Budapest Hungary

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Trip Start May 01, 2007 Previous
Entry Trip End Apr 29, 2008 Next
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  Budapest, Hungary
Monday, July 9, 2007

Budapest is surely a budget-traveller's paradise. We were able to stay in a nice private university dorm, have a sit down meal (gasp!) and visit museums everyday, while staying on or below budget. The people are friendly, the sights are grand, cheap and varied, and the food is bloody fantastic. I actually started to wonder if there is any Hungarian food I wouldn't like. Aside from the Soviet-era, roof shingle-like toilet paper in abundance here, Budapest was awesome. I was continually surprised that a country that was so recently freed from Soviet rule (the last Russian soldier left in something like 2000) could appear so much like a rich Western democracy. Good stuff!
We arrived in Budapest by train from Vienna, and quickly located our first hostel on the Pest side of town (East of the Danube). After a hellish night stay there (picture a window exploding like a bomb in the middle of the night, showering a poor girl in glass), we found a nice place on the Buda side (West of the Danube) and all was well

01 City View

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As usual, our main activity was walking, and there were plenty of things to see to keep us entertained while doing so. Margaret Island, which sits in the middle of the Danube river is a great place to relax, enjoy the sun and stroll. There is a big fountain there that is synched to classical music played through loudspeakers in the area - when the music gets louder or increases in tempo, the fountain sprays more, higher. It was pretty cool to sit and watch. Margaret Island also contains a great restaurant (the name of which is nearly unpronounceable to us) where we had, among other things, chilled strawberry and peach soup. Yummy.
We visited a Synagogue that has a beautiful monument to tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews that were massacred by the Nazis. It took the shape of a big metal tree, and each leaf had the name of a victimized family inscribed on it. It was really powerful. Something else along those lines we saw was a museum called the House of Terror. In an unassuming building on a residential street, there is a building that housed what was essentially the Hungarian wing of the Nazi party (the Hungarian Arrow Cross party) during the Second World War, then the security apparatus for Soviet rule afterwards. In that building, thousands upon thousands of political prisoners were interned, tortured and killed. In addition to an exhaustive history lesson, they had a replica of some of the cells used to house people - including one with 6 inches of water on the floor and no furniture, and another that was about 2 square feet, not nearly enough room to move or sit down

02 Parliament

. Both of those things were a really sobering reminder that, once again, we're VERY lucky to be Canadian.
On a happier note, we saw St. Steven's Basilica, which is a Cathedral dedicated to Hungary's first Catholic monarch, way back around the year 1000. It was a church that was certainly worthy of sitting in the Vatican. Absolutely stunning. Inside the Basilica is a relic of St. Stephen - his mummified right hand, which sits in a glass box. For 100 forints, about $0.58, you can light it up for 2 minutes. Good fun. As an aside, the story goes that after King St. Stephen was crowned, the Pope sent Bishop Gellert to convert the people to Catholicism. He failed, and was thrown to his death from a cliff by the Danube, which now carries his name, and a pretty elaborate monument to him.
We walked around the grounds of the palace, and visited the Labyrinth of Buda Castle. Originally caves eroded from the earth by rain and groundwater, and inhabited by pre-historic man, the caves were expanded and used as bomb-shelters and a secret base during the Cold War. The caves were just recently opened to the public, and an amusement area of sorts was built down there, with art displays, creepy statues and music, and for some reason a room with real ivy growing underground, and red wine pouring from a fountain. It was really cool.
Our stay was rounded out with some more walking around, visiting various art museums, and a trip to Heros Square, with a large monument to important Hungarian historical figures. Budapest really is a place where one could spend a good couple of months, enjoying the sights, and all the green spaces, eating tons and living the good life. It was a great stay, and we'd love to return.
Next stop, Munich.

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03 Buda Castle Labyrinth	04 Terri's New Best Friend	05 Bishop Gellert	06 Memorial
07 Basilica	08 Talk to the Hand	09 Musical Fountain	10 Heroes' Square

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