Budapest - the truth

[cardiff]

I had the pleasure of going to Budapest last week, but was not prepared for what i saw. The city was beautiful but i was totaly shocked at the apauling state of the majority of the buildings, not just delapodated but actually crumbling. This was heartbreaking as some buildings were spectacular! The city is known for its secession style of buildings, a mix of art Nouveau and Gaudi IMO but really a hungarian variation i think. These pics are in 4 parts so check out the next few pages


So i started my trip, foolishly by walking up andrassy avenue (what i thought was Budpaest grand avanue ala Champs Elyses) and to start off with it was with the opera house and one or two big named stores, but it quickly fell into desserted buildings. My first stop, again foolishly was to visit the Terror museum, a museum dedicated to the people killed by the Nazis and Comunists - the museum was great but not the best way to start a trip! an interesting design where the roof structure casts a shadow, this was the headquarters of the nazis and comunists



abandond buildings - seemingly so anyway





At the end was heros square, which was fantastic, though some buildings on the south of the square were again delapodated



it has two museums, one for contempory art



and one for paintings - which was HUGE and impressive







back out onto heroes square



behind it is the city park, which has a castle made up of most of the styles you wil find in Budapest





though an agriculture museum wasnt enough to draw me inside



in the park is also the Szechenyi Baths, one of the largest bathing complexs in Europe and fuelld by natural hot springs



the interior was beautiful



and the outsie spectacular, once you work your way through a labarynth of smaller pools







a walk to the castle, unfortunately the lake had been drained and it had been used by go-carts it think



There was a nice atmosphere in this park with a little concert going on, i believe the memorila is to the uprising



walking back down andrassy avenue these street scenes were typical, 4-6 story buildings, all beautiful





the opera house, designed to rival Viennas and Dresdens



In the evening i walked to the river front (the Danube) again through a delapodated arcade where a homeless person had set up a bed and was just lying in it with people walking past, with the lighting and his beard it looked really like he wasin his death bed (creepy). The view that greeted me though was spectacular with the castle on the hill and chain bridge lit up











I then had a river cruise on the danube with a glass of cheap champagne and noticed how high and extreemly fast the river was! but those pics are too blurry

The next day i went to the Catedral, St Stephens whose mumified hand is kept in a case which you pay to light up! This are was really nice and you could see alot of work had been done recently













and then a trip to the top of the dome (unusually by a lift)





the square in front of the cathedral



i loved the tiled roofs of the city





ground view of the square, the building on the right reminds me why its sometimes called the continental London







and here some unloved beautiful buildings, one next to it was being demolished



I think this was called liberty park, with the national bank and tv station around it



and at one end a memorial to the Russians who lost their lives liberating the city fromt eh Nazis though if someone can translate what was written on it i doubt it would be nice

[DarkLite]

doesn't look bad at all!

[LuckyLuke]

Budapest looks amazing

[RawLee]

The signs in red on the russian memorial has dual meaning.
The current is against our current PM,who admittedly lied during the elections regarding the financial state of the country.
The second is that we generally dont think of russians as the ones who freed us. They were invaders too. And this monument is the middle of the city,still makes us remember,although we dont want to. And Russia doesnt allow us to transport it out of the city to the statue park south of Budapest.

[cardiff]

Thanks for the info, i think it was great to see it in the center of the city afterall the history. Showed a maturity that even though the comunists were bad , they freed the city from an even worse tyrany. More pics to come later

[RawLee]

Originally Posted by cardiff

Thanks for the info, i think it was great to see it in the center of the city afterall the history. Showed a maturity that even though the comunists were bad , they freed the city from an even worse tyrany. More pics to come later

You dont understand me...we dont want that inside the city...it is painted in red frequently. Russians(USSR) were worse then nazis(from hungarian as a race POV),if we are not considering jews.
Dont get me wrong,we are not against the russian people. We are against the USSR and what they left here(or didnt left here).

[WolfHound]

Looks fantastic. All those old nice historic buildings seem untouched compared to many other European cities.

[RawLee]

Originally Posted by WolfHound

Looks fantastic. All those old nice historic buildings seem untouched compared to many other European cities.

80% of those were either destroyed or damaged in the battle of Budapest

[earth intruder]

beautiful....

[gliwiczanin]

Originally Posted by RawLee

You dont understand me...we dont want that inside the city...it is painted in red frequently. Russians(USSR) were worse then nazis(from hungarian as a race POV),if we are not considering jews. Dont get me wrong,we are not against the russian people. We are against the USSR and what they left here(or didnt left here).

