Filed under: Hungary
Days 108 – 113, Thursday 4th – Tuesday 9th December 2008 (Cath and Al)
Budapest – our last stop in Europe. This had always seemed so far away, and so final. We saw lots, but spread it out thinly over the five days we spent here, in between sleep-ins, lots of bowls of goulash soup, and just hanging out in our comfy warm hostel. So in no particular order, here are some of the things we’ve seen and done:
Square outside St Stephen’s Cathedral, with examples of the types of buildings making up most of Budapest (particularly the Pest side of the Danube) - low-rise, elegant, slightly faded, but being rejuvenated.
Andrassy Avenue – sort of like St Kilda Rd in Melbourne
Terror House museum – a conversion of the former headquarters of both the Nazi puppet government and Communist Secret Police, now detailing the atrocities committed and living conditions under both regimes, and acting as a sculptural memorial to their victims. The museum has some great material, and I’m sure its extensive use of multimedia attracts the kids who wouldn’t normally visit museums like this, but we must be getting old – we felt swamped by the sound effects and could have done with a nice quiet room to sit down and read!
Heroes’ Square – built to commemorate the arrival of the Magyar tribes in the Carpathian basin
Ice skating in the park behind Heroes’ Square
Shame we can’t upload video here – we pulled out some amazing ice dancing.
Szechenyi Baths – lucky that it’s beautiful, as we spent 40mins in line and sorting out what ticket to buy
We settled for the regular water tub bath
The steamy outdoor pool – wonderfully warm inside, freeeeezing outside. Well, not quite freezing – it would have been cooler if there was snow. Pun intended.
Although initially puzzled, we guessed correctly that these empty sculpted shoes along the Danube are part of a memorial to Holocaust victims, shot by Arrow Cross militiamen (Nazi puppet government) and taken away by the river.
Houses of Parliament – loosely based on the Westminster building
Kids can visit Santa’s house, but not sure why a devil/demon guy is the bouncer
Basilica of St. Stephen, features another gruesome holy relic – his arm
Palace lit up at night
The Chain Bridge – the first bridge to cross the Danube in Budapest. Our walking guide did not mention that it is not completely original – a photo we saw later at the Terror House showed it (and every other bridge here) destroyed by the retreating Nazi’s in WWII
Opera House (Free tickets! Free orchestra! Score!)
A ‘free’ walking tour around the city gave us an insight into what life was like during Soviet occupation (needless to say, terrible), and the staff at our hostel helped us gain an insight into contemporary life in Budapest, showing us hidden cosy bars (to get to one, we had to walk through someone’s carport!) and restaurants where we spent relaxed nights with some others from our hostel.
TO BE CONTINUED – We’re about to hop on the plane to Amman – will be in touch from Jordan soon! xo
Day 107, Wednesday 3rd December 2008 (Cath)
Taking the train from Salzburg to Budapest, via Vienna, felt like closing the loop on our European travels. The one place we didn’t mean to leave out of the loop, but have had to because of limited time and money, was Slovenia – we have heard such good things about Ljubljana and Lake Bled that we are sad to miss it.
Before we wrap up the Salzburg section of this blog, I should emphasise that it is not (shock! horror!) all about The Sound of Music. It has a UNESCO World Heritage listed old town centre, it is the birthplace of Mozart, it is in the middle of the incredibly picturesque Salzkammergut landscape, and in the warmer months (unfortunately not now) you can explore ice caves nearby.
We had a great time wandering the streets and experiencing the European Christmas atmosphere for the first time, especially at night (which starts at 4:30pm, so there’s plenty of time). The Weichnachtsmarkt outside Schloss Mirabell and the Christkindlmarkt in Residenzplatz were our nocturnal hang-outs - you were most likely to find us standing with a warm mug of gluhwein in hand, listening to a choir sing, surrounded by fairy lights, then snacking on various kinds of wurst and donut pretzl.
Mozart’s birthplace
Rugged up street cherub (don’t know if this really counts as a ’strange child mannequin’, as it is more like a statue, but I won’t keep Salzburg out of the competition on a technicality)
Poo Man – keeping the streets clean
Note: his bike/wheelbarrow is a good idea, but wouldn’t you want the poo-filled trough behind you? Perhaps here in Salzburg, even horse manure smells sweet.
The train to Budapest was pleasant en0ugh – sunny green rolling hills, villages and meadows, and an imperial city made up the world outside our windows before dark – and it was our last for some time. The next one we plan to catch will be in Egypt, which seems far, far away, but is really just around the corner.
