Walk G: 12km; total: 48km
Walk W: 15km; total: 47km
First visit today was to the Buda Castle precinct. We knew we could not get into the Castle but could walk the grounds and garden. The transport ticket we bought included a free ride on the Buda Castle bus, however, we elected to walk up the 105 odd steps located right next to the funicular (that you could pay extra to use) because the bus only started at 9am and we were there well before that; got the blood pumping anyway. The castle gardens have only recently been renovated with a sculpture park added and everything was very nice with manicured lawns and flower beds.
We wanted to visit the Hungarian National Gallery, however, their opening times have changed so we were about three hours too early. We will go back another day.
Back down to river level (well not quite), over the chain bridge to Parliament House. Wow, what a structure that is; it is huge. After photographing the outside from many angles, (there’s a two week waiting list to tour inside) we caught our first free public transport from Parliament to The Ludwig Museum. We didn’t really want to see it, but because entry was included in the transport ticket, we went inside and pretended we were interested. It is a museum of Contemporary/Modern Art, so perhaps that is why it didn’t appeal to Wendy. We sat in their outside dining area and consumed our lunch before moving over the road to the Ziggurat, a circular stepped tower. They were first attested in the late third millennium BC and probably inspired by the biblical story of the Tower of Babel. The views from the top were expansive.
We then walked through the gardens adjacent the The Memorial of the Old National Theatre, and the new National Theatre. There was a sunken architecture display and some sculptures of well known Hungarians.
We were staring to feel a bit weary by this stage so found the nearest tram stop, waited a few minutes and jumped on. After one change we were back in the city and made a stop at the Hungarian National Museum that has some of the most spectacular painted ceilings we’ve seen. There was the usual stuff you’d find in a museum, so Wendy was not that impressed, and after a while left Greg to do his thing and waited downstairs. A 2km walk home finished off the morning.
After a long’ish rest we ventured out again and caught the #41 tram to get to the Memento Park - Statues from the Communist Dictatorship. Unfortunately, we missed the stop we needed to connect to the bus to take us to the Park. Oh, well, we had a nice tram rise through the ‘burbs of Budapest to the end of the line and back again. Dinner was had on our return.
A late night for us tonight, so hopefully we will be able to sleep past 5am.
Összhang
More pics and captions to follow ….. soon!
