Castle and monuments

The first thing you have to realize about Budapest is that it was the site of one of the bloodiest battles of World War Two. The place was under siege for over a month and everything was pretty much destroyed. The red army (soviets) liberated Budapest from the Nazis, then ruled the country for decades after. So, as far as I can tell, all the historic buildings are reconstructions. The old bridges were all blown up and have been rebuilt.
They constructed this castle using all the different styles of castles from the past. It's not old but it sure is beautiful.




From the other side




Popular place for weddings. There's a bride and groom in the pic above.




This beautiful building looks like it has famous paintings in it, but




when I went in the side door this is what I saw. Thermal baths! Budapest is famous for the thermal baths. This building has three outside pools and 15 inside pools.




Around the corner is Heroes Square with a giant monument and a huge plaza. Sorry, I seemed to have chopped off the guys head!




Here's another view




Below is a famous Jewish synagogue. Of course it was destroyed during WWII but lots of famous Hungarians contributed money to have it rebuilt. Can you name one famous Hungarian? I couldn't. Tony Curtis was one of the benefactors and guess what? He's Hungarian! Harry Houdini was Hungarian too, btw.




This is the parliament building. It's very large and elaborate.




This building is called the fishermen's bastion. It is exceptionally gorgeous.




In the plaza up above the fishermen's bastion is this cool church with the colorful tile roof. Wedding going on there too.








There are artists selling their wares




And fabulous views of the city below. It's kind of hard to see, but there is a table-like stringed instrument the guy was playing for a while. I like the music. Hungarian rhapsodies anyone?

Location:Budapest