Eastern Europe in 10 Days (Day 6): Wawel Cathedral, Krakow

Wawel Castle is actually made of two major components, the castle itself and Wawel Cathedral. While the former contains most of the exhibitions, the Cathedral is the building which has the mind-boggling and impressive interior. Wawel Cathedral has witnessed a number of crowning ceremony of almost every Polish king and queen throughout the country’s history. The current Wawel Cathedral is actually the third to be built on the site. The first two cathedrals are made of wood and were unfortunately burnt down by fire. There are a total of 18 chapels inside Wawel Cathedral. You may want to show particular interest to the 15th century Chapel of the Holy Cross, found to the right as you enter the cathedral which features some wonderful Russian murals and Veit Stoss’ 1492 marble sarcophagus to Kazimierz IV. You can also see the Royal Crypts, the final resting place of kings and statesmen and the wooden series of staircases leading to the Sigismund Bell, which can be heard 50km away when it’s ringing. 

If you want to go inside the Wawel Cathedral, you have to plan your visit carefully because the Cathedral is closed on certain occasions like New Year’s Day (1 Jan), Maudy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter Sunday, All Saints’ Day (1 Nov), Christmas Eve (24 Dec) and Christmas Day (25 Dec). In addition, the Cathedral Museum is closed every Sundays and holidays. The entrance tot the Cathedral is so grand with the turquoise big door. You have to wait here for your allocated tour timing. Do note that a visit without a licensed guide for a group consist of more than 10 people is strictly not allowed. 

I came out from different door upon finishing the tour inside Wawel Cathedral. The door led me to the Renaissance courtyard of Wawel Castle. I suppose this is where people used to meet and talk about anything under the sun back in those days. 

Other than the renaissance architecture, there is something special about this courtyard. At the upper left corner of the courtyard, there is a section of the wall which is famously known as the Wawel Chakra. The section of the wall is basically believed to be one of the world’s main centers of spiritual energy. If you want to be in the “force”, you just need to touch the wall to feel the force. I wonder if this is how George Lucas get inspiration for Jedi in Star Wars movies. Joking aside, a lot of people come here to touch the wall so there may be some truths to this urban legend of the Wawel Chakra. 

You can spend time to wander around the Castle and Cathedral complex to check out smaller churches building and also the statue of Karol Wojtyla, who in the year 1978 became Pope John Paul II. He offered his first Mass in the Cathedral in the year 1946. He is such a respected figure in Poland and the tour guide informed me that there are always flowers put by the Polish people in front of his statue everyday. 

Wawel Cathedral’s and the Cathedral Museum’s visiting information:

Monday to Saturday (Apr - Oct): 9AM to 5PM

Monday to Saturday (Nov - Mar): 9AM to 4PM

For Cathedral only:

Sunday (Apr - Oct): 12.30PM to 5PM

Sunday (Nov - Mar): 12.30PM to 4PM

Cathedral Museum is closed on Sundays

Eastern Europe in 10 Days (Day 5 and 6): Krakow, Poland

The whole of day 5 is actually wholly spent on commuting by bus from Prague to Krakow. The distance from Prague to Krakow can be covered within 6 hours but there is a mandatory rest period required for the bus and the bus driver and non-compliance can result in a huge amount of penalty for the driver and ultimately, the tour guide, because the driver usually will not have enough cash to pay for the fine in the event of random police check along the way. The EU regulator is pretty strict on this driving hours so better be safe than sorry. With that being said, my travel story effectively only continued on day 6 in the city of Krakow in Poland. I started the day by visiting Wawel Royal Castle complex. The tour bus passed by the longest river in Krakow, Vistula, while making the way toward the castle complex. 

Similar to setting of the royal castles in other European countries, Wawel Royal Castle is located in the old town district of Krakow. This means that a bit of walking if required because the bus can only bring us to certain proximity. The drop off point was near to a castle somewhere downhill. I don’t mind a bit of walking especially I did not have the chance to walk at all the day before. 

