I had almost completed this day and lost the lot. As time is running out as we leave for home in three days, I'll post it now for the photos and rewrite it all later


We spent the morning cruising the river into Budapest where we arrived just after lunch. The captain took us up through the city so that we could see (that means photograph) all the major landmarks. The plan was to dock in the middle of town, take a bus tour of the city, return to the ship for dinner and then after dark, cruise up the river to our mooring for the night. This would allow us to see the Parliament and other major buildings all lit up.

Talk about a jam packed afternoon. After some days when we thought they were grasping at straws to show us something interesting in the Baltic states, just 4 hours in Budapest and we werre salivating .... no, not for the 7 course farewell dinner.

We started with a drive through the city to identify the main buildings, boulevards and sites before stopping at Heros Square ( or circle or rectangle). I don't know that we say many Hungarians in our three days in Budapest. Apart from the people at the Turkish Bath and waiters/waitresses. Most of the city seemed to be occupied by tourists. Our bus parked among dozens of them to the side of the square and we joined hundreds of tourists in the square, all fighting to get photographs without everything swarming with tourists. Adjoing the square is a large parland that contains both the



Millennium Monument
At the front of the monument is a large stone cenotaph surrounded by an ornamental iron chain. The cenotaph is dedicated "To the memory of the heroes who gave their lives for the freedom of our people and our national independence." While some guide books refer to this as a "tomb" it is not a burial place.

The back of the monument consists of two matched colonnades, each with seven
statues representing great figures of Hungarian history. This is a list of the statesmen who are portrayed by the sculptures in the semi-circular arcades of the monument. The topic of the relief below each figure is given below the name.

Statues of the Column
Directly behind the cenotaph is a column topped by a statue of the archangel Gabriel. In his right hand the angel holds the Holy Crown of St. Stephen (Istvan), the first king of Hungary.
In his left hand the angel holds a two barred apostolic cross, a symbol awarded to St. Stephen by the Pope in recognition of his efforts to convert Hungary to Christianity. In Hungarian it is referred to as the double cross or the apostolic double cross.

At the base of the column is a group of seven mounted figures representing the Magyar
chieftains who led the Hungarian people into the Carpathian basin. In the front is Árpád, considered the founder of the Hungarian nation. Behind him are the chieftains Előd, Ond, Kond, Tas, Huba, and Töhötöm (Tétény). Little survives in the historical record about these individuals and both their costumes and their horses are considered to be more fanciful than historically accurate.

Statues of the left colonnade Topping the outer edge of the left colonnade is a statue of a man with a scythe and a woman sowing seed, representing Labor and Wealth. At the inner top edge of the left colonnade is a male figure driving a chariot using a snake as a whip representing War.

Stephen I of Hungary St. Stephen receives the crown from an emissary of the Pope
Ladislaus I of Hungary St. Ladislaus slays the Cumanian abductor
Coloman of Hungary Coloman prohibits the burning of witches
Andrew II of Hungary Andrewleads a crusade-
Béla IV of Hungary Béla rebuilds the country after the Mongol invasion·
Charles I of Hungary Ladislaus IV defeats Ottogar at the battle of Marchfeld

Louis I of Hungary

Louis
the Great occupies Naples

Statues
of the right colonnade

On the
facing end of the right colonnade is a female figure in a chariot holding a
palm frond representing Peace. In the corresponding position on the top of
right colonnade is a statue of a man holding a little golden statue and a woman
with a palm frond representing Knowledge and Glory.

·
John Hunyadi

The Siege of Belgrade
(1456)

·
Matthias Corvinus

Matthias
with his scholars

·
István Bocskay

Hajdú
soldiers defeat the imperial forces

·
Gabriel Bethlen

Bethlen
concludes a treaty with Bohemia

·
Imre Thököly

The battle of Szikszó

·
Francis II Rákóczi

Rákóczi
returns from Poland

·
Lajos Kossuth

Kossuth
rallies the peasants of the Great Plain

Matthias Church was built in 1255 century alongTrinity Square, in the heart of the Castle District, and was Buda's first parish church. However, the original church structure changed many times as it was constantly being renovated and refashioned in the popular architectural style of each era.

The church takes its more common name from King Matthias, who ruled from 1458-90, well-known as a patron of the arts and enlightenment and revered for reconstructing the Hungarian state after years upon years of feudal anarchy.





Fall into Decay In 1541, when the Turks captured Buda, The Church of Our Lady became a mosque. The ruling regime shipped precious ecclesiastical treasures off to Bratislava and, appallingly, whitewashed over the ornate frescoes that graced the walls of the church. Beautiful interior furnishings were stripped out and discarded.



The church was ravaged during the liberation of Budapest from the Turks in 1686. The story goes that during the bombardment of Budapest by a European alliance, a wall of the church collapsed, revealing a sculpture of the Madonna to the praying Turks. Demoralized, they capitulated the following day.

The new occupants, the Jesuits, made attempts to restore the church in the popular Baroque style of the era. Most consider the attempts a failure.





Reconstruction In the late nineteenth century, architect Frigyes Schulek is credited with largely restoring St. Matthias Church to its original splendor. Schulek, who also built the nearby Fisherman's Bastion, adhered to the original thirteenth-century plans for the church and also uncovered a number of original Gothic elements lost for centuries. He added magnificent diamond patterned roof tiles and gargoyles, which visitors can still admire today. The reconstruction was completed in 1896.





