Return of the Craic

15 sleeps until the adventure begins. Ireland warn your footpaths that my face is coming.

As has been my habit for the last couple of trips I’ll be doing a little travel blog. So follow along at home and share in the memories.

Save City Park

Today was a very laid back. Greg flew back to Stockholm and Ami and Felix went to Spanish class. After a lazy morning I went for a walk up to City Park. 

City Park is home to numerous attractions: the Heroes' Square, a couple of museums/galleries, the Széchenyi Baths,

The Budapest Zoo, 

a permanent circus and an amusement park, even a faux castle, which is still more authentic than Kryal Castle.

I sat in the sunshine and read my book. Soaking up the warm spring air.

City Park is currently under threat from the government who are determined to move most of the Hungarian museums to the park. This would mean removing a lot of the gardens and century old trees, essentially the "park" bit of City Park. 

The local city council are fighting against the plan and although there is strong local opposition against the governments plans the general consensus appears to be "the stupid government will waste money doing stupid things."

Felix and I had fun entertaining each other taking selfies and watching YouTube clips! 

 

A Haunting History

Today began in lazy fashion with a sleep-in - oh the bliss of holidays!! Ami and I went for a walk into the city having brunch in the theatre district. Government regulations have prohibited Sunday trading for all stores other than family run operations, so there were far fewer shops open and only a smattering of tourists.

We plodded towards the parliament building. Another glorious spring day provided a beautiful backdrop for our meandering.

Not far from the parliament building is a haunting tribute to the victims of the militia group known as Arrow Cross who stood Hungarian Jews on the river bank and shot them in the back letting them fall into the river to be swept away. This tribute is known as Shoes on the Denube.

"There is no doubt that this persecution of Jews in Hungary and their expulsion from enemy territory is probably the greatest and most horrible crime ever committed in the whole history of the world...." ~ Winston Churchill, July 11, 1944

Over 500,000 Hungarian Jews were killed during WWII. The Jews from towns were rounded up first with a third of Auschwitz's prisoners originating from Hungary. 

Hungarian Auschwitz survivor and recently deceased Nobel Laureate, Imre Kertesz, wrote, "The world is not our imagination but our nightmare, full of inconceivable surprises." It is truly inconceivae and unimaginable the horrors that these people faced and it was sobering and humbling to walk the same streets and stand where these people stood. Mothers, brothers, sisters and fathers. 

I was reminded of the words of the German Pastor Martin Niemöller,"First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me."

It struck me that there are people being persecuted today in every corner of our fallen world whose voices cannot be heard over the cacophony of white noise. 

The white noise of greed.

The white noise of arrogance.

The white noise of pride.

The white noise of ignorance.

The white noise of envy.

The white noise of unforgiveness.

The white noise of distraction.

The white noise of inaction.

Let us not forget the mistakes of the past. Let us not be passive in the face of human suffering. Let us not repeat the mistakes of the past

"There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest." ~ Elie Wiesel

Lake Balaton

Hungary is a land locked country so Lake  Balaton is its ocean. It was about an hour from Budapest before we saw the lake and we drove around its shore for another 30 or so minutes before reaching  our destination. Balatonfüred, a picturesque lakeside town. Parking at Ami's brother, Adam's, house we set out down a little lane towards the lake.

It wasn't long before we came to the water.

There were hundreds of ducks and a pair of distant swans. 

Gardens were overflowing with springtime colours.

I had a lovely stroll along the promenade while Felix had a play on the play equipment. We headed back to Adam and Adrienne's place for afternoon tea. Ami's parents, Maria and Joseph, had driven down to visit and there was Hungarian cheesecake and Hungarian apple strudel to nibble on.  

Adam, Adrienne and Joseph are all GPs and as Felix has a bad cough Ami asked for a quick check of his chest. Adam checked his throat as well and after two other doctors checked it they all agreed it wasn't tonsillitis but rather Hungarian cheesecake on his tonsils. Felix was less than impressed with the tongue depressors use! Greg leans over and says, "this is the finest of the Hungarian medical profession in action! It is clear that Adam will not be the favourite uncle!" 

 

On the way home I saw two pheasants flying and a number of deer grazing. None of which are in this photo below.

Patron Saint of the Tight Pants

Today I caught the metro into town and headed toward St Stephen's Basilica. According to a commentary I heard later in the day the architect who first designed the church died mid-project, a second architect put his own touches on the building but also died before it was completed, the third architect who oversaw the finishing product has since died also so I think the common denominator may be the building...or it's just bad news for architects. Nevertheless the building is quite spectacular.

The mummified hand of St Stephen the first Christian King of the Hungarian Empire is also on display. 

Looking over Steve's hand is none other than Saint Imre, Patron Saint of the Tight Pants. He also happened to be Steve's son.

