If you've ever visited Budapest you'll know the city is scattered with monuments, statues and pretty, historic buildings. In the first part of my Budapest trip I explored the Castle District however today i'd like you to join me on a walking tour of the city's sights!
A great place to start is Gellert Hill and the Liberty statue that adorns it, looking out over the city. Standing at 14 meters and made of bronze, the statue commemorates the Hungarian lives lost in the war and remembers the Soviet Liberation of Hungary when the Nazi occupation ended. Just like in the Castle District, there is a steep hill to reach the statue but this takes no longer than fifteen to twenty minutes to scale...
The Liberty statue itself stands above another two statues holding a palm leaf to the sky.
From the height of the hill the views over Budapest are impressive even on a cold and grey day like this one.
The walk back down towards the city is home to another statue. This time of St Gellert- the hill's namesake. St Gellert was said to have converted the Magyars (the Hungarian population) to Christianity and legend has it that Pagans put him to death in this very spot by forcing him into a barrel then rolling him down the steep hill and into the river Danube below.
Walking back over the bridge and towards Pest you can see the Parliament building by the riverside- it was so pretty I couldn't help but make a beeline straight towards it,..
The building reminded me of a palace the Snow Queen may live in- it was something straight out of a Hans Christian Andersen fairytale and so, so pretty.
The sheer size of the building is difficult to comprehend from these photographs but trust me, it is HUGE. Just like in London there is a regular changing of the guards and every so often the guards on duty march in time in a circle before rearranging their guns. They do this quite frequently so the chances are that if you wait around for a little bit you'll catch them and this ceremony.
As we walked back towards the main part of the city we passed through Freedom Square, an area that had everything from stock exchange buildings and a statue of Ronald Reagan to more war memorials.
Interestingly I learnt of another memorial that had caused a lot of controversy in Budapest as it was thought by some to commemorate the Nazi rule and downplay Hungarian involvement in the Holocaust. It's official title is a memorial to the victims of the Nazi rule. The statue features an angel, representational of Hungary and the country's innocence and a demonic eagle swooping towards it. After the Prime Minister commissioned it, riots and protests ensued and they were still going strong when I visited myself.
Tributes to the Jewish people line the forefront of the statue making it a somewhat awkward place to visit as it is clear there are strong, mixed feelings towards the figure.
On a lighter note, as it got chillier outside we took to the nearest cafe to grab a hot chocolate and we definitely struck lucky! The Hungaricum Dessert Gallery is a small cafe specialising in all things chocolate- what more could a girl want?
The interior is not to my taste, with basic, minimal no-fuss furniture and no real theme however the products certainly make up for this! I opted for a deal that included a hot chocolate, slice of cake and two artisan chocolates for 1500 Hungarian forint- the equivalent of £3.51. There were around 15 cakes to choose from and well over 50 chocolates ranging from coconut, black forest and cookie to wasabi, chilli and quail egg. I spent SO long deciding on my chocolates but the waitress was lovely and didn't seem to mind at all. In terms of hot chocolate it was a case of white, milk or dark and then a menu of flavours to add. I opted for milk chocolate with orange and Oliver went for his standard dark chocolate and amaretto combination. Perfect for a winter day!
We strolled the streets towards the famous hot spring baths of Budapest and our hotel for the evening...
But not before stumbling across a statue of our William himself! As an English student I seem to have a knack of finding literary figures in different cities!
Have you ever been to Budapest? What is your favourite part of the city?
G x
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