October 7, 2014: Day 2 in Budapest

October 7, 2014

Today, a group of us spent time visiting the museums in the Buda Castle complex and going to St. Matthias square area in Buda.  We took the tram to the Chain Bridge and walked across the bridge to the funicular, which took us to the Buda Castle.  

Walking the Chain Bridge

Funicular to Buda Hill

Almost to the Top

Because we all have Budapest Cards, there are no charges to visit the museums.  From the plaza, there were good views of the Danube.  

Panorama View of Danube

The first museum was the National Gallery that contains holdings of Hungarian painters (primarily 18^th to 20^th century), an exquisite exhibit of medieval altar pieces and a display of stone carvings, many of which came from archeological digs in the castle complex.  The Castle never was a defensive structure, but a palace complex that had its origins in the 13^th century and was rebuilt and added to over the centuries.  We really got an idea of the extensiveness of the complex and its evolution through the centuries by visiting the Budapest History Museum located in the south wing of the castle.  Archeological items uncovered in various local excavations in Pest, Buda and Óbuda - the three cities that make up Budapest - are on display. The oldest finds date back more than 40,000 years. Much of the material in the ground and basement levels is related to the history of Buda Castle and its development over the centuries.  Unfortunately, not many artifacts survived from the once famous medieval palace, however lower levels of the museum feature some remains and there are a few restored rooms.  The first floor emphasizes the history of Budapest with much related to the post World War II era.  

We exited the History Museum in the Lions Court and proceeded across the back side of the palace complex to St Matthias square with the huge gothic cathedral from the 14^th century and Fishermen Bastion.  From the Fishermen Bastion, we had superb vista views of the Danube and Budapest.  From here we caught the 16A bus that took us to the Metro, which we took back to the area of our hotel.

St. Matthias Church

Matthias

Church Entrance

View from Fishermen Bastion

Fishermen Bastion

At 16:00 the group assembled for our visit to the medical museum, Semmelweis Museum.  This is a medical history museum containing one of the richest medical and pharmaceutical historical collections showing western medicine development from prehistoric times to the 20^th century.  There is a 1543 copy of anatomist Andreas Vesalius’s The Structure of the Human Body in Seven Books and wax anatomical figure demonstrating the female lymphatic system.  The museum is in memory of Ignaz Semmelweis (1818-1865) who recognized while working in the maternity clinics of the Vienna General Hospital, that mortality rates due to puerperal fever were related to the fact that physicians who performed autopsies and attended women in labor didn’t wash their hands.  His empirical evidence predated Pasteur’s germ theory and he was vilified for his ideas.  Eventually committed to an insane asylum, he died in his 40’s of severe internal injuries after being beaten by the guards.

We returned to the hotel and met at 18:45 to travel to our restaurant – Bagolyvar Etterem – near Heroes Square.  We used the #1 Metro line, which is the oldest with the most ornate stations.  Another excellent dinner – Hungarian Soup, Veal Paprika with noodles, and apple strudel.  

In Metro 1 Station

Heroes Square

Museum of Fine Art

At Bagolyvar Restaurant

Hungarian Soup

Veal Paprika