Our first full day in Budapest started with a very healthy breakfast buffet abroad the Viking Gafjon before we boarded our buses for our first shore excursion. The Viking program director divides the excursions based on both personal interest and various levels of physical capability. By the end of the tour we had it down to the “Leisure Walkers” and the “Storm the Castle” groups. Most days Nick and I were in the “Having Fun Storming the Castle” group. Our friends Barb and and Paul usually adopted the more sane “Look Around at Leisure” Group.
Our tour started on the Pest side of the Danube. As we piled out of the Viking tour buses that took us from the dock to Budapest’s Heroes Square, I was awed by the architectural craftsmanship of the buildings that surrounded Heroes Square. The Museum of Fine Arts and Kunsthalle (Hall of Art) flank the Square. Budapest’s 18th and19th century Baroque and Rocco architecture reflects the glory of the Hungarian Austrian Empire. Hungary is an ancient and proud city, and within a few miles you can see examples of Romanesque, Byzantine, Medieval, Gothic Churches and other structures.
Heroes Square was structured in 1896 to mark the thousandth anniversary of Hungary. In the middle of of the square is the Millennium Monument commemorating the 1000-year-old history of the Magyars. Archangel Gabriel stands on top of the center pillar, holding the holy crown and the double cross of Christianity. The seven chieftains who led the Magyar tribes to Hungary can be seen on the stand below.
The Bronzes of the various Medieval Hungarian saints, kings and other important historical figures that stand on top of the colonnades on either side of the center pillar were amazing. Nick and I were both struck with the intricate detail of the metal work. Our guide stressed the how Christianity had shaped the history and character of the people of Hungary. It was some how reassuring that in the post-war drive for European Secularism, the Hungarian people still consider their Christian Saints Heroes of their long history.
Our guide described the verities of the Hungarian dialects. Hungarian is universally acknowledged as an enormously difficult native language that has a little commonality with several other east and West European countries, but great commonality with none. During the long and brutal Soviet occupation, all Hungarians were forced to speak Russian. Since the fall of the USSR, most Hungarian opt to learn English as a second language.