Budapest- My First Walk

My first stop on my trip was the Hungarian Parliament. Hungary is a Parliamentary Republic with a president and prime minister. It's the oldest legislative building and the second largest Parliament building in Europe.


There's several memorial statues in front of and to the side of the Parliament building in Lajos Kossuth Square. My favorite was the Károlyi memorial. He was Hungary's prime minister from 1918-1919 during a brief period of democracy.


I also took my first look at the famous Danube and the Margaret Bridge.


I wandered around Parliament a bit more before it started snowing hard.

I found refuge in the Ethnographic Museum where a holiday fair was happening. The Hungarians have a real talent for arts and crafts. Unfortunately, most things looked too fragile to survive the trip home.

The snow let up enough I was able to continue my journey.



I walked to, then across the Chain Bridge, the most beautiful bridge in Budapest.




On the other side of the Chain Bridge is the base of Castle Hill. The Palace is in the top, left of the picture.


As I'm walking I'm starting to feel safer. There's children out after dark, and the children are acting like children. There's couples braving the cold weather for a stroll along the Danube and several tourists.

By the time I reached the Margaret Bridge, the cold was too much for me tolerate any longer. I dined on Turkish gyros and went back to the hostel.

This is a link to the rest of the photos I took on my first day, complete with captions.