Budapest consists of two areas, that are Buda and Pest, separated by Danube river. Our first visit in Buda area of Budapest was Matthias church that is situated in Buda Castle complex. The first thing that caught my attention when sighting the church was its beautiful mosaic roof. The white limestone structure in gothic style looks divine and compliments the mosaic roof gracefully.
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| Matthias Church in Buda Area, Budapest |
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| Matthias Church Tower |
Although entry to the church is not free, getting into the church is a must. We bought combined tickets to enter both Matthias Church and Fisherman's Bastion (which is located in front of the church). Price per person on April 2015 was 1300 HUF (AU$ 6-7). Note: Hungarian currency is Hungarian Forint (not Euro).
The interior of Matthias church has baroque style that is adorned with exquisite colourful frescoes (wall paintings). Some of the frescoes resemble golden embroideries, which reminds me to Persian cushions! In my opinion, the church interior decoration displays Eastern influence, which is very unique - am not sure if this is due the Turks influence who had conquered the city in the past or else. There is a tour inside the church, in which you are allowed to climb to their balconies for different vantage view points of the church.
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| Matthias Church Interior |
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| Tombs of the King Matthias and his Queen inside the Church |
Next to the church is Fisherman's Bastion (Halaszbastya), an old rampart site that was defended by the guild of fishermen during the Middle Ages. This site is also one of a kind as it reminds me to "Dwarf houses". The walkway area in this little fortress is an open space with some steps so flat shoes and weather appropriate clothing are advantages. Fisherman's Bastion in Buda is also a highpoint where you can overview Pest area on the opposite side. Both Matthias church and Fisherman's Bastion are in my extra-ordinary places to visit.
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| Fisherman's Bastion |
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| Fisherman's Bastion from Different Viewpoint |
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| In Fisherman's Bastion Area with Matthias Church Background |
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| In Fisherman's Bastion Area with Parliament's House Background in Pest Side |
Buda Castle complex has been significantly reconstructed due to major damages in the past. I think all the original architecture and influence has been retained as much as possible, like the Dome decorating the complex and, similar to Prague, its touch of Habsburg (Viennese) influences. The popular part in the Castle complex area is the bronze equestrian statue of Sigismund. Some of the castle area has turned into National art gallery with paid entry ticket. For those art lover, entry is worthwhile if you have time to kill otherwise city sight-seeing maybe a better option.
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| Hungarian Guard on Duty |
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| Bronze Equestrian Statue in Buda Castle Complex |
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| "Lovers" Inside Art Gallery in Buda Castle Complex |
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| Cool 3D Paper of Medieval Castle sold in Art Gallery - Quite tempted to buy this! |
Typical road in Budapest (Pest side) retains the old and beautiful architecture but I think it needs some good scrub to reveal its true beauty. Essentially, it is not as clean as in Paris or other Western Europe.
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| Typical Road in Pest Side |
We returned to hotel to get ready for our night activity that is watching an opera in Hungarian National Opera House. We never watched an opera before so our goal is simply to experience it. I also randomly chose the opera performance without knowing the story and composer. I chose opera called "Parcifal" by Wagner for 14,500 HUF (AU$ 70) per person for almost-front-row seats. The interior of the theatre is a baroque style with magnificent golden painted carving decorations. Most of the guests were well dressed with the men wearing suit and ladies wearing dresses. I wore my modern "Kebaya" and Batik skirt to match the occasion (actually that night was so cold at approx. -1 degC, I needed to wear my Ugg boot to walk there for warm and comfort! But of course change from Ugg boot to heels upon arrival :) - there is cloak service available for opera guests).
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| Hungarian National Opera House Baroque Style Interior |
The opera started at 5 PM and we thought we still could have had a 'late' dinner after the opera. The theatre is equipped with mini subtitle reader on the top of the stage, allowing foreigner guests to understand the performance. If you sit on the front row, however, this could bother you as you need to keep tilting your head to read subtitles especially in a long opera performance. That was what happened to us. After 4 hours (yes 9 PM), the performance kept going.. and going.. and everything seemed to be in slow motion :). I literally felt sorry for my husband as he was actually struggling to stay awake an keep focusing to the opera - and so do I! After finishing the second plot (there are three plots in total so maybe another 2 hours before conclusion), we decided to go back to sleep in our hotel room instead :D. It is certainly not the actor or the opera singer that bored us but I think the whole story plot is somehow very slow and dragging. Upon "investigation", Wagner-composed opera is actually known to be slow to exhibit all emotional aspects of the story, which is not our thing. Based on this, opera might not be our kind of entertainment (I think it will be while before I can convince my husband to watch an opera again :D - maybe Mozart opera will change our current perception).
My travel tip based on opera experience is do not skip your homework should you want to watch an opera to avoid disappointment. This is largely to understand not only the story plot but also the opera composer delivery style so you can ensure the opera delivery style suits you.
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| Night View of Buda Area from Our Hotel Room |
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