Danube Cruise #8: Money Note, Hungarian National Gallery and Budapest History Museum

In today's blog, we'll tell you about 3 museums on Castle Hill in Budapest. The Hungarian National Gallery and  Budapest History Museum. There's also a special note about money in Hungary that you NEED to know. Read on!   

IMPORTANT MONEY NOTE - Because we were only in Hungary 1 day, we didn't want to exchange money into Hungarian money. We had EUROS. Although Hungary is part of the European Union, businesses in Hungary DON'T accept the Euro, frustratingly enough! That meant that we couldn't tour the Labyrinth or the Houdini museum, but we got into enough of both to get a feel for them. 

Hungarian National Gallery

THE HUNGARIAN NATIONAL GALLERY - Although this was closed when we visited, it sounds interesting.  It is located in the main wing of Buda Castle facing the Danube. A cross-section of Hungarian sculpture and painting is on display, ranging from the time of the Magyar invasion through the Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque periods to the richly productive 19th and 20th centuries. Sculptures and panel paintings from the medieval and Renaissance periods are of particular interest, as are the late Baroque works, 19th-century paintings, and sculptures 

Budapest History Museum

THE BUDAPEST HISTORY MUSEUM - Also CLOSED when we visited, but it sounds fascinating, too!  - Here's what's inside: It's in the south wing of Buda Castle. Highlights include rare documents, ceramics, wrought-iron work, textiles, household utensils, and other objects that give a picture of life as it once was in the independent towns of Óbuda, Buda, and Pest up to 1872.

In the Renaissance Room, a painting shows Matthias Corvinus and Beatrice of Aragon, his second wife, while the Gothic Room's fine sculptures date from between 1370 and 1420 (they were discovered during excavation work in 1974).

NEXT: THE HOUDINI MUSEUM, WHO WAS HARRY HOUDINI?