Exploring Lipótváros “Leopold Town”. April 29, 2023

(Unfortunately technology has not facilitated easy posting. I apologize.)

Our first full day began with a fascinating tour of Pest by local tour guide Gery.

The square in front of St. Stephen’s Basilica was filled with visitors watching the live stream of Pope Francis’s visit to Budapest this weekend. 

St. István’s Basilica was built around Hungary’s millennial celebrations of 1896. The church’s claim to fame is the “holy right hand” of St. Istvan contained inside a jeweled box.  A newly wedded couple processed down the aisle while we we’re there.

Rub the bushy-mustachioed police officer’s belly to bring good luck. This statue, evoking the grand old days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is just for fun. 

The Holocaust Monument, consisting of 50 pairs of bronze shoes, commemorates the Jews who were killed when the Nazis’ puppet government, the Arrow Cross, came to power. The Arrow Cross massacred some Jews by shooting them and letting their bodies fall into the Danube.

 

In the afternoon we toured the Hungarian State Opera House. The building dates from the 1890s. Emperor Franz Josef provided half the funds…on the condition that it be smaller than the opera house in his hometown of Vienna. The interior’s most recent renovation was in 2019. Each individual chair cost one million Hungarian forints. Approximately $300,000. We enjoyed a mini-opera performance at the end of the tour. 

Following a brief peek into the charming Cat Cafe, we marveled over a fabulous dinner at Tati- a farm-to-table restaurant with lighthearted service from Kitty our lovely server. Yes. That was her name. 

Budapest is known for its ruin pubs-lively pubs with a bohemian-junkyard vibe. While in the queue to enter Szimpla Kert, Ernie spotted CNN correspondent Richard Quest.