We began our first full day in Budapest on the late side, catching up on a night's worth of sleep deprivation. Completely understandable and healthy. It meant that we started the day late but with good energy. The plan was not overly ambitious, but full.
The first stop was the train stop at the end our street, the Budapest-Nyugati Railway Terminal. This terminal, which opened in October of 1877, was built by the Eiffel Co. Yes, that Eiffel. And the structure, while less iconic than the famous tower, is grand. Parts of the movie Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol were filmed at the station.
It doesn't serve the trains for the destinations we need, but it's a beautiful old station, filled with travelers to destinations to the north. We inquired about traveling to Esztergom, but we're warned against it by the ticket clerk. The recent flooding of the Danube has made the area into a mess.
Yes, we have begun communicating with people in Hungarian. The communication is on very simple terms, but we are using Hungarian and people are understanding us. This is very exciting!
After exploring the train station, we walked to St. Stephen's Basilica. This church is named after the first king of Hungary (975-1038), who unified and converted the country (quite forcefully) to Christianity. He faced considerable resistance from the nobles of the country, many of them his relatives. One of his biggest opponents faced his wrath - and the fate of having molten lead poured in his ears.
Stephen, not surprisingly, was Hungary's first saint. His hand is preserved at the back of the church in a reliquary.
The church is appropriately grand, the third largest church in Hungary. The basilica was completed in 1905, after 54 years of construction.
The surrounding area of the church are quite beautiful too. The communist government had created a parking lot in the area in front of the church, but that was replaced about 10 years ago by a very pleasant pedestrian square. (The communists were not fans of churches.)
We returned to our apartment after strolling around the church area, dressing for a concert of medieval music at the Central European University. The musicians re-interpreted the music in a modern way, but it retained considerable ancient flavor. Quite beautiful & wonderfully talented musicians. After the hour-long concert, we went for an extended southward stroll down the Danube River, and then zigzagging our way home through Pest streets that hummed with Friday nightlife.
The first stop was the train stop at the end our street, the Budapest-Nyugati Railway Terminal. This terminal, which opened in October of 1877, was built by the Eiffel Co. Yes, that Eiffel. And the structure, while less iconic than the famous tower, is grand. Parts of the movie Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol were filmed at the station.
It doesn't serve the trains for the destinations we need, but it's a beautiful old station, filled with travelers to destinations to the north. We inquired about traveling to Esztergom, but we're warned against it by the ticket clerk. The recent flooding of the Danube has made the area into a mess.
Yes, we have begun communicating with people in Hungarian. The communication is on very simple terms, but we are using Hungarian and people are understanding us. This is very exciting!
After exploring the train station, we walked to St. Stephen's Basilica. This church is named after the first king of Hungary (975-1038), who unified and converted the country (quite forcefully) to Christianity. He faced considerable resistance from the nobles of the country, many of them his relatives. One of his biggest opponents faced his wrath - and the fate of having molten lead poured in his ears.
Stephen, not surprisingly, was Hungary's first saint. His hand is preserved at the back of the church in a reliquary.
The church is appropriately grand, the third largest church in Hungary. The basilica was completed in 1905, after 54 years of construction.
The surrounding area of the church are quite beautiful too. The communist government had created a parking lot in the area in front of the church, but that was replaced about 10 years ago by a very pleasant pedestrian square. (The communists were not fans of churches.)
We returned to our apartment after strolling around the church area, dressing for a concert of medieval music at the Central European University. The musicians re-interpreted the music in a modern way, but it retained considerable ancient flavor. Quite beautiful & wonderfully talented musicians. After the hour-long concert, we went for an extended southward stroll down the Danube River, and then zigzagging our way home through Pest streets that hummed with Friday nightlife.
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