Budapest Diaries - Saint Stephen's Basilica, Andrássy Út, and City Park

My third day in Budapest started early, and I went north to take a tour of Saint Stephen's Basilica. Saint Stephen was the first king of Hungary and generally considered to be the founder of modern Hungary. The Basilica is always on the top list of things to see in Budapest and rightfully so. It's a pretty incredible building, with really ornate ceilings, columns, frescoes, and altars. In addition, entry into the basilica is free although you do have to pay if you want to go up to the tower. It is tied with the Parliament building for being the tallest in Budapest at 96m, which is a reference to the millennium of the founding of the Kingdom of Hungary in 896. The building took an astounding 54 years to complete, in large part due to the collapse of the dome which required the builders to tear down the rest of the building and start over again. Besides all of the other stuff it contains, the Basilica also holds the right hand of Saint Stephen which has quite a story itself, which you can read about here. I tried to get a good picture of it for you but the reliquary is kind of dark. After snapping some photos of Budapest from the dome I headed back down to take a walk up Andrássy Út, probably the most famous street in Budapest.

First I had to stop back at the hotel to get a replacement photo card and batteries, which turned out to be a wise decision. On the way I stopped to take a look at the Dohány Street Synagogue (more commonly known as the Great Synagogue) as well as the Memorial of the Hungarian Jewish Martyrs which commemorates the some 600,000 Hungarian Jews killed by the Nazis and the Arrow Cross Party. Andrássy Út is a very pleasant street to stroll down, with a lot of trees and gorgeous buildings, such as the Hungarian State Opera House.

The one building I actually went inside was the House of Terror, which sounds like a cheesy amusement ride but is actually a really great museum detailing the former occupants of the building at 60 Andrássy Boulevard: both Ferenc Szálasi and the Arrow Cross Party, as well as the dreaded ÁVH (State Protection Authority, known as the PRO and the ÁVO at other times). Unfortunately they do not allow cameras in the building because they really had some great exhibits (heck, they even had a pretty good soundtrack). If you listened to and read and saw everything there is in here you could be here for a whole day. I have to admit I didn't know much about the Arrow Cross Party or Hungary's participation in World War II. I didn't know much about the Communist government there either, although their story is unfortunately similar to other countries under Soviet domination. The museum itself is not without controversy. There are number of critics who think that it puts too much emphasis on foreign occupiers rather than the role that Hungarians played, and that the museum itself is a swipe at current socialist parties. Having seen it, I tend to agree with the former and not really with the later, but perhaps I am not the one to ask.

Next it was on to Heroes' Square and the Millinery Monument. Definitely the most impressive monument in Budapest, I would place it on par with the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. It has two arcades with fourteen statues representing fourteen important leaders in Hungary's history. And yes before you ask I took pictures of each of them individually, just for you. The statues on top of the arcades represent Work & Welfare, War, Peace, and Knowledge & Glory. At the top of the Corinthian column is the Archangel Gabriel, and at its base are Árpád and the seven chieftains of the Hungarian tribes, who settled their people in the present territory of Hungary. In front of the column lies the tomb of the unknown soldier. All in all, its a pretty awesome site.

Beyond Heroes' Square lied City Park, which beyond offering shade on another scorching day has a number of attractions to see. Vajdahunyad Castle houses the Hungarian Agricultural Museum, and it seemed like there were about three weddings going on at the nearby Ják Chapel. Then there is the Statue of Anonymous close by, as well as a statue of George Washington built by Hungarian-Americans. Besides a couple amusement parks the Széchenyi Thermal Baths are here (which I went to on Monday). At this point in the day I was pretty tired, so I did what anyone else would do - I went to the zoo.

The City Zoo and Botanical Garden was a pretty good trip, although most of the animals looked as tired as I felt. Besides wanted to punch a few people (not to mention unidentified members of the zoo staff) for feeding the hippos a whole bunch of bread it was a pretty good trip. They had a closed building which housed a whole bunch of tamarins that climbed around only a couple feet from you (I assume tamarins must not be known for throwing their feces at people), as well as a sloth who was either on vacation or doing a very good job blending in. After strolling around and seeing the animals it was time to call it a night, and I trekked back to home to get some rest for yet another day of adventure.