the rain didn't start until we were on the bus heading back to our hotel!
I loved the abstract pictures made by the lights...

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Our Little Corner of the World...Visiting the Buda Castle District!!!

The Buda Castle District, in the hilly area of the Buda side of the city,

is a beautiful little area...

Such a nice area to start and end our days in Budapest!!!

Down one of the side streets near our hotel we found a little outdoor coffee spot...

  

Complete with a bit of local music and color...

A perfect spot for neighborhood kids to enjoy a scoop of gelato...

...or enjoy a cup of tea or Espresso with Linda and Art!!!

There is beauty everywhere in Budapest...

Just look at the beautiful detail on this bridge!

Within walking distance from our hotel we found lovely cafe with outdoor tables...

with a wonderful menu highlighting local foods...

have you ever had Töltött káposzt?

That's stuffed cabbage rolls!

Tasted just like my mom's!!!

(No...she wasn't Hungarian, but she was 100% Swiss with lot's of 

experience traveling throughout Europe, including Hungary!)  

A yummy local wine...

(I dare you to pronounce this!)

And take a look at our local ambiance as we walked back to the hotel!

(The St. Mathias Church at night!)

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Our Little Corner of the World...visiting Buda Castle District...

Did you know that Budapest was originally two cities?

Buda and Pest!

In the late 1800's the two cities merged and Budapest became the largest city in Hungary, 

and one of the largest cities in Europe.

There are different versions of how the names came about...

Buda may have been named for a person, Bleda...brother of Attila...

or it was named after "voda", meaning water.

There are also two versions of Pest...from the Roman times, Pession, a fortress of the region...

...or...from the Slavic word for cave...pesterian or pest...(with a whole lot of squiggly marks

around the 's' and 't'!)

At any rate...in the late 1800's, the two cities merged and became Budapest.

Buda is the more hilly western region, and Pest is the flatter eastern region.

Our hotel was in the lovely section of Buda, in the Buda Castle District,

up on the hill with a lovely view of the rest of the city.

Which was a good thing because the hotel building itself was rather boring!!!  

iPhone pic!

This was our view...the Danube...the Cinderella tower...

There was a story behind the tower...something about fish!!!

Actually, it is called the Fisherman's Bastion.

Apparently in the Middle Ages a guild of fishermen defended this stretch of the city.

It's really just a viewing terrace with wonderful views of the Danube and the Pest part of the city!

 Very close to our hotel was this beautiful church...

St. Mathias.

Truly one of the most beautiful churches inside, that I've ever seen.

Every inch of the interior was painted in incredible detail...

The original church was built in 1015, but was destroyed in 1241 by the Mongols.

The current building was built in the 13th Century.

In the 1600's someone thought it should be re-designed in the Baroque style...

which was not particularly satisfactory.

So...in the late 1800's it was restored to it's original design.

The church was significantly damaged during WWII, but was beautifully restored in 

the mid 1900's...(That sounds so historic...) 

Then even more restoration in 2006-2013.

Throughout the Centuries the church has been used for numerous coronations and 

royal weddings.

We decided that the next family member to get married should have a destination wedding here!!!

 

So are you starting to get the picture of why I think Budapest is one of the most beautiful 

cities in the world?

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