Exterior Very little remains of the original church, only the foundations, columns and some walls date back to the thirteenth century.

The smallest tower is known as the Béla Tower and is named after the founder of the church, king Béla IV, under whose reign the church was built. Its roof is decorated with colorful Maiolica tiles. The main portal is decorated with bas-reliefs created by Lajos Lantai. Above the portal is a large neo-Gothic rose window, an exact replica of the original window.

The tallest tower is the Matthias-tower, originally built in the fifteenth century and named after the ruler of that era, King Matthias Corvinus. His coat of arms, emblazoned with a raven (corvus in Latin), is shown inside the church. Visitors enter the church via the Mary Portal, which is decorated with an exquisite Gothic relief, painstakingly reconstructed by Frigyes from original pieces.





Interior The interior of the Matthias Church is magnificently decorated with colorful patterns and motifs that were found on original stone fragments. The frescoes on the wall were created by the two most important historical painters of the era, Bertalan Székely and Károly Lotz. They were also responsible for the magnificent stained glass windows.

One of the highlights inside is the main altar, decorated with a neo-Gothic Triptych. The Loreto Chapel, beneath the South Tower, holds the statue of the Baroque Madonna, a replica of the original in the Italian village of Loreto.

The most magnificent monument in the church is the double sarcophagus of king Béla III and his wife Anne de Châtillon in the Trinity Chapel. The twelfth-century king was originally buried in Székesfehérvár; in 1848 archaeologists found his remains in the city's ruined cathedral and transported it to the Matthias Church in 1860.

The Fisherman's Bastion was built at the site of an old rampart that, during the Middle Ages, was defended by the guild of fishermen, who lived nearby in Vízívaros (watertown), at the foot of the hill. Thus the name of the bastion. An old fish market also sat at this location during medieval times.

Designed by architect Frigyes Schulek and built between 1899 and 1905, the white-stoned Fisherman's Bastion is a combination of neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque architecture and consists of turrets, projections, parapets, and climbing stairways.

The bastion is made up of seven towers - each one symbolizing one of the seven Magyar tribes that, in 896, settled in the area now known as Hungary. The structure looks straight out of some fairy-tale and conjures up thoughts of Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty. Still, it seems to be in sync with the style of the Church of Our Lady and nicely complements the church, which was the intention of the architect.

A monumental double stairway, decorated with reliefs of coats-of-arms and various motifs, connects the bastion with the streets below.





Most visitors consider the view from Fisherman's Bastion to be one of the best in the city, only equalled by those from Gellért Hill and the Buda Castle. From atop the structure, you have a splendid view of the Danube river and over Pest.

You can see as far as Margaret Islandand you can clearly see landmark buildings such as St Stephen's Basilica, the Parliament, the Academy of Sciences, Gresham Palace, and, in the distance, the Inner City Parish Church. You'll also catch a glimpse of theMargaret Bridge and the famous Chain Bridge.

The Trabant /trəˈbɑːnt/ is a car that was produced by former East German auto maker VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau in Zwickau, Saxony. It was the most common vehicle in East Germany, and was also exported to countries both inside and outside the Eastern Bloc. It was advertised as having room for four adults and luggage in a compact and durable shell; and being relatively fast.

Due to its outdated and inefficient two-stroke engine (which produced poor fuel economy compared to its low power output and thick, smoky exhaust), and production shortages, the Trabant was regarded with derisive affection as a symbol of the extinct former East Germany and of the fall of the Eastern Bloc. This is due to the fact that in former West Germany, many East Germans streamed into West Berlin and West Germany in their Trabants after the opening of the Berlin Wall in 1989. It was produced for nearly 30 years with almost no significant changes; 3,096,099 Trabants were produced in total.[3] In Western nations, the Trabant's shortcomings are often written about for comedic effect. However, older models of the car have become popular imports among collectors in the US due to their low cost and easier import restrictions on antique vehicles. There are also clubs in Germany and elsewhere that heavily modify the cars with artistic paint schemes, additional mechanicals, modifications to the body and suspension, etc., as well as several instances of the cars being used for rally racing and other motorsport.

Vilmos Ruszwurm with the Tóth couple, who were already owners, in 1928.The items of furniture and equipment, declared to be protected, can be regarded as the most important confectionery complex in the country. Despite the major damage to the building itself, the internal equipment miraculously survived the siege in 1849 and 1944.
Behind the counter, made of cherry wood with mahogany inlay and a little door in the middle, it seems that the door in a wooden column frame leads into the romantic world of Buda in the olden days. There are glass cabinets on either side, with glittering table ornaments inside as well as with knick-knacks of the confectionery industry from over the past 50 years, including hundreds of various artistic figures: a girl playing the guitar; a teenage girl with a small hat on; porcelain sugar holders; a couple on a box that used to contain candies; a woman in a bride's veil; a respectable gentleman in tuxedo; bishops with sweets under their high cap, with a red flag in their hands and a prayer book under their arms; pretty horses whose neck can be taken off to offer candies from their belly; Easter eggs, angels on golden boxes. You can see female figures opposite the entrance, sunrays flash out around the face of the clock above the door, and at the top an eagle is standing the test of time.