Budapest - Day two - exploration
Trip Start
Sep 03, 2008
1
29
52
Trip End
Nov 13, 2008
Budapest,
Hungary
Saturday, October 11, 2008
In order to explain the travel today, it is probably explaining what Budapest is. The name is actually formed from the merger of three city's, Buda (the south-eastern side of the Danube), Pest (the north-western side of the Danube) and Obuda (the bit in the middle). Budapest as we know it has only been around for 150 years or so, but the separate entities have been around much much longer. Buda is the leafy side, home to many of the historical buildings such as the castles and monuments, while Pest is the commercial hub. Our travels today took us through Pest, across the Danube to Buda to explore the castle, then back to the Hostel.
Pest itself has a UNESCO listed part (which we will explore more fully tomorrow), as well as a range of markets and shops. We explored a few, then made our way across the bridge to Buda.
Here we walked to the top of the highest point in Buda to see the freedom monument. There are commanding views from this point, the monument itself surrounded by bush-land. We then walked from there to Buda-Var, the castle district.
The castle district is the home of several museums and provides a home for the President. It was the seat of power for various Hungarian Kings and, at several times, provided a location to house the government. Many of the buildings have been restored since WW II, where they were for the most part flattened. Interestingly, one building there didn't seem to fit, the Hilton. It was a large glass enclosed building which simply didn't match the buildings which surrounded it. After exploring the castle, we made our way over another bridge back to Pest, then made our way back to the Hostel; where we got into a chat with a person from Honduras.
Tomorrow we will continue our exploration of Budapest, going to a Design Festival, as well as trying out the Turkish Baths located in Buda.