 After walking for 5 to 8 minutes away from the drop off point, I reached the vantage point to view Vistula River. The river runs through various different cities in Poland like Krakow, Warsawa, Plock, Tczew, etc. There is a park and walking path at the riverbank. I believe this makes a one beautiful spot for running or taking an evening stroll in Krakow. The Vistula River is also functioning as a source of irrigation for the country and it is also called the “Queen of Polish Rivers”. It gathers waters from the southern mountains near Krakow and stretches them peacefully over a thousand kilometres to the Baltic Sea in the far north at Gdansk. While the river looks calm and harmless from the picture, it created a havoc of flooding back in the year 2010. I suppose nature can be harmful at times in this fallen earth. 

There is one particular interesting statue built at one section of the riverbank. It is the statue of Wawel Dragon, a famous mythical dragon from Polish mythology who live in a cave at the foot of Wawel Hill. The dragon was actually a very bad dragon which likes to destroy houses and eat up the villagers’ young daughters. Yikes, really one heck of a creepy dragon. Thankfully, this Polish mythology ended up in a happy ending as a brave cobbler managed to kill the dragon by feeding it lamb stuffed with sulphur. Once the dragon got thirsty, it filled itself with the water from the river and died from explosion. Turns out you don’t have to use any weapon at all to kill a dragon in this story. 

Despite the interesting story of Vistula river and the Wawel dragon, the main attraction of Krakow is definitely Wawel Castle, which is perched on top of the hill of the same name at the south of the Old Town. The castle is the symbol of national pride, hope, and patriotism. It is even described somewhere in the tourist book as a uniquely Polish version of the British Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey rolled into one (I do think both palace painted in different colors though so I kinda doubt the resemblance, but anyway). The construction of the castle was heavily influenced by the Romanesque, Renaissance and Gothic architecture dating from around the 14th century onwards. A full tour of Wawel Castle can take an entire day so do gauge your timing carefully if you want to include a complete tour of the castle in your itinerary. Being in a tour, obviously I only had the chance to admire the castle from outside. Sadz. 

If you’d like to purchase tickets for the exhibitions inside the royal castle, you need to go to the main ticket office at the Visitor Centre. The Visitor Centre fills the entire ground floor building no. 9, a nice building constructed in the second half of the 19th century. The building looks so pretty with the red leaves all over the wall. 

Tickets for the exhibition in the Castle is very popular with the tourists, and they are only sold at limited number per day for specific entrance times (sounds like Disneysea’s Fastpass?). If you are coming in a group, advance reservation is required. The main ticket office opens at these timings:-

April 1 - 28: Mon 9am - 11.45am, Tue to Fri 9am - 3.45pm, Sat and Sun 9.30am to 3.45pm

April 29 - 30: Mon 9.30am - 6.45pm

May - June: Daily 9am - 5.45pm (Sat and Sun 9.30am - 5.45pm)

July - August: Daily 9am - 6pm (Sat and Sun 9.30am - 6pm)

September - October: Daily 9am - 4.45pm (Sat and Sun 9.30am - 4.45pm)

November - March: Tue to Sun 9am - 2.45pm (Sun 9.30am - 2.45pm), Mon closed

Eastern Europe in 10 Days (Day 4): Prague, Czech Republic

I reached Prague at late night on day 3 because it took the bus around 4 hours to reach Prague from Bratislava. I did nothing that night because our hotel is located outside the city centre and it’s basically too late to wander out so I just checked in and concussed on my bed. Anyway, I had a whole day to exlore the old town of Prague the next day. It’s very important to rest your pair of legs because the old town of Prague is huge and there is no motor vehicle allowed inside the old town. I suppose certain areas may be covered by tram but since I joined a tour and our tour does not really involve taking tram, so I had no choice but walking. Never mind, I love walking anyway.

