Day 5 - Budapest 2

This afternoon we made a couple of stops.

The House of Music - a two year old cultural space dedicated to music. Wiki: There is an arboretum and 94 heat insulated glass panels that allow light to reach the bottom level of the building where free concerts are held every week. The yellow-covered porch creates a special experience for visitors and the Lotus Flower inspired roof has holes to allow trees to grow tall.

I found a statue that inspires writing if you touch the pen! A lot of the statues here have bright shiny parts where people frequently touch. Each one has a different meaning. Martha’s pic of me taking a selfie was better than my selfie. Also, I completely jumped the dawdling line so I was rushed, ok!

We have passed by the Budapest Cave church a number of times. The church is in the side of Gellert Hill. As an aside, the hill is named after a saint who was stuffed into a spiked barrel filled with rocks and rolled down the hill. Yowza! And the Hungarian government arrested all the remaining priests in the Order in 1951, executed the head monk, put the rest in a labor camp, and sealed up the church behind concrete. This church was definitely not for the weak of faith! After the fall of communism the concrete wall was broken down and the church was reopened. It maintains a regular 72 degrees regardless of the season.

Randomly, Lara kept mentioning the "millennium" yesterday and Martha and I were both thinking 2000 (Wasn't that a party!?!) Nope, she meant 1896, which was the 1000th anniversary of crowning the first Hungarian king. Among the major cultural events trending in that period were huge ‘exhibitions’ – half actual exhibitions and half fairs that gave birth to modern Expos. (Now that is a party!)

Apparently there were tolls on all the bridges prior to WWII and the destruction of the bridges led to the destruction of the toll booths and no one replaced them. Just another random fact we learned today.

Finally, we went to St. Stephen’s Basilica, the largest Roman Catholic Church in Budapest and second largest in Hungary. Budapest is 65% Catholic, 25% Protestant, and 10% Jewish. On the exterior of the church are the words “EGO SUM VIA VERITAS ET VITA” (I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life). It is a beautiful building and as we walked around inside, an all girl choir was performing. It was so peaceful to listen to their voices.

My Mom was a big proponent of three wishes any time you enter a new church. I took care of that as well as we lit a candle for all we have loved and lost.

We went to the top of the Basilica, and as with all things Maggie and Martha, I went one way and Martha went the other. Welp, I should’ve followed Martha’s way as it led to the elevator and my way led to many, many steps. Sigh. I mean, who looks better???

Once we got back to the bottom we asked where the treasury is located as our tickets let us in there as well. The man pointed and said stairs only. I started, looked up, and said nope. See the picture with the spiral stairs for my reasoning.

There are no kings or queens buried at the Basilica but the right hand of Stephen is enshrined in the church as well as the greatest Hungarian footballer, Ferenc Puskás. Yesterday, Lara quipped that the anointed left foot is positioned next to the anointed right hand.

Lastly, a Basilica is supposed be shaped like a cross from the sky and St. Stephens does not; it is more of a plus sign. But in 1931, Pope Pius XI awarded the church the title of Basilica Minor, and no one was going to argue with the Pope!

Dinner Maggie & Martha style. Sitting outside with wine, watching Euro 2024, one of us writing the blog and the other one working on Jump into Art payments (you are welcome Magda), the Florida house monthly report, the Maggie Thompson Invitational, and a couple of other things - the wheel never stops turning for Martha.