Friday, 3 October. We had set this day aside to do a couple of things we hadn't done in 1998: tour the
inside of the Parliament and the Jewish Synagogue. However, Janet informed us that the Synagogue
would not be open to the public on Friday or Saturday because of the Sabbath. The group was going by
bus to a jewelry store and a small village in the morning, and we decided we would have time to do that
and still see the Parliament in the afternoon. It wasn't until later that we realized the village was Szentandre
(St. Andrew), the same village we had visited by boat in 1998 on a Danube Bend excursion.
The bus left the hotel at 9:00 and passed through Obuda (the third city included when Buda and Pest merged to become Budapest). This was the location of the old Roman town of Aquincum, established in 12 A.D. when the Danube here was the edge of the Roman Empire. We could see various Roman ruins from the bus.
The first stop was a huge jewelry store where we spent more than an hour. Since today was our 50th wedding anniversary, there was no way I could say no when Jane picked out a diamond pendant. Then the bus continued into old Szentandre, a picturesque village now given over almost entirely to tourism. It was a beautiful day for strolling the narrow streets. We browsed a few shops and bought a small cream pitcher for Jane's collection. It was the same shop where we'd purchased some ceramic items in 1998. We had a cappuccino at an outdoor café just off the main square, then walked back to the bus.
As soon as the bus dropped us at our hotel, we had a quick lunch and caught the subway to the Parliament. Situated right on the bank of the Danube, the building was inspired somewhat by the British Houses of Parliament on the Thames, but it combines several styles, perhaps even a little Disneyland. Sculptures of the seven Magyar chieftains and various Hungarian kings line the 885-foot facade along the river.
A brochure we'd picked up at the Tourist Office indicated there were English tours (limited to 50
persons each) at 2:00 and 2:30. We had hoped to get there for the first one and, if that was full, to have
a good chance for the later one. But by the time we got to the right entrance, it was nearly 2:15. I rushed
into the ticket office and asked for tickets to the 2:30 tour. The woman attendant just kept shouting
"now, now" and I finally realized there was a 2:15 English tour (but none at 2:00 or 2:30). When I came
out with the tickets, the guard was just about to open the chain for the tour. It was not particularly
crowded, only about a dozen people.
We could see immediately that the interior of the building was as ornate as the exterior. The first huge room where we stopped contained the Hungarian crown jewels in a display case. Then we were shown some of the elaborately decorated halls and finally led into one of the legislative chambers. The tour was done at a leisurely pace, and the guide didn't rush us at all.
We knew that the design for the Parliament Building (1884-1902) had been chosen in a public competition. But we learned during the tour that both the second and third place designs were also built, not on the river, but directly behind the winning design. So when the tour was over at about 3:00 and we went outside, we made a point of looking at those buildings. They were each attractive in their own way, but paled in comparison with the winner.
We caught the subway back to our hotel. We rested and cleaned up for our anniversary dinner. We had
understood that the meeting time for the blue group was 6:30, but it was really 6:15 so we missed them
in front of the hotel. But the restaurant was right around the corner, and we were able to fall in at the
end of the line just as they entered. It was a lovely evening, and we were seated outside in the garden
behind the restaurant. There were strolling musicians who made a special point of playing for us when
they found out it was our anniversary. We had eaten here with friends in 1998 and found the restaurant
unchanged.
It was only a little after 8:00 when we finished, so we joined several others from the group for a stroll
along the Danube. Across the river the Royal Palace was illuminated, and also Matthias Church and the
Fishermen's Bastion. And of course, the Chain Bridge. All this was so familiar to Jane and me (but no
less breathtaking) because it had been the view from our hotel room at the Intercontinental in 1988.
Budapest is a beautiful city, even more so by night.
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