Our exploration on day 4 started with a visit to St Wenceslas’ Vineyard at Prague Castle. The vineyard is located on the eastern hillside of the castle and guess what, it’s freely accessible. Other than having a superb view, St Wenceslas’ Vineyard is the oldest vineyard in Bohemia, being founded by St. Wenceslas himself at the beginning of the 10th century. There are only two varieties of grape cultivated in the vineyard itself, Riesling and Pinot noir. The other varieties of grape are cultivated along the viewing path. Visitors are welcomed to enjoy the drink at Villa Richter and the Piano Nobile restaurant at the lower part of the vineyard. 

Walking downhill from the St Wenceslas Vineyard, I continued to walk along the Lesser Town where the the Love Locks is located. It is a custom by which padlocks are affixed to a fence, gate, bridge or similar public fixture by lovers to symbolize their (supposedly or hopefully) everlasting love. It seems that the custom has existed for quite some time, up to the point nobody knows from where the custom originated. Our local guide told us that when you find your true love, you carve your names on a lock and lock it onto the gate, then throw the key into the canal. Sounds pretty similar to what the Korean love to do at Namsan Seoul Tower. 

 Climbing up from the Lesser Town, I have stepped onto the most visited bridge in Prague, Charles Bridge. It is a stone Gothic bridge that connects the Old Town and Lesser Town. It was constructed under the order of Czech king and Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV in the year 1357. It is said that egg yolks were mixed into the mortar to strengthen the construction of the bridge. There are so many statues on the bridge and it will take quite some time for you to check the statue one by one. I actually did try but my pictures were gone together with my dead Macbook Pro so I could not upload them here. Moving on from the tragedy of dead laptop, I guess I should be grateful that certain pictures are still intact from my phone. Like the view of the longest river in Prague, Vltava River taken from the middle of Charles Bridge. 

You may notice the riverbank view of Vltava Bridge from one of Jay Chou’s MV. Yep, he did the shooting in the city of Prague and hence, the similar buildings and the riverbank featured in his MV. If I recall correctly, he also held his pre-wedding photoshoot in Prague as well. Kinda envy but you cannot really be jealous toward a celebrity. A bit of know-your-place, please? Hahaha. 

At certain section of the river, visitors can enjoy some romantic attractions like the pedal boat hire. The activity is available from April to October from 11AM to 11PM. If you want to make the ride even more romantic, you can opt for the evening ride on boat equipped with a lantern. Now that sounds like something from Rapunzel’s story in Disney’s Tangled. Awww. 

From the many Baroque statues which are placed along either side of Charles Bridge in the 17th century, the most popular statue (it even had a queue forming in front of it) is the one of St John of Nepomuk, a Czech martyr saint who was executed during the reign of Wenceslas IV. Apparently he was thrown into the Vltava from the bridge. But what makes the statue popular is the belief that if you touch the statue, you are supposed to have good luck plut ensure your return to Prague (which I don’t mind, really). I wonder if the plaque is shone to perfection every other day because seriously it has been touched by I don’t know how many hands during the day. 

After crossing the bridge from Lesser Town to the Old Town, I have finally reached the largest castle area in the world, Prague Castle. It was founded in the year 880 and it has three courtyards and a number of gorgeous buildings over 7 hectares. So do you now realise why I did say that it’s very important to have a fresh pair of legs at the beginning of my post?

There is a guard stationed right at the entrance to the castle area. I really admire people who works as a guard because they really cannot move at all no matter if they are harassed by weather, animal or wacko tourists. 

The most dominant feature of Prague Castle is the St. Vitus Cathedral. I did not have time to enter the cathedral but website describes the interior of the cathedral as beautifully created by medieval masters lit to perfection by the rays of sunlight which stream through the beautiful stained-glass windows. The cathedral houses the tombs of important saints and Czech rulers (I start to wonder if most big cathedrals across Europe are haunted) including the tomb of St. Wenceslas and St. John of Nepomuk, as well as the emperor Charles IV and Rudolf II. If you have the time to enter the cathedral, make sure to climb up to the main tower to see the most beautiful view over Prague. 

