Chapter 1065: Budapest Hungary Feb 2020 – Part 1

This was my last European trip before the pandemic. I went to Budapest! I had a very early flight and settled for an English breakfast at the airport. The restaurant name was called Giraffe, although I’ve seen this restaurant many times I’ve never bothered to go in. My flight was at 6:25am and I was feeling super hungry. When I reached Budapest airport I took the 100E shuttle bus directly to the city centre. The weather was sunny, warm and the complete opposite to what London was having…Gloom and doom. So I felt so happy to have had good weather.

When I arrived into Deák Ferenc tér I came across this cute statue. Népdal – szobor, it shows a shepherd playing the flute to the 4 little lambs. It depicts a folk song by Petőfi Sándor. The sculptors name was Horvay János and the statue was erected in 1929.

Walking through the park I found this padlock stand where people come to lock in their love. At first glance I wouldn’t say it looks pretty. A cluster of old locks. It’s a common thing in Europe from what I have seen, especially in Paris. Although I remember when I was in Tokushima, on top of Mt. Bizan there was a small section where couples could lock in their love.
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I was heading to go up the cable car to see the Church and also the Fisherman’s Bastion. To get there I had to go across the Széchenyi Chain Bridge.

The bridge reminded me of London. It might be that city-vibe where a lot things do look alike. There was a mighty lion staring down. It’s got a shocked expression.

Very pretty design. Old European architecture is always so pretty with all the little details.

On the bridge you can see Budavári Palota, Buda Castle.

It was so sunny and I felt so happy to be away from London’s miserable weather at the time. I thought to myself ‘Ah, this is just what I needed.’

The line was extremely long. But I was happy to wait. It was HUF 1200 one way (about £3.00) or HUF 1800 return (about £4.50) It’s very cheap!!

After recaching the top this was the view.

Grand gate.

And a really cool eagle sculpture!

The big map!!

There were a lot of people. Mainly tourists.

But it was very spacious and the light breeze was very refreshing! It’s quite satisfying to watch the many different flags wave in the wind.

I stopped and paused for section. Ah? The Hungarian flag looks like the Italian flag, same colours but it’s horizontal instead.

The banners covering the sides made it look very cartoony.

The Matthias Church!

So pretty! I love the colours on the roof.

I’d be visiting a little later. The attractive design is of Neo-Gothic features and this church is one of Europes finest. Plus it has a long history of serving its people since 1015 and it was founded by the first Hungarian King. Of course, like many European landmarks, it went through reconstructions and redesigns to what it is now.

This was the Szentháromság-szobor, Holy Trinity Statue. This was erected in 1694 by the council of Buda with the aim to protect people from the plague.

Fisherman’s Bastion. It was built during the 19th century and provides everyone with the best panoramic views of the city. The design really looks like those old royal castles in fairytale books. It’s very pretty.

Statue of Stephen I of Hungary by Alajos Stróbl, 1906.

Check out the view. I had to do a Panoramic photo to capture everything in. It looks grand!

The pointy roofs of the Fisherman’s Bastion really remind me of those classic princess hats. Or a witches hat. The nob on the top is kinda cute.

I love the view so much.

People always tell me that they love London and how pretty everything is. I’m like this whenever I visit a new place that is not home. Living and touring are two different things. I have two friends that want to visit Budapest once the pandemic is over, and they asked if I wanted to go? Yup, I don’t mind going again so I can take them around too since they’ve never been. Next time, I’d like to visit more places in the city, since this time I was restricted to the weekend, mainly Saturday.

Picture of the church from the other side. Here you can more of that beautiful roof, it sort of has an exotic feel. Almost reminding me of Barcelona.

Such a beautiful city.

I like these old lamp posts.

And the rest of the Fisherman’s Bastion…

They said it was severely damaged in WW2 so it had to go through renovations and was finally restored. It is one of the most important landmarks in Budapest. Back in May 1995 they actually introduced an entry fee but in November 2003 it was handed over to the public so we are blessed with fee entry!

A cool lion statue!

So beautiful. I love architecture like this. The white walls remind me of La Rochelle in France. But it’s nowhere this grand.

The arch way…and the beautiful blue sky!

I found a man-hole cover. Quite pretty! I think it’s prettier than most I’ve seen in Europe.

And a better picture of the statue of Stephen I of Hungary.

Very high and mighty.

Along the the statue was man dressed in folk clothing and he had a massive eagle!

After buying my ticket to enter the church, I wasn’t disappointed. One adult ticket costs HUF 1,800 (about £4.50)

Every bit of the church was decorated. So pretty!!

It didn’t have a church feel…more of a royal palace kind of feeling.

The ceiling!! Copper green is such a pretty and luxurious colour.

Pretty stained glass. And there is a halo of light above.

At the treasury they were showcasing this golden monstrance. Very beautiful…

I found the many coat of arms of the Hungarian Knights of Malta.

The columns look so magical.

Copy of the Gradual of King Matthias

The was a statue of Elisabeth who the Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary.

This church is like a piece of art, everything has patterns and colours. Attention to detail at its finest!

Two angels on the wall beside the door.

The stained glass on the top look like flowers. The walls here has pictures as if telling a story.

A stone full of engravings.

I absolutely love this church so much. Sometimes visiting churches it bores me because it’s the same thing again and again. But this one is amazing.

Captured someone riding a bike.

The view on the other side.

This was towards the Buda Castle side.

Beautiful architecture…. This was the Matthias Fountain but it wasn’t on at the time.

A roaring lion statue.

The archway. There were some building works on the other end.

When you look above the archway the sculptures aren’t flat, they’re 3D and pop out.

They had these arched mirrored glass…Which reminded me… I really want to buy prescription sunglasses with mirror polarised lenses!

It’s not real! At first I thought oh it’s a raven, like at the Tower of London they have ravens. But, no this is a little sculpture.

The historic cable car. It runs every 10 minutes up and down the Castle Hill. The idea was founded by Odon Szechenyi. During that time, this was actually the second funicular railway operating in the whole Europe. But of course during WW2 it was completely destroyed and was then reconstructed. In 1987 it was registered with UNESCO. I love the wooden vintage style, it’s very cute.

That’s it for part 1. Will be posting part 2 tomorrow.

—Tofu