The 3rd of January found me back at work in Vietnam and relying on the memories of our family Christmas holiday.(sigh)
Straight after Christmas we moved from Vienna to Budapest. Crossing over the border into Hungary I really began to see and experience the impact of Communisim. The towns and cities were bland, grey and often in need repair. The cold, and the hore frost did little to brighten places up. The people on the other hand were
cheerful, helpful and enlightening.
The city of Budapest is divided by the Danube River, Buda on the hill top and Pest on the flat. Around the river in the central tourist area the buildings and the people were wonderful with evidence of a city regaining its individuality relying like many places on tourism to help them do so. Pedestrian malls and beautifully decorated brand name shops certainly bought a sparkle to the area. McDonalds began trading in 1984, 5 years before the wall fell and the Communist Bloc was no more. People arrived with their passports none the less, hoping for entry and curious to see what the west had that the east didn't. The quirks, Parliament Buildings, a mirror image of Westminster, the Liberty monument, the communists signalling liberation of Hungary, but retaining Communism for the next 45 years, right opposite the US embassy.
Creeping away from that area we saw another side to the city. The buildings in need of repair, the Gypsies, the police, the homeless, the crumbling roadsides, the rubbish, the antiquated system and long queues to manually buy a tram or metro ticket.
While our time together in Budapest was short as tourists we definitely saw and experienced many things. For me the highlights were:
A Segway tour of points of interest in Pest one side of the Danube River.
An evening concert by the Budapest Symphony Orchestra.
An afternoon spent on the hill around the Buda Castle area.
Walking walking walking, the people the people the peole
The food and the food markets.
The changing of the guard, goose steps and all
Imperfections and all I loved my time there.
Straight after Christmas we moved from Vienna to Budapest. Crossing over the border into Hungary I really began to see and experience the impact of Communisim. The towns and cities were bland, grey and often in need repair. The cold, and the hore frost did little to brighten places up. The people on the other hand were
cheerful, helpful and enlightening.
The city of Budapest is divided by the Danube River, Buda on the hill top and Pest on the flat. Around the river in the central tourist area the buildings and the people were wonderful with evidence of a city regaining its individuality relying like many places on tourism to help them do so. Pedestrian malls and beautifully decorated brand name shops certainly bought a sparkle to the area. McDonalds began trading in 1984, 5 years before the wall fell and the Communist Bloc was no more. People arrived with their passports none the less, hoping for entry and curious to see what the west had that the east didn't. The quirks, Parliament Buildings, a mirror image of Westminster, the Liberty monument, the communists signalling liberation of Hungary, but retaining Communism for the next 45 years, right opposite the US embassy.
Creeping away from that area we saw another side to the city. The buildings in need of repair, the Gypsies, the police, the homeless, the crumbling roadsides, the rubbish, the antiquated system and long queues to manually buy a tram or metro ticket.
While our time together in Budapest was short as tourists we definitely saw and experienced many things. For me the highlights were:
A Segway tour of points of interest in Pest one side of the Danube River.
An evening concert by the Budapest Symphony Orchestra.
An afternoon spent on the hill around the Buda Castle area.
Walking walking walking, the people the people the peole
The food and the food markets.
The changing of the guard, goose steps and all
Imperfections and all I loved my time there.
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