Back To Budapest

I was asked to write a bit more about Budapest. Usually I like to let the photos speak but, of course, I can tell you some details about this old city.

• There are sculptors of lion on the both sides of the Chain Bridge. According to a story, the sculptor forgot to carve out the lions' tongues. A boy made a remark about it at the openingceremony. The sculptor became so distressed that he jumped off the bridge into the Danube.

• While walking in Budapest you can see cobblestone-size concrete cubes bearing a brass plate with a name and life dates on the streets. These are called Stolpersteines. They are placed in front of the houses where an individual person was living just before she or he fell victim to Nazi terror. Stolpersteines commemorate Jewish victims of the Holocaust.

• There are 23 districts in Budapest. The Castle District on Buda side  is #1 and the very centre of the city on Pest side is #5. Each district has its own municipal government. Btw, I live in the 6th district, which is also on Pest side.  

• The first royal residence on the Castle Hill was built between 1247 and 1255. The history of the castle has been pretty colourful. The palace was rebuilt (once again) between 1850 and 1856 during the era of Franz Joseph and it became a Neoclassical Baroque building. The Austro-Hungarian empress Elisabeth (Sissi) loved to stay in this castle while in Budapest. During the World War II heavy fights and artillery fire rendered the palace into ruins. all the furniture vanished, roots and vaults collapsed, and the southern and western wings were burned out. The reconstruction started after the war, but it's not marvellous inside any more. Nowadays the Hungarian National Gallery and Budapest History Museum are both located in the building.

• Pest side is flat as a prairie. It's busy, buzzing and bourgeois with an assortment of bars, cafes and gourmet restaurants. 

• The parliament of Hungary is the world's third largest parlament building. It represents Neo-gothic style and was built between 1885 and 1904.

Is there something else you would like to know about Budapest?