We slept well in our spacious apartment, but conscious that overnight the heavens opened and it rained quite consistently. As the morning dawned, it showed every sign of being a very wet day for our sightseeing on the Buda side of the river in the great city of Budapest. After our usual breakfast we made plans for the day. We would walk to the Danube, cross by the historic ‘Chain’ Bridge, and then climb the hill upon which has stood the great castle on what is called ‘Castle Hill’. Our apartment is superb. The owner cannot do enough for us. He has supplied slippers for us to wear indoors, and even umbrellas for us to use for weather such as today. He is an amazing fellow.
We hit the wet streets about 10:30am and headed through the narrow streets to the Danube. We stumbled upon this Memorial Service which was being held at a small cenotaph by the river. The military was in attendance. It looked and felt like any Commemorative service for Anzac Day in Australia. The crowd was small but not lacking in dignitaries. We were not able to work out what it was in aid of, unless it was a delayed service for the 23 October events of 1956 when Hungary revolted against the Soviet oppression. Even we could feel the emotion as the soldiers came to attention, and the Hungarian national anthem was played.
The Chain Bridge was opened in 1849, a massive undertaking for that era. The distance across the Danube would equal that spanned by our Sydney Harbour Bridge if not more. Today it carries four lanes of traffic plus pedestrian/cycle ways on both sides. It is a spectacular landmark on the Budapest city scape, and is a masterpiece of architecture and engineering especially for its timing in history before any kind of motorized transport.
From the bridge, the views up and down the river and to both banks would have been even more superb on a good sunny. As it was, we got great views of the Hungarian Parliament House on the Pest side, and especially the great castle on the Buda side, our destination for today. There was a good stream of people making their way in the same direction, and queuing for the steep tram lift up the side of the small mountain. It would be bedlam in normal tourist season.
We decided on the walk, which curved its way gradually through lovely parkland, giving fabulous views of the river and the bridge in particular. The park was beautiful, with that typical carpet of golden leaves making the walk a sheer delight, something those who simply caught the tram would miss entirely. We paused for views back over the Danube, the bridge and the city before eventually getting to the top and entering what was the original village that developed around the castle.
Perched at the top overlooking the entire city was the beautiful bronze statue of the Tural bird (not an eagle) holding the sword in its claws. According to Hungarian mythology, the bird appeared in a dream to the wife of the Magyar leader, Ugyek, telling her she would be the founding mother of a new nation. Apparently the story goes that where the Tural bird dropped the sword, was the place where the people were to settle.
Perched on top of Castle hill is not just a magnificently sprawling castle, but an entire community not unlike most villages we have seen. Narrow cobbled streets revealed coffee shops and stores of all kinds appealing these days more to tourists. It was just beyond comprehension how all the stone could have been carted up the hill for the enormity of not just the castle but the entire settlement.
St Matthias’s church stood out in all its beauty. Built presumably in the 15th century it was named after the very popular King Matyas, whose two weddings were held in the church. Although we didn’t go inside (we were ‘churched out’) we understand it is typically beautiful. The roof tiling was enough for us to admire.
We were really interested in the Labyrinth, an amazing system of underground tunnels dug into the sheer rock, which started as cellars under individual houses over the centuries. These cellars gradually began to be linked by adjoining tunnels which today is a complex labyrinth of tunnels some 16metres underground winding under the village for a distance of some 4km . The series of underground tunnels were put to effective use by the Nazi military command in WW2, and was also used partly as a ‘Hospital in the rock’ being protected by overhead bombing. We explored the first part of the Labyrinth despite the very eerie feeling of descending deeply by a steep stairway into the very enclosed underground of the rock tunnels.
We eventually emerged looking for a coffee shop. We enjoy the daily coffee experience, although we have never really conquered the challenge of telling the waiter that we just want a plain coffee of a descent quantity. However, a hot coffee on a cold wet day is something we should never complain about. We wandered through the vast castle, impressed by its sheer size, impressed again and again at the ability of mankind all those centuries ago to get this much rock and large slabs of marble and materials up the height and distance to be able to build such a magnificent building which is almost as large as any typical small suburb. The castle was started in the 13th century and like most of these things, was expanded by the various Kings that followed over the years to its present grand state. It came to be regarded as one of the great palaces of Europe.
We discovered these great cyclists outside the Hungarian National Gallery within the walls of the great castle. It was featuring an exhibition on the Olympics, with the theme 'Faster, Higher, Stronger'. The sight of the cyclists monument inspired the cyclists amongst our group. Some people never grow up!
