Budapest - Wednesday, 6 July 2016

Another win for the Buccos against St. Louis. Let's keep it up while Chicago is losing!!


Ok, today we actually got to visit Parliament. We had been told that no photos or purses would be allowed through security. However, this wasn't the case and so I was left with just my old iPhone for photos.

The Parliament building is a grand edifice and is the 3rd largest parliament building in the world. It was built beginning in 1895 and the first parliament met in 1896.Underneath its dome (the same height as St. Stephen Basilica) is housed the Holy Crown of Hungary. It is guarded by soldiers wielding swords and no pictures were allowed there. The staircase and chambers were beautiful. On an interesting note were the cigar holders on the window sills. They were for the parliamentarians who smoked, but could not within the chambers.

Cigar holders on the window sill

From Parliament it was off to the covered market where we spent an hour or so browsing the different vendors and looking at every kind of meat and produce. It was built in 1897 and has the same Zsolnay tile roof that so many of the other buildings do in Budapest. 

After the market it was back on HopOn for a transit to Heroes Square. It was built in 1896 for the millenary anniversary of the Hungarian Conquest. The column in the middle has Gabriel at the top as a symbol of victory. It also has the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. If one were to read about each of the figures, it would be a history of Hungary in a nutshell.

Earle and I wanted to take the tour of the State Opera House so we left Barbara and Charles at Heroes Square and took a taxi to the opera house. It was a short ride and only 3,000 flourints. However, when Earle gave the driver 10,000, he gave us back 2000 ft and 5000 Indonesian rupiahs. Didn't discover this til later. We were taken good.

At the Opera House Cafe we grabbed a beer and Apfel strudel. Isn't that a combination for the ages? 

It was said that Franz Joseph commissioned the Opera House here to be smaller than the one in Vienna. It is, but the Budapestans also made sure that it was more beautiful and elaborate inside than the Vienna counterpart. And it is. After the tour we were treated to a couple of arias by a very well trained soprano.

Just so happened that a half block from the Opera House was one of the flagship Herend Porcelain stores. It called us in and we treated ourselves to a souvenir piece. 

It was a really nice afternoon and we decided to walk back to the hotel. It was interesting to go through some of the non-touristy parts to see how people really lived. Many buildings are still in disrepair from the war and revolution.

Back at the hotel we met Barbara and Charles and had a beer. We packed a bit before our farewell gathering. And then to dinner. We opted for a real meal at the New York Cafe. We were still in awe over its beauty. I had a chicken quarter with pepper risotto and Earle had veal stew.

And so the vacation ended. Tomorrow will be our flight back to the US and we will have our memories and pictures to relive this adventure. It was wonderful and can't wait to find a new place to explore.