Starting from the beginning, my journals during my brief tour of Budapest and its surroundings
Since arriving in Budapest we’ve been on quite the whirlwind schedule. Barely able to process my thoughts, let alone find the time to put them into words, my journal pages have remained empty for the first 3 days. Well, okay, the first day was really a half-a-day and didn’t consist of any running around. Instead, we caught up on our sleep and got to know our friendly hosts while here in Hungary, Laszlo, his wife Mariann and thier three young boys, Christof, Adam, and Danial. Even after sleeping 5 hours, after dinner, wine, picture sharing and conversation, which often consisted of Laszlo taking us to a map and giving us years in history lessons, it’s time to go to bed once again. Not sleeping on a cross-Atlantic flight will make your first day tough unless you do what is necessary. Forget the sights for the first night. Better to retire early for sleep’s sake and energy’s source the next day. Besides, with three small boys running around the house, waking up early isn’t a choice.
Day one, although actually day two, was in reality for us the first true day in Budapest.
Day One: After a great breakfast prepared by Mariann with fresh blackberries, blueberries and figs from their garden and homemade jams for the bread, we’re not only well-rested but well-fed and ready to hit the city. Laszlo had to work and the two older boys are off to the lakehouse, so it is Mariann and her 4-year old Danial that take us into the city. We get our first taste of public transportation in Budapest – the metro system is the oldest in world after London’s (first opened in 1896) but also remarkably cleaner than anything I’ve seen in DC. While Budapest is a rather large city, it feels smaller than it is. We visit St. Matthias Church in the old castle district, which has narrow cobblestone streets and colorful buildings and pretty flowers. Like many old European churches it’s spires are covered in scaffolding while it undergoes a cleaning to make it look better than new. I am already jealous of the tourists who will view it in all it’s sparkling beauty a few years from now. And like many old European churches it was built upon a much older, smaller church that now sits underground. These older, underground churches have always felt more real to me, perhaps becuase they are so intimate and completely removed of all the ornate paintings, carvings and relics which eventually came to be seen directly above them. In front of the church resides the statue of St. Stephen, the first king of Hungary and its most famous. Directly behind this lies Fisherman’s Bastion, which reveals breathtaking views of Parliament and the Chain Bridge across the Danube. After snapping some shots, we visit the labyrinth which Katie has told us about. Mariann had never been before. It apparently dates back to prehistoric man and much more recently served as a hiding place for weary souls during WWII. From here, we walked to the Buda Palace where we saw the Raven and the Eagle (two well-known mythologized symbols in Hungary) perched atop their loft. The Palace itself, of course, sits on the Buda side and provides plenty of breathtaking views of Pest, Parliament, the Chain Bridge, which connects the two sides, and St. Stephen’s Basilica in the background. We walked across by first riding what I would call a trolley car, but what’s actually known as a funicular, down from the Palace to street level. The beauty of the Chain Bridge, which was blown apart by German bombs in WWII to halt the Soviet advance, as was every single other bridge in Budapest, is truly something to behold and especially at night. Taking it all in during a lovely evening stroll is something Katie assures me we will do. After lunch, we take in the glistening St. Stephen’s Basilica, which holds his withered 1,000 year old hand and affords stunning views of the entire city. I am convinced even after our first day that Budapest is one of the most charming cities I’ve visited.
P.S. – For some very interesting details about what we saw, of which I’m sure she told me but I have already forgotten, check out Katie’s pictures from our trip.
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