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Published: November 19th 2006
Parliment
This is the Parliment of Hungary. It's as pimp as it is pointy. I think that this is where the riots all were recently, and there are apparently guards all over.Let me clarify something really quick. My recent trip to Budapest was among the best trips I have had this far in Europe. However, there were a few times I had to ask myself "Why did I come here?" Usually, I was answered by something incredibly sweet, like spectacular views and a new understanding of our favourite Hungarian authors.
However, there are still serious scars in Budapest from the various wounds inflicted upon Hungarian history. Hungary has a long history of foreign invasions and occupations, starting with the Mongols in 1247, the Ottomans in the 16th century, immediately followed by the Habsburg Austrians until 1848 when they were granted a semi-independant status, and then after their collapse in 1918, by the Nazis in the 40s, and immediately following that by the Communists until recently. As with much of Eastern Europe, the economy is developing and living conditions are not as high as they are in Austria or Western Europe. Don't get me wrong Hungary isn't totally deplorable, they do have the 35th highest HDI with .869 and the 48th highest GDP, and the 40th highest per capita income.
At any rate, there were good parts, and there were bad
Trash Heap
Trash heap in Buda. This is where you take your used stuff and have some other people take it out. Saves on waste. parts of Hungary. As luck would have it, I first met up with the bad parts of it. One of the girls with whom I was travelling got onto a bus, and then, before we could also get on the bus drove off. I mean, WHAM, doors closed and bus leaving, and a very very shocked look on poor Sandra's face. So, we got on the next bus with the same number (not very far behind it) and tried to follow after her to where we thought our stop should be. Our bus, however, was (despite being the same number) a different colour as hers, and for that reason stopped less frequently. We landed therefore, about a mile or two down the road at some strange place where we weren't entirely sure where was. Also, Sandra had our directions to the hostel and we had only my memory to guess where it was.
We tried to make it back to the stop we should have got off on, but it took a long while and by this time Sandra was gone (also, it was dark cos it was night) and we had only a guess as to where our
Cave Church
This is the cave church, supposedly it was started as a monestary. This is a lie, it was previously the Mines of Moria. You can see this at night from the side, this is a minor entrance. lodgings might be. With a very very good spotting job on my part, we spied the door-ringer to the hostel and got in. A Hungarian gentleman who owned the place told us that our companion had been by but left to look for us. So, another party member (Kaeda) and I went out in search of her, and we did search. For about an hour and a half. When we had just about given up, we started back and caught her on some bus, and were ok. But it was quite hungry and very late.
So, we went down the road to a street that (we later learned) was having its annual 'throw your crap out on the streets and let other people have it' day, and concordedly the streets were full of wierd old furniture, and people looting through it to find something they wanted within. After a strange dinner in a Hungarian cafe, we found our way to the Nelson Pub. The Nelson pub is probably not in many guide books because its nothing specacular, but it does, as any Pub worth visiting, have a large portrait of Admiral Lord Horatio Viscount of Nelson as its centerpiece,
Pest by night.
This is the Pest side at night, from the Buda side. The two were once seperate cities (Buda and Pest) then it was Pestbuda, but changed to Budapest because it sounded better. as well as several other pictures of his ships. While at the Nelson, we were harangued by a group of Marlboro girls who were pitching some special to Hungarians. They disinvited us to participate when they learned that we were not Magyars ourselves. Luckily, I was wearing my Camel Adventure pants, and didn't need them.
The next day we got to see the positive and awesome side of Budapest that I hope to have photographed at least a little, because I am incapable of explaining how spectacular it was. I highly reccomend a trip to Budapest to anyone who wants to learn about a vastly differentl, but distinctly European, culture in Eastern Europe. Make sure to see the Museum of Terror (about the Nazi and Soviet occupations, as well as the Arrow Cross and Hungarian Communist movements), the Turkish Baths, and Heros Square, and perhaps most importantly the Castle District.
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alia142
Alia
nice!
Sorry if this has been posted twice - I'm not sure if the first one did because the internet stopped working right when I hit "add comment." I loved your pictures - especially the troubled writer one - you pulled that off pretty well, I must say. Oh, and I liked your story about getting lost from Sandra. Scary!! But that's cool you just randomly ran into her.