Budapest - Day 3

Day 16 - Budapest Day 3 (September 14)

Everybody was up by 8:00 AM since we were no longer on a schedule. After taking care of our morning wakeup we got together to go to breakfast. Getting down to the lobby, we decided to find a small café out on one of the streets in our area. Heading down Vacci Utca we stopped at several small cafes checking out their menus. Most only had pastries. Eventually we found one that had more of a breakfast selection so that’s where we stopped. After breakfast, we decided to walk down to the end of Vacci Utca to the Central Market Hall, a huge steel and glass building with three floors of shopping.

Just prior to the turn of the 20th century, when the cities of Buda, Pest, and Obuda (Old Buda) merged to form one city, city leaders recognized a need for more and better market places and a decision was made to build covered markets similar to those in larger European cities, such as Paris. The largest was dubbed The Great Market Hall and would be situated on the Pest end of the Liberty Bridge and construction commenced in 1894 and it opened in 1896, when it was declared among the finest and most modern covered markets on the continent.

Inside the market hall, the cavernous structure is supported by slender steel columns, allowing for extensive sunlight to make its way into the market. Sometimes referred to as “a symphony in iron”, this ornate market had a canal that ran through the center, allowing goods to be delivered to the market’s traders via barge and a thruway for wagons. Walking through the market we found three stories of stalls selling a variety of wares. On the busy ground level, there are lots of fruit and vegetable vendors. In the basement, there’s a supermarket, a number of fishmongers, and vendors selling game meat and on the upper floor, beautiful Hungarian arts and crafts.

After a couple of hours walking around the market we headed for the waterfront to walk along the river walk where we eventually stopped at Dunasorco for lunch. This is a family style restaurant with a view of Buda from the outside terrace. We all ordered something different and when finished, we all agreed that it was one of the best meals we had on the entire trip.
After lunch we continued our walk along the river until we came to the “Chain Bridge”, one of Budapest’s most historic landmarks. This was the first connection between the two cities, Buda and Pest which were still separate cities when the bridge was built. The 375 meter (1230ft) long and 16 meter wide bridge was opened in 1849. Eight years later a 350 meter long tunnel was dug through the base of Castle Hill to connect the bridge to the outlying districts of Buda. The bridge and the tunnel ignited an economic revival that lead to Budapest's golden century and it was one of the factors that made the provincial towns of Pest and Buda into a fast-growing metropolitan. In 1989 people demonstrated on the chain bridge for freedom and independence. Since then, the bridge has become a symbol of Hungarian liberty.

We crossed the bridge and walked over to the funicular for a ride to the top of Castle Hill. The Funicular Railway offers a beautiful nostalgic ride with one of the most unique city panoramic views in the world. Built in 1868-1870 it is the only one that has coaches that look like a three-step staircase. Originally steam-powered, now it runs on electricity. Up until 1928 it was the only public transport to the Royal Palace. Budapest Funicular is now part of the Unesco World Heritage. And as I have heard, this is basically the one and only property of Budapest Public Transportation Co. which is actually profitable.

After we got off the funicular at the top of Castle Hill we were able to walk all around the Royal Palace grounds. The foundations of the castle, which would later be besieged no less than 31 times, were laid in the 13th century after Mongol tribes had invaded Hungary. In 1243 King Béla built a keep surrounded by thick walls on a site which was previously occupied by a small farming community. Around the keep, a small town called Buda started to grow. During the Reign of King Lajos the Great, the keep was fortified and a palace was built. Later, during the reign of Sigismund of Luxembourg (1387-1437), the castle was again expanded, resulting in one of the greatest palaces in Europe.

At the end of the 15th century, during the reign of King Matthias Corvinus the castle was restored and new wings were added to the palace. Very little remains of this beautiful palace of the 15th century, as the buildings were almost completely demolished when Budapest was recaptured by the Turks. A new palace, designed in a Baroque style was built between 1714 and 1723 by King Charles III of Habsburg. The palace was extended by King Charles's daughter, the empress Maria Theresa, but the great fire of 1810 and the attack of the castle during the Hungarian rising destroyed much of the new palace. Today, much of the palace has been restored with a museum and large halls for receptions and other public functions.

We spent some time looking at the beautiful statues and some of the restoration work being done on the original keep walls before returning to the funicular for the return to the Pest side of the Danube. After crossing the Chain Bridge again, we caught one of the famous “Yellow Trams” that run throughout the city. The yellow tram is a distinctive feature of Budapest’s urban landscape and is also known as the "négyes-hatos" (the 'four and six'). Trams play a vital role in the city's transport system, and since the renewal of the tracks in ten yeas ago it was a very smooth ride. We got off the tram near Elizabeth Bridge and walked back to our hotel for a rest before going to dinner.

Around 5:30 PM we ventured out again for a short walk up to Deak Ferenc Square where we stopped to tour the Lutheran Church. This is the oldest Lutheran church in Budapest. Built by Mihály Pollack in Neoclassic Empire style, its foundation-stone was laid in 1799 and with the help of donations by the citizens of Budapest it was consecrated on Whit Sunday in 1811. The clock and bell in its little bell tower started work in 1829, showing the time and announcing holidays or danger. It called the congregation to a day of rejoicing in October 1831 at the passing of the cholera-epidemic, and it tolled in 1838 when the Danube burst its banks. The church itself provided shelter for those whose homes were destroyed by the floods.

After our visit to the Lutheran Church we walked back to a restaurant right across from the hotel where we all ordered something Hungarian for dinner. Everything was very good, even my “Wild Boar Stew”. After dinner we went up to our room and played a couple of games of “Hand and Foot” before turning in for the night.