House Sitting Budapest, Hungary
September 10-30, 2013
Another amazing adventure has begun! We are back in Europe and are house sitting a lovely home in the city of Budapest, Hungary and caring for 2 dogs named Murphy and Grover and a cat named Zoe. We are located on the "Buda" side of Budapest which is more green and suburban. The "Pest" side (across the river) is where the main city centre is contained. Budapest has a magnetic quality....Its a big city yet friendly, peaceful and bustling, it treasures the old and embraces the new. Here, historic blends with the modern, and the green hills harmonize with the famous Danube river which flows 28 kilometers through the city. Its fun to be back in a challenging environment, learning about a new culture and stumbling our way through a new language!
The House and Pets
Castle Hill, Buda Side
On the Buda side, there is an area known as Castle Hill towering above the Danube river with grand and sweeping views across the the Pest side of the city. It also contains the main attractions of this part of the city and includes the Royal Palace, Matthias Church and the Fishermans Bastion.
The Royal Palace
It was unfortunately closed off for a wine festival this day so we were unable to walk the grounds.
Mathhias Church
One of Budapest's best church's has been destroyed and rebuilt several times in 800 years.
Fishermans Bastion
This somewhat fantasy structure has great views over the Danube river. In the middle ages, this part of the city contained the fish market and was once guarded by fishermen, hence the name. The current structure is a tribute to the Mygar
tribes that inhabited the area.
Parliment and Lepold Town, Pest Side
On the Pest side of the river, the Hungarian Parliment Building dominates the skyline. We started our walk here and toured the nearby squares and other buildings.
Hungarian Parliment Building
Liberty Square
To commemorate the Soviets forcing the Nazis out of Hungary but then later, the Soviets oppressed the Hungarians, leaving this a controversial memorial.
St. Istvan's Church
Budapest's largest Christian church.
City Centre, Pest Side
This is the gritty urban heart of Budapest and is both the most beautiful and transitional part of the city. We really enjoyed the diversity and had a great day walking and experiencing all it had to offer.
Gerbeaud Cafe
A very fancy bakery shop where between the world wars, well-to-do ladies would meet for a coffee and goodie.
Vaci Utca
Is a pedestrian walking street. It was once "the" place for locals to strut their stuff, today is the place where tourists go...Its lined with top end shops.
The Great Market Hall
A 3 floor indoor market selling a variety of local food items. We tried a Hungarian snack called "Langos" (langosh). Like an elephant ear topped with sour cream and cheese. Yummy!
Heroes Square and City Park, Pest Side
The Last section of the city to explore was this area centred around one of the nicest streets in Budapest called Andrassy Blvd. We first stopped at a museum that explained Hungary's history during WWII and after 3 hours of heavy information in the museum, continued to stroll Andrassy Blvd to Heroes Square.
House of Terror
The House of Terror is a museum and is the exact buidling that was once the headquarters for the Nazis and then later for the Soviets. During WWII, Hungary inially allied with Hitler and tiptoed between supporting the Nazis and charting its own course whenever possible. In 1944, Hitler finally got fed up and sent in its government to occupy Hungary and began exterminating Budapest's Jews. A year later, the Soviets "liberated" Budapest by driving out the Nazis but Hungary simply went from the Nazis frying pan into the Soviet fire . Under Soviet communist rule, Hungary again fell to years of being terrorized, horrible conditions and murder.
Heroes Square
A memorial of the "who's who" of Hungary's history.
Szechenyi Medicinal Baths, Pest Side
The Szechenyi Baths is largest medicinal bath complex in Europe. Built in 1913, it contains 3 large outdoor pools, 15 indoor baths and hot tubs, steam rooms, saunas's and a gym. The water is supplied by two thermal springs and temperatures are a comfortable range from 27-38 degrees celcius. We had a fun afternoon swimming and lounging and trying out all the different pools!