On March 15, 1848 a number of students met at a cafe early in the morning in Budapest to present a list of 12 points to begin a bloodless revolution from the Hapsburg Empire. First on this list was the freedom of press and after commandeering a printing press, the group quickly printed off the twelve freedoms and distributed these to the masses. Over the following days, many joined the revolution from Vienna and Bratislava and the leaders of the Hapsburgs had no option but to concede to the wishes of the people. Over the next year, new governments were formed and Independence was eventually obtained by the Hungarian people.

Though this is a very simplistic explanation of the Revolution, it is nevertheless held as a very important day here in Hungary. It is a national holiday and there are parades, speeches, and of course, lots of entertainment and street food. Richard and I headed out to the Parliament Buildings and though we had missed all the pomp and circumstance, there were still a number of people milling around there. We took some pictures and then headed back towards Castle Hill where many of the celebrations were taking place. As I was not feeling up to large crowds of people, I headed back to the apartment. Richard however, headed up to the hill and the following pictures/videos will give you an example of what he found.

The Parliament building in Budapest which is the third largest Parliament building in the world. 

I (Richard) was glad I headed up Castle Hill to take part in the celebrations.  There was a smorgasbord of Hungarian food, entertainment and culture.  

They had a few tables where they were handing out free samples of homemade bread and meats.  The best I could do however was get close enough to get a couple pictures.  You would have thought the people were starving to death the way they were fighting to get some free nibbles.  

Giant hamburger patties that were served in what looked like big pita bread.  They would load them up with onions, peppers and all types of condiments.  I wanted one so bad, but I didn’t want to ruin my supper.

More delicious looking food.  The big bowl is small pieces of chicken.

Local Hungarian spirits.  I tried a sample of the sour cherry and the plum.  

The following food was some kind of pizza or fruit dish.  The pastry was deep fried and then loaded with all kinds of toppings.  There was a line up a mile long for this food.  I asked an individual if I could take a picture of his.

I am not sure what the following item is called, but it sure looked good.  The video shows how the dough was rolled and the picture shows how it was cooked over a low fire.  After it was cooked it was rolled in sugar, nuts, etc…..