Budapest

Our Wanderlust hasn't diminished.

After watching a travel show that featured Budapest, we knew we wanted to go. When an affordable travel package presented itself, we immediately purchased it and began to make plans for our February trip using a travel guide passed on to J by one of his colleagues.

Prior to this trip, all I knew of Hungary was relegated to goulash, Liszt and the underground caves located in Buda (thanks to the travel program).

Initially we were thankful that our flight originated in Frankfurt and not Hahn, which is an hour's drive or more from our home. Frankfurt is easily accessible from our house, so we took a bus to our local train station and then a train to the airport. Because we weren't utilizing Ryanair, an unbelievably inexpensive airline, we were able to bring several suitcases on the trip (with a much higher weight restriction).

We arrived in Budapest on time and were glad that we'd arranged a car hire as the local transportation into the city center was limited due to the time of day. Our driver wordlessly drove us to our apartment which we soon discovered was unavailable due to remodeling. Thankfully, the agency that owned the apartment made arrangements for us to take another, larger apartment. A taxi was supplied by the agency to carry us to the new apartment. We arrived just around midnight and collapsed. Budapest began with an inauspicious start, but quickly redeemed itself.

Budapest was under Nazi control during WWII, and as such, many members of the Jewish community suffered. While some were transported to camps, others were killed within the city limits. Not wanting to continue to dig mass graves to bury the bodies of murdered Jews, it was decided that Jews would be lined up along the promenade overlooking the Danube River and shot by members of the Arrow Cross Party, a pro-Nazi party led by Hungarians. As they were shot, the bodies of men, women and children fell to the Danube below, their watery grave. This memorial, notwithstanding the camps themselves, is the most poignant memorial I've visited to date. Bronzed shoes are lined up along the Danube promenade as an homage to the murdered Jews of Budapest.

View of the shoes with the Chain Bridge in the background

The memorial is a bit tricky to access as it lies across from the Parliament building on the opposite side of a main thoroughfare. Because the snow obscured some of the shoes, we dusted it off and discovered that some shoes were filled with candles, rocks and other mementos. Log was moved when he spotted a pair of baby's shoes and asked if children were killed also. When I replied that children had indeed perished, Log set out to remove all traces of the snow from the pair of baby's shoes.

Budapest is actually comprised of three cities that were later incorporated. Buda and Pest lie on opposite sides of the Danube. The Danube is said to the be the natural border between Europe and Asia with Buda being on the European side and Pest on the Asian side. Below is a view of Buda Castle located on the Buda side. We spent the better part of our first day walking along the Buda side. Bitter winds blew along the hill top making it necessary for us to seek refuge and drink tea!

I think the best way to take the pulse of a place is to visit its market. Budapest's market, the Great Market Hall, was located indoors and consisted of three stories: the basement housed a grocery store, the ground floor featured stalls with vendors selling spices, fruits, vegetables and limited amounts of meat, and the grid-shaped third floor housed vendors selling marked-up souvenirs. There was no shortage of paprika to be found, and I was happy to buy both the sweet and hot varieties. Prior to coming to the market, Bop and I had ordered Chicken Paprikash at a Mom and Pop type of restaurant and LOVED it! Only the sweet or smoked paprika is used in cooking while the hot paprika is placed in shakers on the table so that diners can adjust the dish to their liking.

This avenue, Andrassy Ut, is meant to be Budapest's version of the Champs Elysees, though it was hard to garner a sense of its beauty due to the season and bare trees. The sides of the large avenue were lined with modish shops and the Opera, whose ball was held during our visit. We rode a metro, the world's oldest, along the length of the street.

The Avenue ends at Heroes' Square.

Sculptures of no one in particular were to be found all over the city. Littlest liked this statue of a sleeping man in a park best.

Budapest lay sieged by the Russians for nearly 100 days. Together with the Nazis, Hungarians worked to fend off the Communists but failed. During the war a hospital with then modern trappings was constructed in the labyrinth of underground caves of the Buda Hills. The hospital was made useful again during the 1956 Revolution in which the Hungarians attempted to thwart the Communist regime. The Soviets, fearful of nuclear and chemical attacks, re-purposed the hospital as a bunker that could support life for three weeks. Log was chosen from among our group to turn the handle of the air siren. Bop and Littlest were taken aback by the wax figures meant to represent wounded patients; they were quite graphic.

View of Parliament from the Buda side

Log and J in front of a pock-marked wall, evidence of the fighting that took place during WWII.

Column memorialinzg the victims of the Plague

View of St Matthias Church with the Fisherman's Bastion visible

We took time out to travel to a flea market just outside of the city where we found men enjoying a game of chess, a common Hungarian pastime. The wares offered were eclectic and diverse. We made several purchases and enjoyed browsing the goods.

View of arch leading into the sunken courtyard of Buda Castle

St Matthias Fountain. The fountain tells the story of a peasant girl who met a huntsman in the woods. The huntsman and girl fell in love, the girl oblivious to the huntsman's true identity. Seeking to know him, the girl followed the huntsman and discovered that he was King Matthias. Knowing that they could never marry due to differences in class, the girl killed herself. The fountain's designer was quite clever as the girl, located out of the frame, appears to be tear streaked as the water drizzles over her head running down her cheeks.