Budapest Diary - Day 2

It looks nice outside. Today it rained in Budapest. In fact we encountered a storm itself. I am not exactly in a mood to write, and hence the report falls short of its length. And of course, not everything can be conveyed through words…

Early to bed and early to rise, makes you healthy, wealthy and wise. I could not exactly follow the golden rule, as I got up pretty late today. It does not exactly matter since:

1. Healthy: I consider myself healthy enough by my standards
2. Wealthy: I’m wealthy enough to survive on my own
3. Wise: It’s too late. If I had been wiser, I would have been better off

However, it didn’t take me long to get ready. Breakfast is always something that I enjoy in Europe, and it was no different today. Soon, we hit the road for our first real glimpse of the city. The day could be summed up in three phrases: the castle district, the Heroes Square and the great basilica of Szt Istivan. But then, as I said before, not everything can be conveyed through words. This is a place that has to be seen with the eye to be experienced fully.

After a glimpse of the enormous parliament building, we headed off across the river into the castle district in Buda. This is the old city, as compared to the plush shiny buildings of Pest – a fact that prompted Pragati to say, “Ganda Hai”. The Heroes Square, built in 1896 is a tribute to all the heroes who were instrumental in building up Hungary as a country. Overlooking the square is the huge Museum of Fine Arts. It reminded me of the Asiatic Society Building in Mumbai reminiscing the night when I and Sumeet walked the whole distance from Colaba to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, so that I could take photographs of the building.

A pleasant surprise in the form of a mild drizzle greeted us in the afternoon. We headed for the Szt Istivan Basilica which had enamored me the previous day. Similar to most other big European churches, the basilica is situated in a huge tiled square. We were greeted by a huge crowd, which seemed to be captivated by a group of dancing ladies. We stood there watching them for quite some time. The interior of the church was grandeur in its own with enormous murals and tinted glass windows. Pragati in particular seemed overawed by her first visit to a European Church.

The rest of the day was spent in shopping (more of window shopping), until Pragati declared that she could walk no more…