At Vysehrad district which is located a few steps away from St. Vitus Cathedral, you can hear the sound of bells from the St Peter and Paul Basilica once a hour. The church has undergone a number of modifications in the 900 years since it was built. The construction was finally completed in 1903. Inside the church, you can find the interior which is richly decorated with Art Nouveau ornamental and figural wall paintings. The church’s treasury houses an exhibition of jewellery and rare textiles from the Vysehrad Chapter. 

Overall, I really love the old town of Prague. I think I covered the most important parts of the old town but I did admit one day is not enough to cover the whole area in leisure manner. My legs was pretty much sore toward the evening but it was one of the most memorable parts of the Eastern Europe tour. 

Eastern Europe in 10 Days (Day 3): Bratislava, Slovakia

The tour bus made a stop at Bratislava for a three hours stroll and lunch at the Old Town of Bratislava in Slovakia on the way between Budapest in Hungary to Prague in Czech. Bratislava is not a big country and its main attraction is the white castle on the hill which is named after the city. 

The Old Town is the smallest part of all the Bratislava parts but the area has the highest population density of approximately 4,000 inhabitants kilometer. It is the heart of Bratislava where the cultural, political, social and tourist center are mixed into one area. The area is perfect for a stroll as well especially during autumn season because the trees are changing color into beautiful yellow at this time of the year. 

Right at the entrance where the bus was dropping me, there is a statue of Jesus Christ carrying the cross. It seems to be a popular meeting place amongst the Slovakian at the Old Town. While I was at the bus, I also saw another landmark of Bratislava, a bridge with a structure which look like “UFO” at the top of the bridge. Apparently it’s really an UFO restaurant. Uhh no, I believe it’s owned by human and not alien. Hahaha. 

There is a main square at the centre of the old town where the Slovak National Theatre is located. Also known as the Bratislava’s opera house, the Neo-Renaissance-style building was opened in 1886 as the City Theatre. The building has so many busts of famous musical composers appear in the oval openings in the facade and at its stone sculptural group. The building is often used for three ensembles (opera, ballet, and drama). Ganymede’s fountain which was sculpted by local famous sculptor, Viktor Oskar Tilgner, is added on later in front of the theatre. 

At the right side of the Slovak National Theatre is the starting point for the Old Town sightseeing bus tour which will bring you to see main attractions in Bratislava from the Bratislava Castle to even the Danube River while listening to audio commentary about the passing monuments and the historic Old Town. The audio commentary is available in many languages: Slovak, Spanish, Dutch, English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Russian, Swedish, Turkish and Portuguese. 

The streets of the Old Town is crowded by mostly tourists but then I did find that the walk throughout the alleys and backstreet of the old town of Bratislava to be enjoyable. The crowd is just nice, without being too overcrowded like usual Asian city streets and the weather is cool. Bratislava is often referred to as “large village” by the locals, because apparently you cannot walk down the street without meeting a person you know. Looking at the density of the population at the city centre, I suppose I bound to bump into someone I know if I reside at Bratislava. The city is after not like other metropolitan cities, which never sleep. 

I saw that there are many shops scattered around the Old Town, especially on the main street called Obchodna. The name of the street literally means Shopping Street and you really can find a lot of shops here from souvenir store to bars, pubs, fast-food and restaurant. When I google online, it seems that there is a famous shopping mall with a beautiful river promenade named Eurovea shopping centre but I did not have the time to visit the shopping mall. 

Since it’s one month away from Christmas when I visited the Old Town of Bratislava, the souvenir store has started displaying homecrafted Christmas decoration. The christmas tree balls are so pretty but I do not really have the habit of putting up Christmas tree at my home since I’ve grown up because of the many hassles involved in putting up one. 

