THE first time I visited Budapest I spent the hours after checking into my hotel out exploring without my camera.
I arrived in the Hungarian capital not long after lunch and, to avoid the temptation of curling up in bed and taking an afternoon nap that would turn into a jetlag-inducing sleep, I headed out for a walk with the intention of strolling around for an hour.
Instead I walked the full length of Andrassy Ut, the city’s iconic boulevard that stretches from Elizabeth Square to City Park, and it was during this outing that I fell in love with Budapest.
I was staying at a hotel beside the Opera House, one block back from Andrassy Ut, and I knew I loved this city by the time I had walked the 20m or so to the front of the handsome building that’s crowned with statues of Hungary’s arts icons.
Instead of turning around, and returning to the hotel so I could fetch my camera,
I continued my walk and spent the next few hours kicking myself because I was wasn’t able to capture images of the scenes I saw as I strolled Andrassy Ut.
So, when I discovered I would be returning to Budapest on this trip, I knew the first thing I wanted to do was retrace my steps along Andrassy Ut with my camera and take the pictures I missed the first time.
I’m staying at Le Meridian Hotel, which is right beside Elizabeth Park, so I set my alarm to chime early this morning and hit the footpath when the sun was still low in the sky to walk the 2.3km to Heroes' Square.
It took me three hours – I stopped to snap a lot photos and even ventured down some of the side streets to take pictures of the beautiful Art Nouveau, Art Deco and Stalinist buildings that line the boulevard – but I retraced my steps.
On the journey out I walked along the side of the street that was in the shade, so I could take pictures of the structures across the road as they were bathed in the morning light.
These are the buildings that were constructed during the 1870s and 80s according to the designs produced by a team of the city’s most celebrated architects, led by Miklos Ybl, which were financed by the era’s most prestigious national and international banking houses.
Most of the building was finished by 1884, when aristocrats and bankers moved their families into the new palaces, and the boulevard was named in honour of Prime Ministed Gyula Andrassy in 1885 because he was the main supporter of the project.
On my return journey, when the temperature was rising and the streets were busy with traffic, I walked along the sunny side of the street to snap more detailed shots of the wrought-iron fences and rustic doors.
Andrassy Ut has been known by a variety of names over the decades and was even rebranded three times during the 1950s, behaviour that reflects the rapid political changes that were happening during that era.
It became Sztálin Ut (Stalin Street) in 1950 during the Soviet occupation, was named Magyar Ifjúság Utja (Avenue of Hungarian Youth) during the 1956 uprising, and then given the name Népköztársaság Ut (People's Republic Street)
by the ruling Communist government just a year later.
The former name of Andrássy Ut, which seems to suit this majestic boulevard, was restored when Communism crumbled in 1990.
I wrote a story about Budapest after my last visit, which was published in Escape back in August 2010, and I can’t think of any better words to describe Andrassy Ut than the ones I used then.
"The city reminds me of Paris, albeit a slightly faded version of the French capital, and the four and five-storey buildings in the streets around the neo-Renaissance Opera House have Art Deco, Art Nouveau and Belle Époque influences," I wrote after my first visit in 2009.
"While you will find magnificent old structures in all the streets of Leopold Town, Theresa Town and Elizabeth Town some of the most elegant antique dwellings line Andrassy Ut which is, and always had been, the city’s grandest boulevard.
"The long avenue links Varosliget – City Park, where you’ll find the inspiring statues of Heroes’ Square – and the lawn of Elizabeth Square, which is only a short walk from the always-busy pedestrian shopping street of Vaci Ut.
"Today it’s the spot where many countries have put their embassies but, in the old days, when aristocrats built majestic homes that were surrounded by `private parks’, this was the avenue where elegant ladies and gentlemen would stroll beneath the chestnut trees.
"When you’re walking in the footsteps of the old nobles you should take the time to go below Andrassy Ut.
"When the Metro’s Millennium Line was built below the boulevard in the late 19th century it was Continental Europe’s first subway.
"It took a while for public transport to be allowed into this part of town because Pest’s authorities didn’t want to `ruin the elegance of the street’ by letting horse-drawn or electric trams run along the handsome corridor.
"Eventually it was decided the area needed something and the 3.7kms of underground track was laid in just 20 months because the avenue was paved with wooden blocks which mean digging the tunnel was an easy task.
"Today you can ride the subway – the same journey made by Franz Josef, who was Austria’s emperor and Hungary’s king when he christened the line – or walk the footpaths above to admire the august buildings.
"But if you’re thinking about taking the Metro’s Yellow Line to Varosliget you should do it at night because ascending from Hosok Tere station, and seeing the lights of Heroes’ Square before you, is considered to be one of the city’s great experiences."