Our legs were feeling the strain, but we had one more objective – the famous Budapest Food Hall which was a 2-3k walk back along the Danube, past the bridge over which we entered on arrival, and one further bridge that would land us outside the Food Hall on the Pest side. On the way we passed under what we now know to be the Gellert Monument which featured in our arrival photo.
Gellert was an 11th century Benedictine Abbot on his way to Palestine, but was engaged by Hungary’s first King Stephen to tutor his son, but also to teach his Christian religion to the heathen Magyars who populated the area. The Bishop rose to the challenge, stayed and goes down in history as the one who introduced Christianity to Hungary. Tradition has it that after King Stephen’s death, Bishop Gellert lost his popularity, and was put to death by being put in a barrel and thrown off the top of the hill above where the bronze statue in his honour now stands. As you enter as we did over the bridge spanning the Danube from Buda to Pest, you pass under the massive statue on the hillside of Bishop Gellert with arms outstretched as if giving his blessing over the city.
The Food Hall was a lovely experience. Being late in the day most stalls were closing down. It occupies three floors of a massive restored factory type building near the Danube. We explored a few of the vegetable stalls, resplendent in a vast array of beautiful produce. Julie especially loves ogling at the selection of salamis and other exotic sausages.
However, when it became obvious that our time was limited we searched like hungry barbarians for the ‘fast food’ stalls where we would have been shattered if we were not able to experience the famous Hungarian culinary delight of the ‘Cabbage Roll’. It doesn’t sound that exciting, but it has been around Hungary since the rule of the Ottomans way back in the 16th and 17th centuries. I must admit I was expecting a bread roll filled with cabbage, so was quite surprised when we were dished up a massive plate full of stewed cabbage with the biggest ‘dim sim’ looking roll of cooked rice and a selection of other unknown ingredients all wrapped in solid cabbage leaves. Of course it had to be drowned in sour cream, which the very large and very jolly shop assistant urged upon us. We ordered two for the three of us, and struggled through it even then.
However, when it became obvious that our time was limited we searched like hungry barbarians for the ‘fast food’ stalls where we would have been shattered if we were not able to experience the famous Hungarian culinary delight of the ‘Cabbage Roll’. It doesn’t sound that exciting, but it has been around Hungary since the rule of the Ottomans way back in the 16th and 17th centuries. I must admit I was expecting a bread roll filled with cabbage, so was quite surprised when we were dished up a massive plate full of stewed cabbage with the biggest ‘dim sim’ looking roll of cooked rice and a selection of other unknown ingredients all wrapped in solid cabbage leaves. Of course it had to be drowned in sour cream, which the very large and very jolly shop assistant urged upon us. We ordered two for the three of us, and struggled through it even then.
We enjoyed the final walk through the streets of Budapest. The rain had stopped but more was promised. The weather forecast is for more of the same. In fact as we prepared for bed it was snowing in Prague, promising temperatures in the minus 1-4’s for our stay!
Reflecting on a great day, we were filled with the enormous blessing of the experience of being in Budapest. When we stood on the castle wall overlooking the Danube and the city, we marveled at the unique privilege which was ours to know that we actually peddled our bikes all the way along the Danube and into the great city of Budapest. I was however, somewhat shocked when reading about the life and the probable sad end of the life of the Benedictine Abbot, Bishop Gellert. He served his people with a good heart in his noble calling to bring the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to Hungary and in particular Budapest. To be eventually pressed into a barrel and rolled to his death off the cliff overlooking the otherwise beautiful Danube, seems one of the great injustices for a man who only otherwise intended good with his life.
It reminds me though of the words of Jesus to his disciples in the hours before his crucifixion. Walking through the Garden of Gethsemane on the mount of Olives on the eve of his arrest, Jesus reflected on his situation for the benefit of those who were his followers. His life was only intended for good but which for him included the humiliation of his own death upon the cross by crucifixion. Perhaps Bishop Gellert reflected in similar vein as Jesus did in those crucial hours before. Jesus said “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends….” (John 15:13).
As we rest tonight with the sight of the statue of Bishop Gellert with his outstretched arms raised in blessing over the city of Budapest, we rest in the knowledge that the one who gave his life willingly as an act of love for his friends still looks over us all.
With love from the banks of the Danube, Budapest……Kelvin, Julie and Sarah-Jane
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