The Parliament

As the third largest parliament building in all the world, (Romania and Argentina apparently take top honors), it is also one of the must-do tourist attractions in Budapest. We went there on Sunday because the google said it was open but the guards and ropes and black limousines all around it made us think differently.

We returned on Monday. No ropes and limousines but it still didn't look like it was open. Not a single sign led us around the building to the far side to the stairs that went underground to the tour entrance. Luckily we kept looking, but even so, we had to buy our tickets for later and then return at 4:15P for our brief tour. The place is quite roomy (100+ stairs up to start the tour, thank you) and very ornate. From the gilded ceilings:

 

To the original stained glass windows that were taken down and stored underground before the bombings in WWII.

 

 

Unfortunately, I can't show you the crown jewels. (No photography in that room.) But they too were saved during the war when they were somehow given to the American Army and kept in safe keeping in Fort Knox until Jimmy Carter returned them.

However, by far the prettiest sight, again, was the building at night outside. I have to say that I don't think I was so unprepared for the temperatures as I was for the nearly constant cloudy, drear and drizzle. In Michael's photos of the outside of the Parliament last night, the flash captured the falling mist:

Pretty!