He will not understand you, coz england has never been under occupation. Russian/soviet army didnt feed, they raped, burn, stealed, ruined and occupied. That's why people in Central Europe don't want russian monuments. He doesn't realize it, coz he hasn't been learning about it in school, they teached him only about cruelty of nazists.

I've been to Budapest - beautiful city! Nice pics

[Gordion]

Looks beautiful!

[Delirium]

great pics!

[kenworth]

Great pic's i like it!

[Jedrzej]

Originally Posted by RawLee

80% of those were either destroyed or damaged in the battle of Budapest

This is destroyed city

And Budapest is beautiful!!

[wierdo_and_me]

Originally Posted by gliwiczanin

He will not understand you, coz england has never been under occupation. Russian/soviet army didnt feed, they raped, burn, stealed, ruined and occupied. That's why people in Central Europe don't want russian monuments. He doesn't realize it, coz he hasn't been learning about it in school, they teached him only about cruelty of nazists.

I've been to Budapest - beautiful city! Nice pics

Is it also true that they used to rape farm animals?

[ZZ-II]

beautiful city

[Qtya]

Originally Posted by cardiff

Thanks for the info, i think it was great to see it in the center of the city afterall the history. Showed a maturity that even though the comunists were bad , they freed the city from an even worse tyrany. More pics to come later

The problem is for some of us is not just what RawLee mentioned, but there was a Flag and a memorial that symbolized the separeted but organic Hungarian nation.

The memorial:



The square:



There were 4 statues too:

North: Az emlékmű főalakja a három méter magas, keresztrefeszített Hungária. A hozzásimuló fiú a tót nemzet ragaszkodását jelképezi az anyaországhoz. A kettő egységét kivont karddal előretörő kuruc alakja védi, emlékeztetve arra, hogy a magyar szabadságért Rákóczi hadaiban tótok is küzdöttek.



Symbolizing: the Hungarians in Slovakia

West: A szoborcsoporton az ifjú az elszakított nyugati vármegyéket jelképezi. Térdre hullva borul a magyar Szent Koronára, s míg jobbjával az ország testéről leszakadni készülő nyugati vármegyék címerpajzsát öleli magához, addig baljával görcsösen kapaszkodik a nagy magyar kettőskeresztes pajzsba. Fölötte áll Hadúr alakja, kezét nyugtatva az ifjú címert szorító karján, jobbjában védően tartva a nemzet pallosát. Arcán kemény dac, hit és önbizalom. Lábainál szárnyait repülésre tárva a Turul.



Symbolizing: the Hungarians in Austria

South: A szobor főalakja karddal és a magyar címerrel díszített pajzzsal kel a Délvidéket jelképező svábleány védelmére. Az előtte lévő búzakévék Nagy-Magyarország éléstárát, a Bácskát és a Bánátot jelképezik.



Symbolizing: the Hungarians in Serbia

East: A szobron az ősi magyar erőt megtestesítő Csaba vezér a megtorlás pillanatát várva felszabadítja a levetkőztetett és kopjafához láncolt, bilincsekbe vert, Erdélyt jelképező - kezében az országrész címerét görcsös reménységgel szorító - alakot.



Symbolizing: the Hungarians in Transylvania, Romania

[cardiff]

Thanks for all the info, it is hard to understand the effects of comunism for someone who has not lived through it. We are taught about it in the UK, though more focus is on it origins in Russia and what happened there (effectively cut and paste to all comunist states, which may or may not be true).

.. next stop was the Parliament, which i have always found beautiful and secretly preffered over the houses of Parliament in the UK until i got up close, the houses of parliament are FAR more beautiful IMO close up though i will still always preffer symetry and the Hungarian one is still dirty



Opposite are a building where the bullet holes are marked where a politician was shot, and the Ethnographical museum (?), very impressive outside and even more so on the inside (if a bit boring for a musuem)



Walking towards the main shopping street (Vaci Utca)









At the start is a square (with one of the few modern buildings under construction) and one of the most famous cafes







And then a walk down the street, which was very narrow for the main shopping street. I couldnt help think that it would have been better to have regenerated Andrassy avenue than this street, though i can apreciate how it fits in more with other areas







An arcade, slightly deserted by shoppers and shops yet very beautiful





I loved the way these buildings marked the entrance to Elizabeth bridge, thoguh didnt like the way the rd disconected the two hlaf of the street







At the end of Vaci utca was the main market hall, extreemly impressive though whats the deal with all the nets being sold?







more later....

[skytrax]

What an amazing city!!!

[RawLee]

At the end of Vaci utca was the main market hall, extreemly impressive though whats the deal with all the nets being sold?

Nets? What nets? We dont fish with nets...all fish are bred in captivity...(apart from the ones from the Tisza,which are ,I believe,rare in Budapest).