Parliament House
The last monument to communism- left as part of the pull out in 1991 is strangely located directly outside the heaviestly guarded building in Budapest - Yes the US Embassy
Dinner Uringa style
It is indeed a small world when you climb a hill to Castle Buda and there standing on a street corner was Ian McKenzie studying the map of the castle intently. Well let us make it even smaller by tossing in Nick and Margaret with whom we shared dinner on a couple of nights and then as we were waiting to tour the ""Underground Hospital" who should walk out on the previous tour none other than Mr Summer Series - Ross Barr.
There is no doubt that travelling to Eurpoe is mind numbing. Even with a magical personal entertainment system spitting movies at you and some great foo,. 30+ hours of sitting bolt upright in a far from comfy chair is not my idea of fun especially if you do not sleep. Mind you it is a means to an end.
The beds at our hotel are not exactly soft and lush but by goodness when the head hit the pillow and the body became horizontal on the first night here there were plenty of zzzzzzzzzzz!
Budapest is a beautiful place. The contrast on the river flats - boy did they have some fun with floods over the years, and the hills on the Buda side of the Danube make it a very picturesque city. There is history and charm dripping from every corner. There is a marked constrast with some buildings having had centuries of grime cleaned from their stonework and others still a very black looking grubby appearance. Some buildings have only the bottom floor cleaned - that is because the rich live on the bottom floor and only they can afford to get the building cleaned.
The transport system is far easier to master than the names of the stops.
Food is good and cheap and beer is very good and cheap. Yes they have bananas at $1.25kg and tasty they were and I can tell you we will be eating more than our fill over the next few weeks.
Lots of walking and yes blisters are a part of life for someone( not me).
I can recommend the "Free Communist Walking Tour" great info and an outstanding guide who had experienced life under communism. Life here is still subject to corruption that became the norm after the carve up of communists owned utilities.
We are now heading for Pecs home of WMOC.
Stand by for chapter 2 -Peaking at Pecs (pronounced paish)
1 comment:
Thanks for the great pictures and commentary, Ron. We will be in Budapest for two days in August and will look up that tour.
I was there for a conference in 2007 and remember a number of buildings that still were pockmarked with bullet holes from past attempted uprisings, such buildings interleaved with brand new or redevelopments. On that trip I also took a walking tour around the Jewish quarter with a university students - a great experience - should have mentioned it to you.
Mary Jane
Post a Comment