Step Right Up Ladies and Gentlemen – Circus Day!

Our day at the circus!

The Grand City Circus is located in Budapest’s City Park at the end of  Andrássy Avenue, and it’s entrance way is through Heroes’ Square a monument to the 12 Kings of Hungary. Beside this huge and beautiful statue display are the Museum of Fine Arts, and the Palace of Art. Both are beautiful to make a day of, and we may find the time. My Uncle Pitu would take me through the museums as our yearly outing when I was young. Memories I will take with me forever. 

?Here you will find a man-made lake with rental paddleboats with a walkway around. In the winter people skate its frozen surface with the Vajdahunyad Castle in the background. Also you will find: the Petofi Hall a community centre, the Széchenyi Medicinal Baths and Swimming Pool, The City Zoo, The Fun Park (VidamPark) and The City Circus. It also has endless food and souvenir vendors, restaurants and playground areas for kids to play in. Trees provide shade; walkways throughout make a great day trip for tourists travelling around Hungary. 

It was a busy day for our family. We walking from our apartment to the metro, then up towards the park. Once there we decided on the Circus, being that the end of summer lineups for the Zoo and Happy Park (Play Land like) were too long for us to wait through. 

The F?városi Nagycirkusz or Grand City Circus has been entertaining people for 115 years! The quality of work from the performers was among the finest in the field, travelling the world sharing their talents.

The kids loved the clown and the pirate. We found ourselves laughing, and were swept up in the silliness.

They had the entire circus ring filled with water, fountains and water falls. It had a ‘Circ Du Soleil’ feel to it. Synchronized swimmers, dancers, and acrobats; swam, danced, and entertained us for 2 hours. The end acts were seals, crocodiles and a huge python. They all swim in turn in the giant pool with their handlers. They had trained cats, and doves and of course the high wire acts, gymnasts, and contortionists. The singer was perched high above our heads and sang beautifully throughout the show. The live band added a touch of elegance. The place was packed, smiles on every face.

My favorite act was the 3-bronzed weightlifters, slowly moving to music and posing in the most unreal positions in slow motion.  We saw 3 men, 1 woman, incredible strong, lifting then holding each other, showing palm-sweating stillness. It was so unbelievable I forgot to take pictures. I didn’t want to miss a second of it!

The kids enjoyed Cotton Candy on our walk home. Exhausted we fell into our beds last night. Today Lake Balaton!