Saturday, July 26, 2014

Budapest: Hungarian Parliament Building

One of the most iconic and beautiful buildings in Budapest is the Hungarian Parliament. It is the 3rd largest in the world (behind Argentina and London) and is still in use today by the Hungarian government. They offer tours in lots of different languages so you have to get your timing right. Here are a few photos to enjoy.
This is a view from the street side and looking at a corner of it only. You'll see the full building below from the river side.
Real gold inlay throughout the building - this was one of the side staircases - not even the main, grand one!
If you look closely on the window sill you can see cigar holders. This was so the parliament members could leave their cigars and easily get back to them between sessions. The little holders are numbered.
The main voting room. The green area includes a computerized voting system these days.
Another view of the voting chambers. Pretty ornate, huh?
This is the grand staircase. we weren't allowed to go up or down these stairs but were herded (pun intended) to a small set of cement stairs off to the side to make our way back to the ground floor.  Can't blame them really - a bunch of noisy sweaty tourists parading up and down the grand staircase - just wouldn't be right.
But the really impressive views are of the outside of the building.
And at night - this is from a bus tour looking at the parliament from the Buda side and across the Danube river. Breathtaking! 
And this one is from a boat cruise we took. Gorgeous day to capture the blue sky and fluffy clouds in the background.

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