Bought an all day transport pass, and took to the subway to get places. Good service, every 3 or 4 minutes; but noisy and the stations are very poorly signed. Takes a bit to work out if you are on the correct platform. Anyway, first stop was the Catholic Cathedral – St Stephen’s Basilica. Named after St Stephen, King of Hungary (around 1000AD). They’ve got his arm on show somewhere but I gave that a miss. It is a huge church, and certainly from the balcony that runs around the outside of the dome, you get wonderful 360’ views of the city (which on the Pest side is perfectly flat). As you tour around, you have to keep putting your hand in your pocket for admission fees: $5 – $10 mostly. At the basilica, a fee to see the treasury, another to go up the dome.
I used my hop on-hop off bus ticket to get across the river the the castle area. Wandered around there for a while. The main attraction is the Matthias church. Named after King Matthias who had it rebuilt for his wedding. Several coronations held there too. Mostly under plastic sheeting at the moment as it undergoes extensive renovation: but they still charge full price to go in!
Mid afternoon, I took a ride on the Danube. Up and down the main city drag, about an hour in all. Gives a slightly different perspective: lots of very elaborate palace type buildings line the river.
Went back to the basilica for the vigil mass at 6pm. Felt sorry for the enthusiastic choir master who tried to get us all singing Hungarian hymns with gusto .. I suspect 80% of the congregation were foreigners like me! Then subway back to hotel area. It had come up very windy and spitting rain, so had to find a cafe that had indoor seating. Piglet chops and grill veg was the menu item that took my fancy.
So that was my last taste of Hungarian cuisine … I’m still hankering for bacon and eggs!
Today’s photos not all that exciting, but anyway here they are.
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