6.
Budapest and The Castle District
Wednesday
26th September
The fast train journey of three hours from Sopron in the west to Budapest in the middle traversed agricultural areas dotted with villages and the occasional town.
| The biggest
of these station
wall with tower |
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It
was nice to see locals getting on and off, and we got to see the
uniformed women, complete with their little `party’ hats and
signal batons (a bit like a table tennis paddle) blow the whistle
and wave their arms about to let the driver know everyone was on
board. |
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The
Keleti station is a fabulous neo-baroque building that’s pretty
grotty. We searched for a W.C. first, found one, and paid 100 forint(ft),
about 65 cents AU, to spend a penny. Then almost staggering under the
weight of our packs, we went outside to find a taxi. We had no problem
there – immediately a cab-hawker was asking us if we needed one,
and soon we were off.
The
driver and the traffic were in a competition with each other –
who was the madder? We made it safely to XIII Gergely Gyozo utca
13, Kati’s flat, and while we were paying the driver the
4000 ft, Kati (Carty) came down to meet us. We were greeted as
if we were long lost family, such a warm welcome. A tiny little
apartment on the first floor – really just a kitchen, bathroom
and double lounge room (the couch becomes a couple of beds) and
really nicely laid out without feeling cluttered. With her very limited English and our even more limited Hungarian, we understood each other perfectly well. Kati’s friend, Zsuzsa, had left written instructions (signed “your auntie in Hungary”) and lots of tourist brochures for us. Kati bid us farewell, and we settled in, feeling right at home. |
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Lisa
was too sick and tired with her very heavy cold to out again, so I set
off solo with Chemist instructions in two languages and intention to buy
food for dinner. My first shopping by myself in Hungary, without my tour
guide. I was probably carrying 5,200 forints (which sounds a lot, but
is about $35AU). I am pleased to say I managed it all. As you look down
the street it looks all old pensions and houses, with the odd hotel sprinkled
along the way. But there are signs here and there revealing that the ground
floors are nearly all shops. There are a lot of cake shops, and fruit
and vegetable shops (good!), and shoe shops. Not so good(looks like lots
of shopping). Not any Chemists or Pharmacia. The Hungarian word is gybgyszertar
(jerji-serta).
I
asked one man who ran a fruit shop, and was talking to a friend. He was
about thirty five. As I knew my pronunciation was unrecognizable, I showed
him the word in my book. He looked at the word, said “Nem”
(No), and shook his head. P’raps he didn’t read. I found a
Health Food Shop. They knew. Just up on the next corner (100 metres from
the fruit shop). How could someone halfway through life not know where
a chemist was? I think they hate us. Outsiders. Maybe they think we’re
all Americans. Maybe they hate everyone. I dunno. I certainly won’t
be coming back again. Lisa’s cold tablets didn’t have a decongestant,
because you need a prescription for that, and the milk I bought was some
sour cultured dairy product which does not go with coffee! I bought the
veggies from another shop!
On the first night the people on the other side of the wall had their T.V. on ‘til after 11 pm. Loud enough to hear every voice and the tune or inflection in every sentence! Maybe they’re old and deaf. This wall is masonry, not hollow. Next morning the bastards turn it on at 5 am. Lisa’s slept a bit longer, ‘cause her ears aren’t quite the antennae mine are. I was really tired. I thought, “Oh well, we’re only here for a few days, so I’ll just be stoic and drag myself around with Lisa for some sight-seeing.” She noticed!!
On the first night the people on the other side of the wall had their T.V. on ‘til after 11 pm. Loud enough to hear every voice and the tune or inflection in every sentence! Maybe they’re old and deaf. This wall is masonry, not hollow. Next morning the bastards turn it on at 5 am. Lisa’s slept a bit longer, ‘cause her ears aren’t quite the antennae mine are. I was really tired. I thought, “Oh well, we’re only here for a few days, so I’ll just be stoic and drag myself around with Lisa for some sight-seeing.” She noticed!!
Today
we bought our seven day transport tickets (for motorized
buses, electric buses, trams and trains in the three, soon to be four
Metro lines) and set off to Moskva Ter (Moscow Square), which is
an ironic joke, as it is full of shops, including a really big shopping
complex. This irony is repeated at Marx Ter (Marx Square), a point we
joked about with the taxi driver yesterday. We got off the tram and followed
our noses and our sore feet up the hill to the World Heritage listed Castle
district, which is where we spent the day. One fantastic monument after
another.
We
saw the Castle. I’ve given it a capital letter because it is enormous.
Obviously a king needs hundreds of rooms. Probably all the people associated
with running the country, and all their families, and all the support
services (known as servants) needed to live there. We look around the
forecourt, the view and the entrance hallway. Huge. You could fit 1000
people in the entrance lobby, and still have room for a stage with . .
. well, I dunno who, ‘cause there doesn’t seem to be any music.
Maybe The Hungarian Gypsy Orchestra. I see they have a Festival next March!
Whilst
up in the Castle area, we also saw the most amazing tiled roof I’ve
ever seen in my life. Some sort of Church was undergoing extensive cleaning
and restoration, so the roof tiles were as visible and sharp as they would
ever be. I feel glad it is being cared for. We couldn’t go in.
| Nearby,
overlooking the Danube is the Fishermen's Bastion. Too far from
the river to throw in a line. This is only about 100 years old.
I don’t know why it was built. If you want to go up the flight
of stairs to its top level in the corner, there is a turnstile and
an attendant. No one goes up. There is no need. I take a photo of
it for free. Outside the Castle we investigated the Funicular Railway.
Almost vertical, about 150 metres long, down to the river, and 700
forints each. Nearly ten bucks! We turned away with our weekly tickets,
and waited for a bus on the other side of the courtyard. The bus
took us in the other direction, down the hill, suddenly U-turned
through a tunnel and dropped us off near the river. Walking along,
we noticed we were at the bottom of the Funicular for free. Sheer
luck. |
 |
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We
compliment ourselves on our good management. We just saved 1400
forints. That’s the difference between a tourist and a traveler,
we kid ourselves. The tourist gets 150 metres down a hill on a cable
train which is ridiculously expensive and didn’t need to be
built. There is nothing in particular at the bottom. They advertise
it as having the best view across the river, but actually, before
you get on, the best view is at the top in front of the Castle. |
Fantastic
views, despite the polluted grey conditions, of Pest-Szvent Istvan
(St. Stephen’s) Basilika, Parliament, all sorts of other buildings,
and of course The Danube, or Duna river.
This Castle side is Buda. The other side (where we live) is Pest, meaning oven. It obviously gets really hot. You cross a road and walk across the chain bridge back into the city. Chain
Bridge from Castle |
 |
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There
are lots of beautiful old buildings, of course, and about three
beautiful new ones. There are also semi-derelict old buildings in
desperate need of repair or facelift. Some have pockmarks presumably
from war damage. Such a sobering thought to someone who hasn’t
had to live with that. |
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I
get the feeling that a lot of buildings were lost during the war(s), ‘cause
a lot look like they were built by the Communists (who get a capital letter,
‘cause they too were big around here). These buildings are faceless,
utilitarian, cheap. But I’m exhausted, so everything looks tired.
