A Day in Buda...

Budapest, Hungary

September 16, 2007
N47°31.120
E019°04.900

Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, is split into two distinct areas, Buda and Pest; divided in half by the Danube River. The majority tourist sites, including the castle, are located on the western, Buda side, of the river. We’re staying in Pest and haven’t ventured to the other side of the Danube—until today.

Before crossing one of the many bridges connecting Buda and Pest we strolled by the magnificent Parliament building on the Pest side of the river. A small rock concert was being held in the middle of Parliament Square; a band playing to about 50 screaming teenage girls. The squealing girls and the cheesy Hungarian hunk leading his band were enough keep us walking.

The riverfront walk was beautiful as we peered across the river, anticipating what was in store for us this afternoon. After crossing the Margaret Bridge we entered another UNESCO protected area and instantly noticed the cobblestone streets and brightly colored house were clean, free of graffiti and obviously the ritzy neighborhood of Budapest.

Weaving our way through the streets, we admired the churches, including the Matthias Church, looked back across the Danube towards Pest from the vistas high in the hills, and explored the Royal Palace. The superb weather allowed Marc to capture tons of pictures of the classic architecture and left us both with sunburned faces.

As the sun began to fall toward the horizon we made way down the cobblestone streets within the walls of the castle and over the Chain Bridge back toward Pest. As we walked over the historic bridge that was first opened in 1849, we took one last look back at the Castle on the hill before walking deeper into the neighborhood of Pest, no longer able to see the beauty of Buda.