Budapest, the capital of Hungary, is known as "the Little Paris of Central Europe" and "Pearl of the Danube" The Danube River divides this Hungarian capital city into “Buda” and “Pest.”
On our first day in Budapest, we took the Viking tour that gave us an overview of the magnificent city. We started on the Pest side...
Pest’s National Opera House on the Andrassy Ut. This avenue, similar to the boulevards of Paris, dates back to 1872 and has high-end shopping and great architecture.
Hall of Arts (Mucsarnok) at Heroes' Square
The Hungarian War Memorial stands in front of the column and commemorates heroes how had died for the independence of Hungary. A popular spot for wreath-laying ceremonies on national holidays.
The square has witnessed several 20th century key events of Hungary's history. During the Communist era the place saw coreographed demonstrations on holidays.
Dohany Street Synagogue. The largest synagogue in Europe and the second largest in the world.
The Castle Hill, the River Danube embankments and the whole of Andrássy út have been officially recognized as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Castle Hill and the Castle District; there are three churches here, six museums, and a host of interesting buildings, streets and squares. The seven-hundred year-old Matthias Church is one of the jewels of Budapest.
Next to it is an equestrian statue of the first king of Hungary, King Saint Stephen,
and behind that is the Fisherman's Bastion, from where opens out a panoramic view of the whole city.
We drove by Parliament but did not have time for a inside visit.....a very beautiful building.
The Parliament from Fishermen's Bastion
The Shoes on the Danube Promenade is a memorial concept by filmdirector Can Togay and was created by him and the sculptor Gyula Pauer on the bank of the Danube River in Budapest. It honors the Jews who were killed by fascist Arrow Cross militiamen in Budapest during World War II. They were ordered to take off their shoes, and were shot at the edge of the water so that their bodies fell into the river and were carried away. It represents their shoes left behind on the bank.
After dinner, we had a show performed by local musicians....
The Royal Palace on Castle Hill at night from our ship....beautiful!
Chain Bridge from our ship
Unfortunately, the weather continues to be bad. Cold, overcast with some light rain.....Budapest is such a beautiful city....hopefully, tomorrow will be better as we explore on our own.
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