Today we are heading up to the Fisherman's Bastion and Matthias's Church. (Note - I may have referred to the church as St. Matthias, turns out it's just Matthias. No saint.)
But first, the Hungarian money (the Forint) in a certain order, looks like the progression of epic facial hair.
We went out to one of the main streets to catch a Hop-on Hop-off bus that would get us to the Fisherman's Bastion. It was another chilly and foggy day.
Our first close up of the Fisherman's Bastion from the bus.
We decided we didn't want to climb up all the stairs on this side, so rode the bus farther up the hill.
This area, known as the Castle District or Castle Hill, is very quaint.
Matthias church reaching into the clouds.
The Fisherman's Bastion (Halászbástya) was pretty crowded despite the weather.
I can't imagine what this place is like during tourist season and warm weather.
It was not easy to get ALL of Matthias church into one photo. I never succeeded.
That's Stephen the First of Hungary. More on him later.
The Fisherman's Bastion was built at the end of the 19th century.
Parliament in the fog!
Sherrie didn't like the pigeon on Stephen the First. I found it amusing.
I think it kind of looks like a sand castle.
This is apparently the best hangout spot for pigeons.
Dan made me be in a photo.
The Chain Bridge in the fog.
There were a lot of stairs up to the Fisherman's Bastion. We did not want to take them.
All the people.
This door was so little. Dan is a giant!
A photo of Jim taking a photo of Sherrie.
There is, unfortunately, a very ugly modern hotel next to the Bastion and Matthias.
Okay, seriously. Sand castle.
There are seven towers that represent the seven original Magyar tribes (original Hungarians) that settle the Carpathian basin in 896.
Those stairs again.
If not a sand castle, maybe the original Disney castle.
Beautiful church, ugly hotel.
Sand castle gargoyle.
The Fisherman's Bastion gets its name from the guild of fisherman who were responsible for defending this area in the Middle Ages.
A Hungarian horseback archer.
We purchased tickets to tour Matthias Church, but it didn't open to the public for another hour.
So we decided to walk around the historic district.
Some more of the Bastion with Stephen.
I'm not sure what's going on with this building.
It has patches of the stone under structure showing through the stucco/plaster wall.
This is the remains of some old church. It may have something to do with Matthias, but I'm not sure.
At the end of the street is the Hungarian National Archives.
I don't know what this store was selling, but I really liked their funny little hedgehog.
Some fun and colorful buildings.
This is the Mary Magdalene tower. It's all that remains of a 13th century church.
In 1686 the Franciscan order in charge of the church, demolished it to make a new church.
I enjoyed the woodwork on this set of doors.
And now, a bit about Stephen the First. Stephen I is also know as Saint King Stephen because he reigned from 1000-1038 and he was canonized by Pope Gregory VII in 1083.
The church finally opened and it was phenomenal.
The church was originally built in 1015.
It was reconstructed in the late 14th century.
Pretty much every inch of the church is covered in painted decorations.
The ceiling here has the symbols of the four gospel writers. Starting at the bottom and going clockwise - a winged lion for Mark, an angel for Matthew, a winged bull for Luke, and an eagle for John.
So many decorations!
The view down the main aisle to the altar.
The church also had magnificent stained glass.
We've seen a lot of churches, but this one is fascinating for all its paintwork.
A side chapel full of Christmas trees.
This is King Béla III's tomb. Béla reigned Hungary and Croatia from 1172-1196.
He and his first wife, Ann Chantillon are buried here in the Trinity Chapel.
He, along with Saint King Stephen, are part of the Árpád Dynasty.
The paintings and glasswork were done by Bertalan Székely and Károly Lotz.
Under the tower is the small Loreto Chapel.
This statue of the Madonna is a replica of the one in Loreto, Italy.
The miraculous recapture of Buda in 1686 by the Christian Army is attributed to this statue.
Matthias's sacristy.
Ceilings covered in beautiful designs.
These are replicas of the Hungarian Royal Jewels. They were hidden away for safety during WWII.
Views from the first gallery.
More gorgeous stained glass.
The altar up close.
Here is a statue of Sisi, aka Elizabeth of Bavaria.
A close up of the stained glass behind the Sisi statue.
Apparently they REALLY liked Sisi. Here she is in a fresco of Franz Joseph's coronation.
Views from the second gallery.
Details of the decorations.
We had to leave the church at this point so we could make our appointment for climbing the South Tower. We had to climb something.....and the Bastion stairs had already been vetoed.
For a small fee, you could have your photo taken with a falcon.
There's a bit of a mix-up with the routes for climbing the tower and we had to climb up the down staircase. (Side note - Up the Down Staircase is a great book/play. Check it out sometime.) But we finally made it to the first level 16 meters high and then the second level at 34 meters high.
The second level houses the bells. The biggest one weighs 3.2 tons
We finally made it to the top at 76 meters.
Here is what you could see (above) and here is what we could see (below).
Here is what you could see (above) and here is what we could see (below).
Here is what you could see (above) and here is what we could see (below).
Even the roof is fun. Matthias church is named for King Matthias Corvinus.
Stephen the I and the Fisherman's Bastion.
This gentleman was playing a hurdy-gurdy.
And then we went off to find lunch.
After lunch we climbed DOWN all the Bastion steps.
It looks less sand castle-y from this side.
Parliament in the fog.
BAM! Parliament in the fog with lights!
We picked up the Hop-on Hop-off bus again, which took us over to the Citadel to get photos.
It's a good thing there are lights, or else the fog would have obscured everything.
The bus didn't go around again like we thought, so I made everyone go on the Budapest Eye.
So we got a view of the city.
And a look at the Eye's structure.
We were hungry again by this point, so we went to the first Christmas Market we found here (the Ninth) to get some street food. This was sausages in a bread cone. It was good, but messy.
Sherrie wanted one of the footlong...30 centimeter hotdogs.
Today is Sunday, so the last candle on the Advent wreath has been lit.
If you remember the one in Bratislava only three of the candles were lit.
This food truck sold cheeseburgers, but it's not what you think.
The main patty of the "burger" is a fried cheese patty, hence a cheese burger.
Another Advent wreath.
These cameleons were really cute. We ended up getting two for Dan's little cousin.
They're wooden bodies with wire legs and tails.
More chimney cakes!
And we had to get a photo in this chimney cake making cut out.
This concludes our adventures for today.
