18 June 2019, Tuesday
We arrived at about 5.30 a.m. with lack of sleep (the bus kept stopping everywhere throughout the journey - during the day it was ok, as I got to go to the loo and stretch my legs, but during the night it was a bit annoying because my sleep on an already uncomfortable bus seat kept getting interrupted), dehydrated and disorientated. Luckily it wasn’t too complicated to figure out the public transport system here and we were at our hostel by 6 a.m.
As it was still early we took a nap but it wasn’t really a peaceful nap for me as I kept having weird dreams and before I knew it, it was already time to wake up and face the day. We headed out at about 9.30 a.m. after getting a city map and some information from the receptionist at the hostel.
Then, Budapest!
The first thing we went to see was the Parliament building in Kossuth square, on the banks of the Danube river. It is really a very beautiful building of Neo-Gothic architecture (apparently with Renaissance and Baroque characters too), and is over 100 years old. It is the 3rd largest Parliament building in the world, and the largest building in Hungary. Apparently the Crown Jewels of Hungary are in here!
Kossuth Square was named after Lajos Kossuth, a Hungarian lawyer, journalist, politician and Governor-President of Hungary in 1849. He was widely honored during his lifetime, including in the United States, as a freedom fighter and a bellwether of democracy in Europe. His memorial, as well as a memorial for the 1956 Hungarian Revolution can be seen in front of the Parliament building.
We also saw a few other monuments here; one is of a man on a horse - his name is Rakoczi and he was a Hungarian nobleman and leader of the Hungarian uprising against the Habsburgs in 1703-11. He was also a Prince of Transylvania. Today he is considered a national hero in Hungary. The other was Tisza Istvan who was a Hungarian politician, prime minister, political scientist, international lawyer, macroeconomist and member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The prominent event in his life was Austria-Hungary’s entry into WW I when he was prime minister for the second time. He was later assassinated on 31 October 1918 - the same day that Hungary terminated its political union with Austria.
Next, we went to Margitzsiget Island. It is situated in the Danube River, between Buda and Pest. The first thing we saw was Szokokut Fountain, a musical fountain which was quite pretty. There were pedestrian promenades that navigated around parkland, intermingled with busts of various important people in Hungary (my guess) such as Kodaly, Bariok Bela, Jozsef Attila, Gabor Andor, Liszt, Janus Pannorius, Mikszath, Derkovitz, Balassi, Csokonai, Lyka Karoly, Barabas Miklos and Deryne.
Walking around we saw a quaint old church known as the St Michael Provostship Church of the Premonstratensians. With all the surrounding lush greenery, it was really such a lovely sight, so soothing for my eyes! It was built in pure Roman style in the 12th century. During the Turkish wars in 1541, the building was completely destroyed. The ruins were excavated in 1923, and the little church was reconstructed in 1930-31. The bell was found in 1914, among the roots of a walnut tree uprooted by a storm (as if asking to be found - creepy!). It is one of the oldest bells in Hungary, made by Master John Stroud in the 15th century.
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