Day 13
Exploring Budapest
Sunday, September 1, 2024
Jó reggelt kívánok,
Today was a bright and sunny Sunday morning. We spent the morning doing a bit of house-keeping and getting ourselves a bit more organised after our two-day journey from Trieste.
Doing some laundry was top of Grandma's priority list, but she couldn't get the washing machine to work. Koro discovered that the power socket that the washing machine was plugged into was faulty. Once the machine was plugged into a different socket it happily worked away.
By the time we left the apartment it was close to 12:00pm.
Being a Sunday the streets felt a bit quieter and we were just happy to wander around get lost, and discover a bit of Budapest.
Well, discover Pest, mostly. Historically Buda, on the Western bank of the Danube, and Pest on the Eastern bank of the Danube were separate cities. The three cities of Buda, Pest and Óbuda were combined into the city of Budapest in 1873. Budapest was the second most important city in the Austro-Hungarian Empire (the most important being Vienna).
We are staying on the Eastern side, in Pest.
The objective of our walk was to see the Danube River. We've seen the Danube on all of our adventures, mostly in Austria. Now we wanted to see it in Hungary.
Wandering through Pest, a lot of the buildings look to have been built in the 19th century, when the Austria-Hungarian Empire was at its zenith. Not a lot of maintenance has been done to them since, at least not looking from the outside. So as a result the buildings and streets often have a bit of a run-down feel to them.
We've also noticed within a single street there can be a disparity between the various types of businesses. Five-star hotels, high end restaurants and famous cafes such as the New York Café sit side-by-side with strip bars, American fast food franchises and gun stores. And lots of pubs. There is also lots of graffiti and broken windows.
In the blazing heat (we tried to walk in the shade) we did eventually find the Danube. It is looking a bit low at the moment. No surprises given that it is late summer and Europe is in the grip of a heat wave.
We walked across the Elizabeth Bridge (named after Empress Elizabeth, wife of Emperor Franz Joseph and Queen of Hungary.
Grandma was disappointed in the colour of the Danube, and how dirty it looked. It looked a milky green colour. And it was filled with gigantic river cruising boats. We were also disappointed that the banks of both sides of the river were used for roads and trams. It is not possible to take a "quiet" stroll along the banks of the Danube in Budapest. We had to shout at each other to make ourselves heard over the traffic noise.
We took a stroll accompanied by the noise of Sunday afternoon traffic along the banks of the Danube to the next bridge along, then crossed back from Buda to Pest. We were all hungry and looking forward to lunch. It was such a blazing hot sun, we stopped at the first café we came to, which happened to have a lovely water mist system. Under their outdoor umbrellas a very fine cool water mist was blowing. That made the decision for us.
It was easy to see that this café was also a finely honed tourist trap. Strategically located near the pier to capture the tourists as they offloaded from the tour boats. It was a decent club sandwich we each had, and Koro enjoyed the home made lemonade so much that he ordered another. But was the lunch worth NZD$100? Definitely not.
After lunch it was a stroll along Váci utca, a pedestrian only street filled with brand names fashions, souvenir shops, and a disturbing number of establishments offering Thai Massage.
Koro happened to be wearing a "Ljubljana" T Shirt that afternoon. As we were walking along, a pretty young maiden called out "Are you from there Ljubljana?". We said, "no, we're from New Zealand".
The conversation went from there, and as it turned out this young saleswoman, who was originally from Ljubljana herself, was selling a magic elixir of youth. She offered us a free sample.
Once inside her lair we were double-teamed by her and an accomplice who tried to convince us to buy their magic potions for 270,000 Hungarian Forints (NZD$1,200). A free sample of this goop was applied under the saggy baggy eyes of both Grandma and Koro (the handsome young man applied Grandma's, the young maiden applied Koro's - more slick teamwork).
We didn't spend a cent. Or even a forint. But we did leave with a picture of them both with Buzzy Bee. So we think we ended up with the better end of the deal.
After we extricated ourselves from the sales pitch, we took a Metro out to City Park. This is a big park located between the inner city and the outer suburbs of Pest It was here that we were able to cross the road and wander around Hero Square. This large square pays tribute to the past kings of Hungary, all heroes in their own right. From all the statues and monuments around it is very clear that Hungary is very proud of its Imperial past. Unfortunately the centrepiece of Hero Square, which is a tall column with a very large bronze statue the angel Gabriel fixed atop it, was surrounded by scaffolding. Workers are preparing to lift Gabriel down and refurbish the bronze work. It a a shame that this was being done while we were there, but that’s life. It’s nice to that Hero Square, which is magnificent, is getting a facelift and some care applied.
Our first impressions of Budapest is that it is a city with an illustrious past of which it should be proud. Events of the twentieth century did not work in Hungary's favour. Since 1989 Hungary has been an independent republic. Capitalism has no doubt brought change for the better after the oppression of communism. But it does feel that some of the worst aspects of capitalism (the sleaze, the flaunting of material "wealth", the obsession with brand names rather than craftsmanship) have applied a veneer of glitz-without-substance over some parts of Budapest. In a way not dissimilar to central Auckland in New Zealand.
We are keen to see more and learn more tomorrow.
Love to you all from Grandma & Koro & Buzzy Bee.