Fisherman's Bastion... no fish involved

Elle Decor's City Guide to Budapest classified Fisherman's Bastion as an "Essential Budapest" site. See map above. The little cartoon is pretty accurate - fairy tale castle looking thing on top of hill. We hiked up Castle Hill to check it out. First we came upon Matthias (or Matyas) Church on Szentharomsag. Did I mention we are having beautiful weather?

What do you think of the tiles? I love them.

There's a little history on the church's art nouveau renovation below.

Fisherman's Bastion is a long white rampart with seven towers, each meant to represent the seven Magyar tribes. It was built in the late 1800s, right above where Budapest's fish market once stood.

Here's a little pic of King Ishtvan. As you may recall, he is riding his horse, Old Paint.

Russell and Claudia taking in the views of the Danube.

Not sure if you can see, but the towers are all connected by the long winding rampart. I bet it looks pretty neat at night when it's all lit up by the lanterns.

Claudia and Daddy taking at look at Matyas Church.
It's really beautiful on the outside.
Claudia said she liked it this much and stretched out her hands.
Not really. She was begging us to get her closer to the hawk. See below.
Claudia and I took in some views from one of the torrents.
You could see up and down the Danube.

The whole thing is up on Castle Hill, above the city.

Here's an up close view of one of the towers. They're really pretty big - this one holds a restaurant.

A shot of Parliament.

Our trip to the Fisherman's Bastion did not disappoint. It had the best views of the city I've seen so far. Claudia, however, was only interested in a giant hawk that some guy was toting around. You could pose for pictures with the hawk. She saw him and said "hold! Hold!" Russell took one look and said "absolutely not." He said the same thing when Claudia wanted to pet a llama at the Houston Rodeo petting zoo.

Another perk of the Fisherman's Bastion is its close proximity to Matyas Church. It was built in the 13th century, but was given a big facelift in the 1800s when the yellow, orange and green tiles were added to the roof. Hungary went through a golden age of ceramic-adorned architecture and has several Art Nouveau palaces sprinkled throughout the city. I'm trying to visit all of them and when I do, I'll compile all the pictures in a post. Get excited!