Budapest - Castle Hill 6th January 2014 PT1

It is our final day full day in  Budapest. Jan wants to go to the Great market hall , the oldest one in Hungary.   she says its not to far away , literally about 5 minutes walk .   so off we go, coming to the road where it is Supposed to be , a small non descript door way leads to A Tiny local food hall!!!!!!!    Haha      note to self ,  NEVER leave directions to Jan again!     lol
the great market place is actually miles away  Oooops .

Now we are going to Castle Hill  our main destination for the day and we have glorious blue sky.
After a 10 minutes walk down to the Danube we are now crossing the Széchenyi chain bridge.  its a beautiful morning and i love the shadow of the suspension bridge reflected in the water :)

       Stunning buildings along the river, the sun brings out the colours that looked flat yesterday.

                                            Looking down to Margaret island in the distance.

We have reached Buda side of the river,  the lion sculptures that were so difficult to photograph in the dark look superb against the blue sky :)

Crossing over Clark Ádám Square to the the Castle Hill Funicular railway , which goes up to Buda Castle , one of the major tourist attractions in Budapest.  it it quite expensive for a very short journey, about £7 ish return for a 1.5 minute ride !!! , but we are on holiday and have to go on it :)
considering its January we still have to Que up for a ticket, must be impossible in the height of tourist season.

it was originally built in 1869 and went into service a year later before being bombed in the war and eventually re built and opened in 1986.   the carriages look superb all in varnished wood and go up the 312 ft track to Castle Hill .

                                                                             up we go :)

arriving at the top , a large courtyard with guards standing motionless in front!   must be bored  lol

                     a superb view down to the Paliament building and the bridges further up river

                                 first Panorama of the day , view HERE LARGE

Walking in front of the Royal Palace/Buda Castle we are looking down on the bridge we walked across and to the right in background St. Stephen's Basilica where we first arrived a few days ago

                                                 another panorama , view large HERE

We are now around the back of the castle,  an amazing building and its  fascinating history  HERE

                                     a huge waterfall fountain , kept dry in the winter months

 

making our way around the rear of the castle and all the outlying buildings , some not having been re built and left like this.

                                                               very odd sculpture!

   the road into the village with cobbled streets and bright painted buildings , statues are everywhere

Our first view of the Matthias Church ,looking stunning against the blue sky , the Fishermans Bastion is behind it overlooking the Danube

                                            a Hooded Crow :)  never seen one before

                                                             continues part 2