Patron Saint of the Tight Pants

Today I caught the metro into town and headed toward St Stephen's Basilica. According to a commentary I heard later in the day the architect who first designed the church died mid-project, a second architect put his own touches on the building but also died before it was completed, the third architect who oversaw the finishing product has since died also so I think the common denominator may be the building...or it's just bad news for architects. Nevertheless the building is quite spectacular.

The mummified hand of St Stephen the first Christian King of the Hungarian Empire is also on display. 

Looking over Steve's hand is none other than Saint Imre, Patron Saint of the Tight Pants. He also happened to be Steve's son.

After yesterday's little trip and fall I was conscious of resting my ankle more today. So I purchased a ticket for one of those hop-on hop-off buses. I jumped off it opposite the Hungarian Parliament building, the worlds 3rd largest parliament building. Can you name the top two? It is 96 metres high, significant because it was 896AD that the Magyar first "settled" Hungary. Magyar's are considered the forefathers of the modern Hungarian people. 

I thought that perhaps if the building was 896 metres it may have been more significant? The building also boasts approximately 2.4kms of staircases. Like many of the buildings in Budapest it was built towards the close of the 19th Century.

I hopped on a ferry and enjoyed a cruise down the Danube. We passed many river cruise ships which seemed to be as large as Parliament House. Quite fancy too with all their bits and pieces. Photos are on the other camera so you'll just have to imagine them.

This is Gellert Hill which has a giant bottle opener statue on it - at least I think that's what it is...or it could be a statue about liberty- it kind of looked like the former from a distance.

You'll also notice a monastery on the side of the hill (to the left) and Rudas Baths (to the right) originating from the Ottoman Occupation of Budapest, built in 1566.

Jumping off at Pier 11 I got a quick squiz at some Roman Ruins that are on display under reflective plexi-glass. The reflective nature of the glass makes the "display" a little harder to see because my reflection really obscured the view. 

I wandered around around the shopping district a little more before catching the bus again and heading back up the hill. There were a few sights I hadn't seen yesterday that I was keen to see today. Namely Matthias Church and the Fishermen's Bastion. 

Both these structures are relatively young by European Standards the church was completed in 1896 and the Bastion, built purely as a viewing platform and not for any defence purpose was finished in 1905. 

There are seven turrets representing the seven Magyar tribes that settled the area. These tribe leaders are also represented in bronze at the Heroes' Square. The Bastion did provide some spectacular views:

Down the hill I made my way to the bus stop - thankfully staying on my two feet!! We observed some zoo escapees...I'm not entirely sure what the story is.

The bus ended at City Park, a favourite of Felix, Ami and Greg's son. Heroes' Square was constructed in 1896 for the millennial celebration of the Magyar settlement. At the top of the obelix stands the Arch Angel Gabriel. I'm looking forward to exploring city park more on Monday.