After yesterday's little trip and fall I was conscious of resting my ankle more today. So I purchased a ticket for one of those hop-on hop-off buses. I jumped off it opposite the Hungarian Parliament building, the worlds 3rd largest parliament building. Can you name the top two? It is 96 metres high, significant because it was 896AD that the Magyar first "settled" Hungary. Magyar's are considered the forefathers of the modern Hungarian people. 

I thought that perhaps if the building was 896 metres it may have been more significant? The building also boasts approximately 2.4kms of staircases. Like many of the buildings in Budapest it was built towards the close of the 19th Century.

I hopped on a ferry and enjoyed a cruise down the Danube. We passed many river cruise ships which seemed to be as large as Parliament House. Quite fancy too with all their bits and pieces. Photos are on the other camera so you'll just have to imagine them.

This is Gellert Hill which has a giant bottle opener statue on it - at least I think that's what it is...or it could be a statue about liberty- it kind of looked like the former from a distance.

You'll also notice a monastery on the side of the hill (to the left) and Rudas Baths (to the right) originating from the Ottoman Occupation of Budapest, built in 1566.

Jumping off at Pier 11 I got a quick squiz at some Roman Ruins that are on display under reflective plexi-glass. The reflective nature of the glass makes the "display" a little harder to see because my reflection really obscured the view. 

I wandered around around the shopping district a little more before catching the bus again and heading back up the hill. There were a few sights I hadn't seen yesterday that I was keen to see today. Namely Matthias Church and the Fishermen's Bastion. 

Both these structures are relatively young by European Standards the church was completed in 1896 and the Bastion, built purely as a viewing platform and not for any defence purpose was finished in 1905. 

There are seven turrets representing the seven Magyar tribes that settled the area. These tribe leaders are also represented in bronze at the Heroes' Square. The Bastion did provide some spectacular views:

Down the hill I made my way to the bus stop - thankfully staying on my two feet!! We observed some zoo escapees...I'm not entirely sure what the story is.

The bus ended at City Park, a favourite of Felix, Ami and Greg's son. Heroes' Square was constructed in 1896 for the millennial celebration of the Magyar settlement. At the top of the obelix stands the Arch Angel Gabriel. I'm looking forward to exploring city park more on Monday.

A Tale of Two Cities

I was looking forward to exploring Budapest having heard many great things about the city. With very little knowledge and even less planning I was very greatful for my local guide Ami!

Many of the buildings date from around the mid to late 19th century and are grand and ornate. We walked to Andrássy út a 2.5 km boulevard which is listed as a UNESCO heritage sight, leads to Heroes' Square and is listed as Number 7 on Lonely Planets top 10 Budapest sights. 

We caught the train from a subway station dating back to 1894. The oldest subway on the European Mainland. Only surpassed in age by London's underground. 

The metalwork detail and timber and tile finishes make these stations works of art.  We jumped off the train at the Opera House and meandered past fancy shops, much like you would see in Collins Street in Melbourne. We then jumped on a bus (number 16) which took us across the Széchenyi Chain Bridge, up a fairly steep hill aptly named Castle Hill because there is a Palace on top of it! 

About the extent of my knowledge regarding this city was that it was two cities, Buda and Pest, which are separated by the Denube River. Buda is the hilly side of the city and Pest is very flat.

We walked around the palace grounds,  down the hill and across the Chain Bridge. 

We headed down Zrínyi u which is a pedestrian mall which perfectly frames the St Stephen Basilica in the distance.

We met Greg and had lunch at a local cafe before Ami and I headed South towards Nagycsarnok, the Great Market. It took us a while because we went in and out of a lot of shops and there was an artisan market in a square along the way. 

Skater statues and mail boxes were distractions as well:

Eventually we made it to the market - an amazing building both inside and out.

Grabbing a few things for dinner we started heading home. Literally only a few blocks from home I fell over, twisting my ankle! It was bound to happen at least once on this trip. Ami looked after me and I've had frozen beans cooking on it - she'll be right! 

Catch Up and Flying

Today I caught up on a few of the blog posts having fallen a little behind for those of you playing along at home. 

Around 2pm I caught a lift to the airport with Gemma and Peter and Peter was dropping Gemma off for a work trip to London.

Mum and Dad headed off with Amy to visit a couple more sights before making their way to the airport later that day.

It was a full plane flying to Budapest and we flew over the UK then the Black Sea then down to Budapest. 

I was on my way to visit Ami, Greg and Felix. Ami and I worked together at The University of Melbourne and it had been 15 months since they had moved back to Europe from Australia. 

Greg kindly met me at the airport and headed back to their home. Felix was still up and shyly gave me a smile poking his head out from behind his mum's legs.

It was so great to see old friends in new places!