Buda….Pest. February 2019.

We continued our afternoon in Buda with a much anticipated stop at the Labyrinth. It is a huge network of natural underground caves and tunnels that run throughout Castle Hill that have been used in the past as cellars, shelters, and a prison.

Andrew is super ready to explore.The Opera Panopticum exhibition, celebrating the music of Hungry in the 19th century. It looked like a creepy masquerade party.

Later made famous by Bram Stoker, Dracula has always been feared and known for his cruelty. He was often referred to as “Vlad the Impailer” or the Vampire of Havasalföld (his Castle.) According to Bonfini, the biographer of King Matthias, Vlad III Dracul was captured by the King in Transylvania in 1462 and transferred to the Labyrinth’s prison for a ten year sentence. Reasons were never really given. His wife, Justina Szilagyi was cousin to Matthias.

Andrew loved it! There were parts that were pitch black and foggy, you were supposed to walk with the assistance of a rope. It freaked K out.

The Mary Magdalene Tower or Buda Tower was once a part of the Mary Magdalene Church, built in the 13th century. It was the only Church that remained opened to Catholics and Protestants during the Turkish occupation. The Church was severely damaged during WWII and only the lone tower was left and rebuilt.In front of the the Tower is a bronze cast of the coronation mantle worn by the Hungarian Kings. It was first used in 1031 by King Saint Stephen and the last used by King Charles IV in 1916.The Medieval Jewish House of Prayer. It is a restored 14th century Synagogue and now a Museum.No clue what this building actually was, but I really though it was interesting. I looked it up later and it’s a Salon?! Ok.The massive Hungarian Parliament in Pest as seen from across the Danube in Buda.Heading over the Margaret Bridge back into Pest. Over Andy’s shoulder you can see the Parliament in Pest, and on Andrew’s side is Buda’s Castle Hill in the distance.After making it across the bridge, back to Pest in one piece, we caved and got the kids McDonalds. Our go-to order is a shared 20 piece nugget, large fry (no drinks, we always carry water bottles.) They’ve been troopers. Walking along the Pest side of the Danube, you can see Buda Castle in the horizon.

Along the riverside promenade is “Shoes on the Danube Bank.” It’s a memorial to honor the 3,500 people (800 Jews), killed by Militiamen from 1944-45 during WWII. People were ordered to remove their shoes, and stand at the waters edge. When they were shot, their bodies fell forward into the river and were washed away, leaving only their shoes behind. There are sixty pair of iron shoes, some women’s, some men’s, and some belonging to children. A very visual and visceral reminder of some of the horrors of the time.

The Hungarian Parliament Building is the largest building in Hungry and was finished in 1904. It has 691 rooms and 12.5 miles (20km) of stairs. After WWII, in 1949, Hungry became a People’s Republic, a Communist/Socialist government. A red star was added to the top of the building. They were under the Soviet’s umbrella. In 1989 a parliamentary republic was put in place, and the star was removed. The unicameral, National Assembly of Hungry, currently uses the building. The Prime Minister’s office is elsewhere. Gróf Tisza István Mounement. He was a former Hungarian Prime Minister.Then Kossuth Memorial, built in the early 1900s, celebrating the former Hungarian Regent-President Lajos Kossuth. In the Square there is a memorial to the victims of the 1956 massacre at Kossuth Tér. The victims were protesters of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution against the Communist Soviets. Not much is known about what happened, with the number of victims ranging from 22 to 1000.