I’ve gotten pretty hungry after wandering around checking out one thing after another so it’s time to appease my groaring tummy. There are so many options to choose at the Old Town because the restaurants here are pretty international. They have Mexican, Italian, Slovakian and also British food. The tour guide (who often visited Bratislava) recommended Lochness Scottish Pub so I just ate together with him there since he should be the expert in this area anyway. 

The serving size of the food is huge here so I really suggest sharing. The size of the burger is huge and enough to feed two people nicely. It comes with three types of sauces and a basket of fries and onion rings. I was happily stuffed. In a Scottish Pub. At the Old Town of Bratislava. This sound weird and so mixed-up but that’s what basically happened. 

 Details for Bratislava by Sightseeing Bus Tour:

HIGHLIGHTS:

- Admire views of the futuristic Slovak Radio building and the Presidential Palace as you ride along the Danube River

- Visit Bratislava Castle and explore the capital’s charming old town

- Listen to audio commentary as you ride the sightseeing bus past churches, fountains and gardens

- See the most of Bratislava in 1-day by combining the Castle and Old Town tours

 TYPES OF TOUR:

- Bratislava Great Tour 1.5 hours

- Bratislava Old Town Tour 35 minutes

- Bratislava Castle Tour 1 hour

KNOW BEFORE YOU GO:

- Starting point for the Old Town Tour = Main Square

- Starting point for the Castle Tour = Hviezdoslav Square

- The Castle Tour is available daily except Dec 24 and 25, starting every hour from 9AM - 6PM

- The Old Town Tour is available daily from Mar 15 to Nov 15, starting every hour from 9AM to 5PM

Eastern Europe in 10 Days (Day 3): St Stephen Basilica, Budapest

I continued the trip from the Heroes Square to the next spot in the itinerary, St Stephen’s Basilica. I had the 360 degrees view from the bus when the bus was busy finding a drop-off point for us to alight down. St Stephen’s Basilica is the largest church in Budapest and it can house 8,500 people inside the cathedral at the same time. Several musical programs are held in the church throughout the year. 

The bus finally found a spot to drop us at the back of the church. We walked for a while to see the front side of the church. St Stephen’s Basilica is the most beautiful and significant church in Budapest due to is historical heritage. The church was dedicated to the holy king St Stephen who was also the founder of the Hungarian state. In addition, the church is also famous for its architectural and artistic value. The church houses so many valuable items including Hungary’s most sacred treasure, St Stephen’s mummified right hand, the Szent Jobb (re: Holy Right Hand). A bit background on the mummified right hand, the death of king St Stephen was followed by a turbulent period characterised by struggles for the throne. A certain faction of the king feared that the embalmed and mummified corpse of the king might be desecrated, and therefore ordered its removal from the marble sarcophagus standing in the middle of the basilica where king Stephen was buried on August 15, 1038 and hid it in the tomb under the basilica. The right hand of king remained intact and it was detached and taken to the treasury of the basilica since it was believed to have miraculous power.

The district where the basilica is located is a bustling city centre filled with row of cafes and souvenir stores. I suppose this place is always filled with tourists so it’s not really weird to find a lot of coffee shops and stores here. 

If you are looking for some souvenirs to bring back home, you may want to look for “Memories of Hungary”. When I first saw the words “Memories of Hungary”, I thought this building houses a museum. Turns out it is a big Hungarian souvenir shop. It is quite famous in Budapest and it has branches across the country. 

Memories of Hungary has a vast collection of products which tell visitors a story about Hungarian culture. The products sold here are related to traditional culture and folk customes of the Hungarian. The store has some interesting items other than the usual kitchen stuff and magnets. For instance, there are those party masks which you usually see people wearing at some banquet gala and wooden dolls in many sizes which pretty much similar to the Russian dolls. 

