Day 62 Bused Out!

Monday 21/05/2018 (19 SZ) Central Budapest Apartment Lonyay utca 19, 09. Ferencvaros

So today is the day we hit the hop on hop off bus.... we thought doing it this way we get to see the sights from the bus then go back to what we want... we end up buying a 2 day pass... which has the night tour and 2 cruises on the Danube. Doggy ticket sell you had to pay him cash, when we get up to where you meet the bus here are heaps of guys selling tickets all it’s credit card machine.... so nit sure how good our ticket will be..l. Anyway went to get on the bus, John was up front and some guy who got stuck behind him and his friends had got on already nearly punched John out getting on the bus, he was panicking he would get a good seat, my glory how crazy are people... we actually did get a great seat upfront good views and settled in for the day... only the problem was it only got to the first 30 mins of the tour and that bus stopped... great so off that bus into another bus and nope no good views this time no cover and we did get very burnt....

So seeing the city from a bus can be a benefit and a nonbenefit..... it goes pretty quickly so from a photographer perspective it’s a bit hit and miss on getting that focus fast... as I am used to that in the car I thought it would be fine, but the angle you are on in a bus with people all around doesn’t always give you the best angles... so I take what I can and delete what’s rubbish.... lots of rubbish today... we stop half way at Heroes Square, wander over to the lake to see people all over it in little electric cars and boats on the water.... the Castle not a big one by any means but nevertheless it was a castle and very cute too.... we knew we were on a time limit so didn’t go across to it... we walked back the other way, coming across a beautiful old building with a wooden painted arch thing out front of it, a small memorial garden with glow in the dark bottles all around, a rock, wreath and a big sheet with peoples pictures on it....so I guessed they had died somehow.... Our friend Vince in Australia who is Hungarian told us later it was.... a heap of school children killed in 2017 on a trip to Italy....
Onto the Fair next to this lovely building where we both buy a traditional meal... I get a Langos a deep fried bread thing with sour cream ,garlic butter meted and grated cheese on the top... John got a donut thing long cooked in a long metal cylinder then rolled in sugar... that melts like toffee and is crisp on the outer coating g from the heat ,melting the sugar... both very health lunches as you can tell by my explanation.... I incidentally only had a small but if it... John gobbled all his down... we sat next to a young couple who struck up a conversation... they were from Scotland and loved travel, Her dad lives in Melbourne. So they come to Australia every so often, but only ever have time to visit family... they so want to visit more of Aust, and after our conversation they were definitely going to see more the time factor was the issue for them....

So having enjoyed the company we headed over to Heroes Square it was impressive... there were statues of past kings to the 1000’s...
Having seen the kings back into the bus... where we went a around again to the beginning at the Basilica, so well what do you do when being at that same spot twice, you go in for a look.... yep another basilica you say, but in all honestly each one is so unique and interesting, just far to opulent and over the top with all the gold, brass and paintings.......but from an artists point of view extremely interesting.

From here we headed back down to the river a bit of a fast walk to make the 5 pm cruise time up the river around Margaret Island and back.... we got there with the boat only having 5 mins to departing... as soon as we sat I looked to my left and there were the couple from the Gold Coast we meet the first night... so we all sat together had a couple of drinks, chatting and enjoying the sights... the building that blows me away... is the Parliament building it’s just the most unreal architecturally designed building...

The Hungarian Parliament Building (Hungarian: Országház, pronounced [ˈorsaːkhaːz], which translates to House of the Country or House of the Nation), also known as the Parliament of Budapest after its location, is the seat of the National Assembly of Hungary, a notable landmark of Hungary and a popular tourist destination in Budapest. It lies in Lajos Kossuth Square, on the bank of the Danube. It is currently the largest building in Hungary and it is still the tallest building in Budapest. Parliament Building in 1905 Budapest was united from three cities in 1873 and seven years later the Diet resolved to establish a new, representative Parliament Building, expressing the sovereignty of the nation. The building was planned to face the river. An international competition was held, and Imre Steindl emerged as the victor; the plans of two other competitors were later also realized in the form of the Ethnographic Museum and the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture, both facing the Parliament Building. Construction from the winning plan was started in 1885 and the building was inaugurated on the 1000th anniversary of the country in 1896. It was completed in 1904. (The architect of the building went blind before its completion.) About 100 000 people were involved in construction, during which 40 million bricks, half a million precious stones and 40 kilograms (88 lb) of gold were used. Since World War II the legislature became unicameral and today the government uses only a small portion of the building. During the People's Republic of Hungary a red star perched on the top of the dome, but it was removed in 1990. Mátyás Szűrös declared the Hungarian Republic from the balcony facing Kossuth Lajos Square on 23 October 1989.

Also seeing many of the cruise ships heading towards Amsterdam going past our little tour boat at a rate of knots....
We finished the cruise say farewell again to the couple we keep running into.....

So having been and seen, we wandered back towards the basilica again to get the night tour on the hop on hop off bus... as we go we finally make it to a park area, so stopping in the park where 100’s were relaxing feet in a pool, laying on the grass or sitting in one if the many bars along the route through the park, plus there was the big Ferris wheel Budapest Eye... we spot a doner kebab shop and being after 7pm get this sit on a set in the park and watch the world go by.... at last we catch the bus... and yep basically do the same tour as today, well same commentary, they did take us back up to the Citadel and yes worth it for the views of Budapest by night light.... down to the lower part and we do get taken a different route back along the Danube the back streets in the West side then back across the Margaret Bridge eventually back to point A.... it wasn’t too bad but did get quite cold towards the later part of the day... it took over1 1/2hrs so not bad... by now we were totally stuffed but had to walk quite a distance home... mentally and physically tied once home bath and bed another massive day....Read more