Our trek up to the Fisherman’s Bastion yielded incredible sights of gorgeous architecture and beautiful history, not to mention the most spectacular views of the city down below. 2 hours was enough to take in what we’d set out to see, so we made our way down and began to explore the areas closer to the Danube focusing on the Pest side.

Crossing the famous Chain Bridge (Széchenyi Chain Bridge) was one of the sights that was on our walking tour list.  It was the first permanent bridge across the Danube in Hungary and stills stands after being built in 1849. The lion sculptures were added in 1852 giving it its distinctive features.

Our next stop was the exquisite Gresham Palota (Gresham Palace). This is NOT to be missed if you are a fan of Art Nouveau design!!! It is a masterpiece of its kind and has been perfectly refurbished since its decay after the War. Originally, this was built by the London-based Gresham Life Assurance Company as a high-end business and residential complex for the wealthy finance elite. Rumors of a love affair between an English financier and a Hungarian Countess are infused into the design elements including hearts woven into the iron works inside.

When Communism took over, the building suffered severe decay and was turned into dingy offices and cramped, poorly maintained tenements. Luckily, the Iron Curtain fell and in 2004 an $85 million restoration project was started which meticulously repaired its museum-quality stained glass, mosaic floors, and intricate ironwork, reopening as a luxury hotel managed by Four Seasons. Truly, this is a stop worth making! If you have time, you can even have a bougie cocktail or small plates in the Muzsa Lounge inside. We opted for another special venue for our afternoon break…

But first, no visit to Budapest should be done without visiting the Shoes on the Danube Memorial. A sobering monument, the many, far too many, pairs of bronze shoes give a visual picture of the horrific atrocities done to our fellow man, inflicted by blind hate and sick minds. It is an active memorial with fresh flowers and wreaths placed almost daily by families and other visitors alike.

To refresh the history, during the Holocaust, approximately 565,000 Hungarian Jews lost their lives. While the vast majority from the countryside were deported to Auschwitz earlier in 1944, the Jewish population of Budapest was initially spared mass deportation until the fascist, Nazi-backed Arrow Cross Party took power in October 1944. Over a brutal winter reign of terror, the Arrow Cross killed an estimated 38,000 Jews in Budapest through forced death marches, ghetto starvation, and public executions. At the specific location commemorated by the Shoes on the Danube Bank memorial, as well as adjacent stretches of the river, historical sources from Yad Vashem estimate that between 3,600 and several thousand Jews were lined up, forced to strip off their valuable shoes at gunpoint, and shot directly into the freezing river so the current would carry their bodies away. (written with the help of AI)

This is an area of deep reflection and quiet. People were very respectful of the space using soft voices, and most visitors seemed to give deference to each other as they took their photos and time for reflective remembrance.

From the Shoes on the Danube, we headed to the Parliament Building. It is indeed a grand and elaborate structure with a ton of symbolic details and an insanely interesting history. I honestly didn’t know much about this when viewing it in real time while there, but in researching it more as I’m writing this chapter, I’m even more blown away. Let me share some of those fascinating tidbits with you now…

1. It is exactly 96 meters tall. This is hugely significant in Budapest. In the year 896, the Magyars settled the area and took control and is their millennium milestone. By law, no building in Budapest can be taller than this.
2. It is the 3^rd largest Parliament building in the world, only behind Bucharest and Argentina’s.
3. There was a huge international competition in 1885, when Buda and Pest unified, for who would be the architect. The winner, Imre Steindl, drew his inspiration from the Gothic form of London’s Westminster Palace in honor of Hungary’s democratic ideals and newly government. Sadly, during the 17 years of construction, Steindl went blind and never was able to see his finished work of art and achievement.
4. Built with extreme technological foresight for the 1890s, the Parliament was engineered with an innovative central heating and cooling system. To cool the chambers, massive underground vents drew air through ice-filled chambers and outdoor fountains.
5. The majestic central hexadecagonal (16-sided) Dome Hall acts as the safekeeping chamber for the Holy Crown of Hungary (the Crown of St. Stephen), guarded around the clock by sword-bearing soldiers. We did not take a tour of this building opting for other things to see and do in our remaining short time in Budapest, but I think it would be WELL WORTH the time if you are going and have the luxury of more than 1 day in the city!

What we accidentally came across next in our self-guided walking tour was a stunning and powerfully quiet civilian-led protest.

There is a massive bronze statue of an eagle, designed by the Hungarian government to honor the Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Against the strong and vocal protests by local Budapest citizens accusing the government of not being entirely truthful about the real history of the Hungarian involvement in the Nazi regime, the statue was erected secretly… in the middle of the night no less. As a silent, but powerful protest, families began to bring typed up stories, artifacts, and evidence directly across from this statue calling out the official, stated statements and stance of history by the current government that portrays Hungary as a passive, blameless victim of the Nazis during the war as false. In reality, the wartime Hungarian government under Miklós Horthy was a formal ally of Nazi Germany and actively collaborated in enacting anti-Semitic laws and facilitating the deportation of over 430,000 Jews to death camps.

The collection of suitcases, shoes, personal letters, and other mementos fill the sidewalk and the families’ and citizens’ grievances are printed in dozens of languages so visitors from all over the world can know the truth. History is preserved for us to learn from so maybe, just maybe, the same atrocities won’t be repeated. Those who say we should tear down monuments or other pieces of history, even if unsavory, deprive themselves and the rest of humanity an opportunity to learn, reflect, or even protest.

Had I known it was there, I’d have loved to have seen the tributes to Ronald Reagan for his role in securing democracy and helping to end the Cold War and Communisms hold over Central Europe. Again, it is placed with perfect symbolism as he walks away from the U.S. Embassy and towards the Hungarian Parliament Building while looking past and away from the last Soviet War Memorial in Hungary. Wow! George Bush is also honored with a statue in Liberty Square for his diplomacy in the region.

On the way to our well-deserved mid-day light meal, we briefly passed the Brudern House. This is a place I desperately wanted to see, but as we approached, it appeared that you couldn’t get in without paying for an art exhibit or some other event inside. With a bit more research, I’m not entirely sure that is true now; perhaps you could go in without having to commit to that. Nevertheless, our time was starting to get a bit short and there were several other stops along our route, most notably one of the single most memorable dining experiences we had on this entire 2 ½ week European extravaganza.

Stay tuned as I share a beautiful, luxurious hour in the heart of Budapest!