I’m in Budapest for a spell, and today, I’ve learned some new things.
I learned that the word Citadel refers to a fortress built on top of a hill and that is precisely where we went. Crossing the bridge from Pest, (where we are staying), into Buda, we wandered along the side of the river until we decided to go up. The hike was steep, but went quickly and I think we got to the top in less than an hour. The red and yellow leaves fell over our heads and onto our path, children were playing on see saws and slides, couples were kissing, and others were stopped to catch their breath along the way.
Our hosts were with us and offered a bit of info and an interesting story. The hill we were hiking is called Gellért Hill and was named after St. Gellért (of the Gellért cave church). He came to Hungary as a missionary around 1,000 AD to convert the Hungarians to Christianity. He was captured by pagan leaders who opposed the work he was doing. They stuffed him in a barrel and rolled him down the hill. There is a monument of him on the Northeastern side of the hill, at the end of the Elisabeth bridge.

The Gellért monument
As we climbed further up the hill, the statue at its peak slowly came into view. It depicts a woman with outstretched arms, holding an olive branch in her hands, a symbol of peace.

There are figures on either side of her, one of them depicting a man defeating a dragon, symbolizing the defeat of fascism.

We make our way to the fortress for a panoramic view of both Buda and Pest, the impressive Parliament building as well as the eight bridges that connect them. I love Budapest. What a good lookin’ city!

On the way down the other side, we encountered this lovely statue of the two sides of Budapest, Pest and Buda, reaching out to each other.
Tomorrow we are going to check out Budapest’s legendary bathhouses. Some of them date back to the 1500s!
More Soon~