Gellért Hill

Last Day in Budapest, Hungary

Enjoyed my last day in Budapest, I spent my day at the thermal baths, the Frida Kahlo exhibit, and walked around the Castle District.

I walked across the Liberty Bridge this morning on my way to the Gellért Thermal Baths (You can see the building on the left side of the bridge on the other end). The bridge is beautiful, it has two eagles at the top. The Liberty Bridge is the shortest bridge in Budapest’s center. Initially built as part of the Millennium World Exhibition at the end of the 19th century, the bridge features art nouveau design, mythological sculptures and the country’s coat of arms adorned on its side.
Part of the famous Hotel Gellért in Buda, the Gellért Thermal Baths and Swimming Pool is a bath complex in Budapest, Hungary.
The bath complex was built between 1912 and 1918 in the (Secession) Art Nouveau style. It was damaged during World War II, but then rebuilt. The “magical healing spring” was used by the Turkish during the 16th and 17th centuries.
The Gellért Baths include thermal baths, which are small pools containing water from Gellért hill’s mineral hot springs. The water contains calcium, magnesium, hydrocarbonate, alkalis, chloride, sulfate and fluoride. Medical indications of the water include degenerative joint illnesses, spine problems, chronic and sub-acute joint inflammations, vertebral disk problems, neuralgia, vasoconstriction, and circulatory disturbances; inhalation problems for the treatment of asthma and chronic bronchitis problems. The thermal baths are decorated beautifully with mosaic tiles.
After swimming in the baths, I enjoyed an iced coffee in the main hall, built in Art-Nouveau style.
Crossing the Liberty Bridge back, you can see Gellért Hill overlooking the Danube River. Gellért Hill was named after Saint Gerard who was thrown to death from the hill. The famous Hotel Gellért and the Gellért Baths can be found in Gellért Square at the foot of the hill. At the top of the hill is the Citadella (Citadel), from which a view is available down both directions of the Danube. (If you click on my blog post of Budapest from 2015, you can see pictures of the time I was up at the Citadel from my first trip to Budapest).
The entrance to the Hungarian National Gallery. The gate has a statue of a Turul bird, it presumably originated as the clan symbol used in the 9th and 10th centuries by the ruling House of Arpad.
The Frida Kahlo exhibit. Thanks to the Museo Dolores Olmedo in Mexico City, and several other Mexican art collections, more than thirty paintings and graphics of the artist was on display.
My ticket was 3200 Hufs, but don’t worry because that only comes out to about $12.00. What a deal!
The entrance to the exhibit.
Frida Kahlo, The Broken Column, 1944.
Frida Kahlo, Without Hope, 1945.
Frida Kahlo, The Abortion, 1932.
Frida Kahlo, Self Portrait with Small Monkey, 1945.
Frida Kahlo, The Deceased Dimas, 1937.
Frida Kahlo, Still Life with Parrot And Fruit, 1951.
Walking around the National Gallery grounds.
The Holy Trinity Statue can be found in the middle of Trinity Square. The column commemorates the people of Buda who died from two outbreaks of the Black Plague.
Waling around Fisherman’s Bastion at daytime.
Walking around Matthias Church at daytime.
Fisherman’s Bastion during the daytime, today this place is known for its beautiful views over the city.
Mailing off my watercolored postcard to the Chain Bridge to a friend in the United States.
Before leaving Budapest, I had to have a Trdelník or “chimney cake”, which is prepared with dough that is wrapped around a stick, before being baked on an open fire. The chimney cake is topped with a mixture of sugar and walnut, or cinnamon sugar and filled with ice cream.