I do not know that Hungary is famous for its pepper ground/ paprika. It’s probably equivalent to chili flakes in Singapore. Paprika is powder made from grinding the pods of various kind of peppers. It is considered the national spice of Hungary. There are eight grades of Hungarian paprika which are differentiated by the level of smell and spiciness. The spice will make a good souvenir to bring back to your family (especially if there is a chef in the family). 

After Mom has finished looking around, we came out from the store with one or two fridge magnets (Mom is an avid collector of magnets). Wondering what to do while waiting for the rest of tour participants, I went to a gelato shop called Gelarto Rosa to check out what kind of gelato they serve in Budapest. Turns out it’s the kind of gelato shop where they will scoop and shape your gelato in the shape of flower. Oh my. 

You can choose two flavours and the staff will shape the gelato nicely to make a flower shape. My cousin asked me if I want to share the ice cream with her but this is one of the things in the world that I apply perfect selfishness so we ended up having our own ice cream. She chose strawberry and vanilla gelato. 

While I chose pistachio and vanilla gelato. On second thought, maybe I should have chosen other flavour instead because green flower does not really exist. But then again, who cares about such details, right? Hehe. 

 St Stephen’s Basilica is located at:

Szt. Istvan Ter, District V, M3 (blue line) metro Arany Janos utca Station

Opening times for tourists:

Mon - Fri: 9AM - 5PM

Sat: 9AM - 1PM

Sun: 1PM - 5PM

Admission: 

Free but it’s customary to pay 200 HUF - 1 EUR donation

Guided tours in English:

- Phone: (+36 1) 338 2151 and (+36 30) 703 6599

- Timing: 10AM - 3PM

- Includes: Chapel and the floodlit Holy Right of St Stephen, Treasury, Panorama view from the cupola (only between 1 Apr - 31 Oct)

- Tickets: 1,600 HUF (adults), 1,100 HUF (adults without going to cupola), 1,200 HUF (pensioners/ students), 900 HUF (pensioners/ students without going to cupola)

Eastern Europe in 10 Days (Day 3): Heroes Square, Budapest

The morning of my third day in Eastern Europe started with a visit to one of the famous historical sites in Budapest, the Heroes’ Square. The square is noted for its iconic statue complex featuring the Seven Chieftains of the Magyars as well as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The monument is was built for the 1896 Millenium and hence its name, Millenium Monument. Since 2002, the Millenium Monument and the Heroes Square has been included as part of UNESCO’s pretigious World Heritage Sites. 

In front of the monument there is a large stone cenotaph surrounded by an ornamental iron chain. The cenotaph is dedicated to “the memories of the heroes who gave their lives for the freedom of our people and our national independence”. While it looks like a real tomb, there is no way for the government of Hungary to bury that many soldiers who have lost their lives underneath the square. So this tomb just serves as a monumental piece and not the real burial site. Wreath-laying ceremony is conducted at this Hungarian War Memorial on national day. 

Behind the cenotaph, there is a column topped by the statue of the archangel, Gabriel. He holds the Holy Crown of St Stephen, who was the first king of Hungary, in his right hand. In the other hand, he holds a two barred apostolic cross, a symbol awarded to St Stephen by the Pope in recognition of his efforts to convert Hungary to Christianity. At the bottom of the column, there are the statues of the Chieftains of the Magyars. In a glance, these statues look like they are ready to come alive at night just like those from the Lord of the Rings movie. 

Few steps away from the monument at the centre of the Heroes Square lie the two matched colonnades, each with seven statues of great figures of Hungarian history. A lot of those figures are conquerors who had won great battles in the past. Stephen I of Hungary is one of them.

Right across the Heroes Square, there is Vajdahunyad Castle, one of the romantic castles in Budapest. It’s located right in the City Park by the boating lake/ skating rink. The castle was built in the year 1896 and it displays the evolution of architecture through centuries and styles in Hungary. Several festivals, concerts and exhibitions are held at the castle. I reallly wanted to check out the castle from closer distance but I did not really have much time to linger because I followed a tour. Sob. 

