I realize every time I write about a place I´ve been, I tell you just how beautiful it is. I can´t help it. Every place I go to is so amazing for me, I can´t help but marvel. And Budapest was no different. But it´s good, isn´t it? Better to visit places where you are awestruck every time, than being disappointed every. I´m sure you will agree with me!
Back to Budapest. It was BEAUTIFUL. I´m sorry to tell you again, but it was truly beautiful.
Some quick facts. Budapest is the capital of Hungary and is divided in Buda and Pest by the Danube river that flows between them. It´s the same river that crosses through Vienna and Prague.
The Romans settled in Hungary and established their capital, Aquincum, beside the Danube river. They settled first on the side of Pest. You can still see how the streets were built in a radial pattern, all heading towards the river. The same pattern can be seen in Buda, although not as clear, because of the hills. Budapest went through many battles and conquers: from the barbarians, the huns, the Hungarian tribes, the mongols, the otomans. It was until 1873 that Budapest was originally founded, and the city began to flourish. Until now, the vestiges of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, with the rule of Franz Joseph and Elizabeth (yes, the same Sissi as the one from Austria) can still be seen. The streets have a XIX century vibe, that makes of Budapest an amazing city.
With such an intricate history it´s no wonder that Budapest is such an intriguing city for so many people. There´s plenty to see and do.
Since I was staying at the Pest side of the city, I started exploring this side first.
One of the biggest churches in Budapest is the St. Stephan´s Basilica, named after the first king of Hungary. During its building the architect, Miklós Ybl, wanted to make the dome bigger than he had originally planned, the changes went wrong and in 1868 the dome collapsed. After Ybl´s death, József Kauser took up the project and finished the basilica. This Neo-Classical church is definitely worth checking out. The entrance has a Romanesque air, with the columns and triangular-shaped roof above them. Inside it has columns of green, red, beige and grey stone. It’s a very picturesque church, full of paintings and colors. I settled in a restaurant in the street leading to the basilica and enjoyed the view while I was eating.
Very popular in Budapest are the Thermal Baths. They where firstly used by the Romans and the use of them is still present around the city. There are plenty to choose from, but I settled for one of the most popular ones, mainly because I was curious about the architecture. I went to the Széchenyi Baths. While the baths where good and the building was pretty I wasn´t that impressed. Some of the painting is peeling from the walls and for being one of the most famous baths I had expected a truly breathtaking place. In retrospective I would rather have chosen the Gellért Baths, while they are popular too, from what I saw in the pictures it looks a lot nicer than the Széchenyi Baths. One reason to return to Budapest!
The next day I went to the Széchenyi Chain Bridge. This bridge was the first permanent one, built to cross the Danube. While I loved walking this bridge I was more impressed by the Liberty Bridge. Not only the lions guarding the entrance, but also the many green cables crisscrossing through the bridge made quite an impression on me. This was the bridge I crossed to get to the hill of Buda.
While Pest is a plait, the shore on the other side of the Danube goes uphill. I climbed the Gellért Hill, to the Liberty Statue and one of the best views you will have from Pest. The climb up is pretty tiring but really worth it. When I recovered, I went on, descending through the other side of the hill, behing the Liberty Statue. In my way I came across the Gellért Monument, where you can take nice pictures with the pillars and trees in the background.
Hitting the street again I made my way in the direction of the Castle Hill. There lies the Museum of History of Budapest.
Going down the hill I walked to the shore, towards the Parliament. The best view you will get from the Parliament is from the Buda side of the river. At sunset it lights up in pinks and oranges and is beautiful to look at. I sat so long at the edge of the river, dangling my feet above the water, looking in amazement.
My last day took me to the Museum of Agriculture of Budapest. It is settled in a castle built in a Baroque style. Although very beautiful, you will be shocked to find out that this castle was built for the only purpose of housing the agriculture museum, it was never a castle of kings and queens!!! In 1896 the Hungarian millennial exhibition was held in a castle of cardboard, built as a copy from the Castle Vajdahunyad, in Transylvania, Romania. The people liked the castle so much, that they decided to turn it into a permanent building. The view from the tower is pretty amazing, as is the one from the gate at the entrance to the park where the castle lies.
That day I made my way towards the hills of Buda once more, but this time I headed to the Fisherman´s Bastion. Judging by the name you would expect to find some kind of market or fishing museum, but contrary to what you would think, you will find yourself in the most Disney-worthy place. Looking at it from bellow you could almost believe you´re about to enter the Disney castle. The Fisherman´s Bastion was built in the 19th century, around the Matthias Church as a decorative fortification, with beautiful lookout towers, to get the best view from Budapest. Although it´s called a Bastion, the structure you can see nowadays has never served as a fortification.
The Matthias Church is just behind the Fisherman´s Bastion and I can say, with full certainty, that it´s the most beautiful church I´ve ever seen. I love gothic churches and even some baroque ones I find very beautiful, but this one, the Matthias Church literally took my breath away. From floor to ceiling it´s covered in colorful patterns. I didn´t want to leave. I can put as many pictures as I want, but none will come close to the beauty of this place! If you go to Budapest you can´t skip this masterpiece, it is worth every second you are in there! And the view from the tower is something you shouldn´t skip either!
Afterwards I walked through the bastion. You have to pay to get on it. It really gives you the best view of Budapest!
With that my trip to Budapest was ended. I particularly fell in love with the Matthias Church and the Fisherman´s Bastion, probably because I´m a hopeless romantic, but every other attraction in this city is also worth seeing. If you have the opportunity to visit Budapest, take it! It´s an amazing city!
Extra:
Napfényes Restaurant, on the street Ferenciek tere2, is a vegan restaurant. Goulash is a typical Hungarian soup but it´s made with meat and being a vegetarian I couldn´t taste it in any conventional restaurant. Luckily this restaurant makes not only this soup, but also many other vegan dishes and very tasty! I´ll let you some pictures here just to tempt you!
