D19: Heavy day.

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(Note from last night: some random alarm went off 3 times between 12:30am and 1:45am. I wasn't asleep for the first... nor the last... but that second one scared the bejebus out of me. We were not a happy collective at the hostel. Oh. And literally as I'm typing this at 10:40pm... it just went off again. No. Bad hostel.)

So, today was a very heavy day. I went to visit both the Holocaust Memorial and the House of Terror... yeah. So sorry, this one starts as a bit of a downer...

I'll start with the House of Terror because I have less to say: it was the old headquarters of the Nazis and then the AVH (secret police) here in Hungary. I found it to be an odd style of a museum: every room had an information sheet - literally a piece of paper - for you to collect. So, instead of having captions or placards you had a page (or two) of paragraphed information to read.

Now, as we know, I love history, but I'm not going to read 20+ loose-leaf sheets while in a museum... so for me, it diminished the experience because there is no context without the information.

Regardless, I did appreciate the many videos they had and the fact those had subtitles. There were stories from those sent to the gulags, those who remained behind and lost loved ones or had to say goodbye to their husbands, those who helped with the revolution, etc. Some were chilling, some were inspiring, all were very powerful to watch.

The little old ladies in the videos really got me though... especally because the two main ladies talking reminded me so much of Deuxnan (my grandma)... their hair and facial expressions... and just hearing them talk about love, fear and death... wow. It hit me.

Ok. So. Back to the Holocaust Memorial which takes you through the path of the Jewish Communities and the Roma in Hungary pre and post WW2. It is one of, if not, the best WW2 museum I've been to in my travels. It is not flashy, but it is powerful, it is moving.

The rooms are dimly lit - it seems like a minor detail, but it does add to the atmosphere of such a grim reality.

After an introductory room, you walk down a long corridor where there are silhouettes from the past painted on the wall, and over the speakers is a deep, rhythmic, sound of marching feet. Sound is too often overlooked in museums; sounds play such a role in memory, in feeling...

In another part of the museum, they have a "countdown" which is a slideshow with photos depicting the arrival of Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz... with the time... all the way to their death in the chambers. On the speakers you just hear a heart beat, thumping along to the clock... until both just stop.

I (obviously) won't go through everything in the museum... but just, to see it broken down in such a simple fashion - going from deprivation of rights to deprivation of life - I thought was really beautiful in its simplicity and yet got the history and message across.

Likewise, in each room/section you followed the story of a handful of families - seeing photos and hearing how they lived as happy Hungarians all the way to their death or post-war lives was something I'd never really seen done (well) in a museum before. Yes, some were tragic, but some were up-lifting.

One thing I found impossible to actually look at were the photos of the dead. I won't go into detail... but they were very graphic. Dead from the camps, but also dead from the ghettos which included babies and small children.

I almost cried quite a few times during my visit... I think it was a mixture of things really... because I very rarely get emotional while visiting places, it's usually afterwards when I reflect that I just get overwhelmed by what people had to endure. Obviously the stories are so horrendous to read and watch, but I think this time was different because so many of the stories were linked to Auschwitz-Birkenau... and I've been there now. This is the first WW2 museum I've been to since visiting the camps two years ago... and it really hit hard. While reading their stories I could see it in my head - I could see the train tracks, the buildings, the "road to death" and the chambers... I realized I stood where they were tortured. I realized here I am looking at pictures and listening to the life story of a family obliterated... and I stood in the very spot where they were ripped apart from their loved ones, where they died.

Yeah.

It was a heavy day.

Ahem.

I have no clever way of transitioning to the rest of my day... and in reality I had no way of transitioning my own thought process either, so I went shopping... which sounds really dumb, but after two draining museums I wanted to see some colour.

After a jaunt through H&M I continued exploring the city - I continued along Andrassy ut. which is a beautiful street lined by trees and cute little cafés. I stopped by Alexandra Bookstore for a hot chocolate in quite possibly the most beautiful café one could ever think to visit.

The Basilica was next - I actually had planned to go on the weekend but as I wandered about I came across it. As with most basilicas, the artwork inside is stunningly gorgeous and grandiose, as are the statues. I lit my usual two candles (one for each set of grandparents) and continued on my way wandering down towards the Danube.

As I walked along the water, I came across another memorial - this one for the Jews shot by the Arrow Cross militia. There are 60 pairs of shoes, representing the victims who were asked to remove their shoes before being shot alongside the river. Very simplistic memorial, but beautiful.

They are doing a shit-ton of construction around the Parliament Buildings (why), so it took me forever to find my way back to where I wanted to be. I'm going to visit the Buildings later this week - it was too late in the day at this point.

I found the place I wanted to go for supper without too much trouble - it's off in a residential area, away from the tourist scene. I had a marvellous dish: pork knuckles braised in beer, with roasted potatoes and cooked onions. Oh my goodness it was delicious. You would think pork knuckles would be difficult to eat or you would be stuck leaving a lot on your plate... but no! Not a single bone or inedible part to be had.

Now I'm back at the hostel fighting with the internet... it does not want to be used today, apparently... so no photos today.

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