The Heroes Square is flanked by two museums. One is Museum of Fine Arts which is currently undergoing renovation (due for completion in 2018) and the other one is Hall of Art which hosts Hungarian and international works of art. Hall of Art opens from Tuesday to Sunday from 10AM to 6PM. On Thursday, it opens from 12PM - 8PM. Please note that it closed on Monday and national dates. 

 As the Heroes Square is definitely a must go in every tour group itinerary, you may want to visit the site in the morning before the site is crowded by many tour groups. 

Heroes Square is located at: 

The end of Andrassy ut, next to City Park in the VI. District.

How to go to Heroes Square:

You can take M1 (yellow) metro line to Hosok Tere Station

Eastern Europe in 10 Days (Day 2): Night River Cruise, Budapest

One of the main attraction in Budapest is definitely its late night Danube River Cruise. You can book one of the timings: 7pm, 8pm, 10pm or 11pm. The cruise usually departs from either the docks at Buda or Pest side of the city. Dinner and drinks may be available on the cruises (except for the 10pm timing) but it depends on your booking arrangement. Some the cruise rides are even themed for instance the 11pm Budapest Party Boat/ Booze Cruise. I joined the 10pm cruise which is the general sight-seeing cruise without any booze or dinner provided. The cruise lasts for 1.5 hours and it will bring you to see many famous historical sites, bridges and buildings in Budapest. Most of the 10pm cruises leave from the Pest side instead of Buda. Our night river cruise started by passing through underneath the shortest bridge in Budapest, the Liberty Bridge which was built for the Millenium World Exhibition in 1896. 

Next we passed by Buda Castle and the Fisherman’s Bastion, which we visited earlier in the evening. If I was a citizen of Budapest, I think I will spend my dating days at this castle because it really looks pretty much romantic in certain way. 

 We crossed yet another bridge in Budapest, the Chain Bridge, a suspension bridge that spans the river Danube between Buda and Pest, the western and easter sides of the city. During its construction, Chain Bridge was considered one of the wonders of the world. Nothing lasts forever, I suppose. 

At the end of the next bridge, the Elizabeth Bridge, lies the oldest church at the Pest side of Budapest, the Inner City Parish Church. The church is designed under heavy influence of Baroque and Gothic era combined with Romanesque basilica in the 12th century. The Elizabeth Bridge is the third newest bridge of Budapest which connect Buda and Pest across the river Danube. The bridge is located at the narrowest part of the Danube and hence only spans for 290m. 

We are now passing by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. It is the most important and prestigious learned society of Hungary. It has the responsibilities to cultivate science, disseminate scientific findings, support research and development and represent Hungarian science domestically and around the world. I wonder if science is a popular career choice in Hungary. 

The last building that we passed by is definitely my most popular site that night. The 100 years old Hungarian Parliament Building is a magnificent example of Neo-Gothic architecture with Renaissance and Baroque characters. It was constructed in 1885 and augurated in 1896. Hungary adopts a parliamentary republican system and its election system is said to be one of the most complicated in Europe. Guided tours of the Parliament are available when the National Assembly is not in session. The tour takes about 45 minutes and it covers the main entrance stairs and hall, one of the lobbies, the old House of Lords and the Hungarian Crown Jewels. The admission is 2,000 HUF for EU citizens and 4,000 HUF for non-EU citizens. 

Details on the 10PM Budapest Night Cruise: 

- Embarking time: 9.30pm

- Dock: Pest dock

- Cruise time: 10pm - 11.30pm

- Live music (salon music)

- Options: Wine tasting cruise/ Cocktail cruise with 2 cocktails/ Craft beer tasting cruise/ Dinner in buffet style

- Dates: The late night 10pm cruise is not a daily cruise all year. Prior check on the dates is necessary.