Passage to Eastern Europe: More Buda (8/26/2021)

Thursday, August 26, 2021 (continued)

After the tour of the Matthias Church, we were given 45 minutes of free time.

Szent István lovasszobra/Equestrian statue
(1906, by Alajos Stróbl) of St Stephen,
the first King of Hungary

In this view of the back Matthias Church,
you can see the dark Hussar Tower (by
Frigyes Schulek) mounted on the roof
of the church like a Hussar on a horse

A Hussar was a member of a class of light cavalry that may have originated with the cavalry of King Matthias of Hungary.

A view from atop the Fisherman's Bastion

View of Parliament from the Fisherman's Bastion (KSS)

Kent on the Fisherman's Bastion,
with the Parliament in the background

Kent with Brynne on the Fisherman's
Bastion, with Parliament in the
background (6/30/1993)

Side of Régi Városháza/Old Town Hall (by Venerio Ceresola)

City Hall Statue of Athena (1785, by Carlo Adami)

Hadik András lovasszobra/Equestrian statue
of András Hadik (1936-1937, by György Vastagh)
of "the Hussar of all Hussars" who was
famous for capturing the Prussian city of
Berlin during the Seven Years' War (1756-1763)

The tradition is that rubbing the horse's testicles
will bring good luck (I could not reach them!)

We hurried over to the Budavári Palota/Buda Castle complex (1749-1769).

Karmelita kolostor/Carmelite Monastery (1736) that
was closed in 1784 by Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II and
converted into the Bírósági Színház/Court Theater (1786-1787,
by Wolfgang von Kempelen, damaged in WWII, repaired)
may now be the Offices of the Prime Minister

Sándor-palota/Sándor Palace (1803-1808, by Mihály Pollack
and Johann Aman in Neoclassical style, destroyed in WWII,
rebuilt in 1989-2002) is now the Office and Residence of
the President of the Republic of Hungary

A cat lounges in front of the Upper Station of the
Buda Castle Funicular, which is temporarily closed

Looking down the funicular track (KSS)

Next to the station is the (handcranked)
First Motion Picture Device (1895)

Missing is the Turul szobor/Turul Statue (1905)

Turul Statue is of the mythical bird
of the Magyars (6/30/1993)

We have seen that the Hungarians call themselves Magyars. At some point the Magyar tribe migrated from the steppes of Eastern Europe east of the Carpathian Mountains to the Carpathian Basin west of the mountains. It is said that the Magyar people, under the leadership of Árpád, followed the Turul that was flying above with a sword in his beak. The bird dropped the sword in what is now Budapest, indicating this was where the Magyars should settle.

A sit-in or "occupy" group stating "an experimental
vaccine cannot be obligatory"

Because the main gate to the Royal Palace
was closed due to construction, we headed
to the back Corvinus Gate topped by a
raven with a ring in its beak, symbolising
King Matthias Corvinus

Budavári Palota "A" épület/Buda Castle Wing A with the
Hunyadi Udvar/Hunyadi Court garden in front

The Csíkos statue was missing from
the Hunyadi Court

Mátyás-kút/Fountain of Matthias (1899-
1904, by Alajos Stróbl) shows Matthias
on a hunt, and on the lower right is the
fabled Ilonka, who fell in love with the
hunter, only to later learn he was king
and unattainable (she protects her fawn)

Lions' Gate with the outer pair of lions (1901-1902,
by János Fadrusz) that are calm and dignified

There were guards at the gate that allowed us in to the photograph the inner pair of lions (it was closing time, I believe).

The inner pair of lions are menacing

It started to rain, so we returned to the meeting point 15 minutes early. Everyone else, including the bus and driver, was early as well, so we could all head back to the Hotel InterContinental.

For dinner, we picked up a few items
from a local convenience market

Friday, August 27, 2021

Thanks to our inconvenient flight schedule, we had to have our luggage outside the hotel room door at 3:00 AM. Departure from the hotel to the airport was at 3:30. We were given a brown bag breakfast.

By 4:00 we arrived at the Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport and checked in for the 6:30 flight to Amsterdam. Arrival in Amsterdam was about 8:40, and departure for Detroit (yes, we were overshooting Philadelphia!) was at 10:45. We were delayed in arriving in Detroit (due at 13:30), but even with lines at passport control, we had time for our 15:50 flight from Detroit to Philadelphia. However, that flight was delayed due to weather in Philly. We boarded, and waited, and queued and waited, and finally took off. The plane kept banking one way then another. It seems we were put in a holding pattern, before the pilot decided we only had enough fuel to return to Detroit.

It was on this leg that a passenger refused to pull his mask (he had one over his mouth) up over his nose. On the third request he was given a final notice in writing. In Detroit he was met by a Delta agent who pulled him aside, and was overheard to say he would have to pay.

Everyone was rebooked on the 22:50 flight from Detroit to Philadelphia, on a larger plane.

Saturday, August 28, 2021

The flight to Philly was at least 30 minutes late, arriving about 1:00 AM. After taking a shuttle to our car and driving home, it was 2:00 AM, meaning we had been up for nearly 30 hours.

If it wasn't for air flights and COVID-19, this would have been a fantastic trip!