Well I had a fairly relaxed day for my last day in Budapest. Caught up on my sleep, did some laundry but the highlight was the tour of Parliament.
But before heading over to Parliament, I stopped by the fanciest cafe in town. But of course I’ll share some history first!
In the late 19th century, the cafe culture boomed in Budapest just like it did in Paris and Vienna. By 1900, Budapest had more than 600 cafes. This allowed folks to escape their tiny flats and not have to heat their homes during the day but rather enjoy warmth, companionship and a cup of coffee. Realizing these neighborhood living rooms were breeding grounds for dissidents, the communists closed the cafes or turned them into eszpresszos with uncomfortable stools instead of chairs. Luckily today nostalgia is bringing back the cafes both as a place to get coffee and food, and as a social institution.
The grandest of them all is the New York Cafe which is where I visited. Originally built in 1894 as part of the “New York Palace” (and it really is palatial) it was neglected for decades but then some Italian investors (gotta love those Italians!) completely restored it in 2006. You can’t get the full breadth of it from the pics but it is a sight to see. It’s pretty pricey so I just ducked in and took some pics. Don’t worry I had some fun dessert later in the day after the Parliament tour.
Speaking of Parliament, it was built from 1885 to 1902 and inspired by it’s counterpart in London (where the architect studied). The interior is decorated with 84 pounds of gold! It also holds the Hungarian Crown (you can see a pic with the guards standing around the glass case – they wouldn’t let us take close up pics). The crown symbolizes the Hungarian sovereignty and is the original one Pope Sylvester II sent to Hungary to crown Istvan on Christmas Day in the year 1000. Since then the crown has been hidden, stolen, lost and found again. The crown actually spent time in Fort Knox, Kentucky where the US government kept it safe between the end of World War II and 1978. One cool thing I got to see was the “changing of the guard” for the crown. Every hour, they go thru this routine shouting stuff in Hungarian and having the guards switch off and march around. Unique thing to get to see but they didn’t allow pics.
I shared some pics from the hallways and the Parliament chamber where they vote. Very impressive inside and out. I also included a pic from the building across the street with a chariot on top which is their Supreme Court building. I thought it was an impressive building too.
Well that’s all from Budapest. I really enjoyed my time here and hope to come back some day.
Tomorrow I’m off to my 4th country on this trip which is Slovakia. I’ll be staying for two nights in Bratislava, the Capitol. I had heard about it thru Rick Steves (who else!) but also using it as a stop between Budapest and Vienna.
Hope everybody had a Happy Hump Day!
Jeff
PS: I try to keep up with the news and heard there’s another hurricane hitting the US. Praying for the people in Panama City as well as everyone in the path, especially all of you in the Carolinas. Be safe!
The Wandering Italian 