Budapest II -- Serendipity and Sightseeing
Christmas Day was our first full day in Budapest and, after the beautiful break
fast the hotel provided we began a modest walk around the quiet city -- on Christmas morning most people were at home and, of course, stores were closed. The most active site we saw was the skating rink in front of the Hungarian Academy of Science building on Roosevelt Square (named by a grateful city for the wartime president of the U.S.). As the day wore on, the number of skaters increased.
We continued our exploration (we hadn't even looked at the map at this point or done any planning) and had our breath taken away
as we glimpsed, down a street leading off of Roosevelt Square, St. Stephen's Basilica. The dome of the basilica is tied with the dome of the Parliament building for the honor of being the highest structure in the city; but the church's interior is the real jewel. It's only about 150 years old -- young by European church standards -- so that the beauty of the various colors of marble that make up most of the interior is unmarred by the passage of a long period of time.
From the basilica, we continued our rather random exploration of the area near the hotel and more or less stumbled on the Opera House. We were checking the signs about tours of the building, debating whether or not the advertised tours would operate on Christmas, when we noticed that a lot of nicely-dressed people were walking toward the building.
When we approached the front entrance we realized that there was a performance of something about to happen and when we checked we discovered that it was the perennial holiday favorite, The Nutcracker, and that there were only two seats left together in the whole theater. We took them.
So there we were, on Christmas Day, in the city of Budapest on the Danube, in the heart of central Europe and the old Austro-Hungarian Empire, enjoying a performance of The Nutcracker ballet in the company of a very appreciative Hungarian audience. It was almost dreamlike. And the pleasure of the experience was magnified by the fact that Kathi had never had a chance to see this classic, most-seen of all ballets, performed. What a great Chistmas treat that was. What serendipity!
fast the hotel provided we began a modest walk around the quiet city -- on Christmas morning most people were at home and, of course, stores were closed. The most active site we saw was the skating rink in front of the Hungarian Academy of Science building on Roosevelt Square (named by a grateful city for the wartime president of the U.S.). As the day wore on, the number of skaters increased.We continued our exploration (we hadn't even looked at the map at this point or done any planning) and had our breath taken away
as we glimpsed, down a street leading off of Roosevelt Square, St. Stephen's Basilica. The dome of the basilica is tied with the dome of the Parliament building for the honor of being the highest structure in the city; but the church's interior is the real jewel. It's only about 150 years old -- young by European church standards -- so that the beauty of the various colors of marble that make up most of the interior is unmarred by the passage of a long period of time.From the basilica, we continued our rather random exploration of the area near the hotel and more or less stumbled on the Opera House. We were checking the signs about tours of the building, debating whether or not the advertised tours would operate on Christmas, when we noticed that a lot of nicely-dressed people were walking toward the building.
When we approached the front entrance we realized that there was a performance of something about to happen and when we checked we discovered that it was the perennial holiday favorite, The Nutcracker, and that there were only two seats left together in the whole theater. We took them.So there we were, on Christmas Day, in the city of Budapest on the Danube, in the heart of central Europe and the old Austro-Hungarian Empire, enjoying a performance of The Nutcracker ballet in the company of a very appreciative Hungarian audience. It was almost dreamlike. And the pleasure of the experience was magnified by the fact that Kathi had never had a chance to see this classic, most-seen of all ballets, performed. What a great Chistmas treat that was. What serendipity!
posted by Chuck and Kathi Calvano @ 8:36 PM
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