Budapest Castle

We caught the trolley right outside our apartment this morning, and rode across the Danube and up into the Buda Hills to the Budapest Castle and Old Town. This covers a huge area on the hilltops, and has great views of the river and Pest (including our street).

In all these wonderful old European cities, there are layers and layers of previous inhabitants. Each new group or generation builds in the same places, on top of the remains of older stuff. There are a number of places in the Budapest Castle where partially excavated Roman ruins are visible. At least we assumed they were Roman ruins - large expanses of stone rooms - there was no signage giving information. We didn't take a tour of the castle - just walked around. The buildings are in various stages of restoration - clean and shining - dark and dingy - shrouded in scaffolding. But it is magnificent. Several of the churches have the gorgeous, colorful, patterned tile roofs.

We went looking for the only monument in Budapest dedicated to a Muslim. I didn't get there because the hill was too high for me, but the others saw it. This man was responsible for bringing rose bushes to Budapest, and his monument is a low building with wonderful rose gardens. Unfortunately, the roses were past their prime, but interesting nevertheless.

We didn't take a boat trip on the river in Budapest. We looked at some of the companies and their routes - they didn't go any farther than the areas we had seen from the land side. We have had gorgeous weather, so have gotten to wander at will. The city is very open and easy to explore.

Today's pictures are taken at the Castle. First is of the Chain Bridge across the Danube with our street going away from the river to the right of the Pest end of the bridge. Second is part of the restored and cleaned Fisherman's Bastion at the Castle.