Date: Mon, 4 Jun 2007 09:29:37 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: The rest of Budapest ... well, not ALL the rest... the rest of the best of Budapest...
Bonjour,
June 1...
It started out rather gloomy. Not the weather, my spirits. Today was my last
day in Budapest, and no thanks to last night, I hadn't seen the night lights of
this city at all, and was not going to on this trip. So I made up my mind to
come back here again -- hmmmm, that was already decided on Day #1, but
confirmed now. Unfortunately its not that easy on a regular 3-day weekend. But
I'll see...
I had the hotel breakfast again -- no layered chocolate mousse cake with crusty
pineapple topping today, but they had tiny bite-sized pastries to pop into my
mouth. mmmmm... tiny bite-sized pastries!
The first stop of the morning (after checking out of the hotel and giving them
my bags for safekeeping), was the train station. I had to validate my eastern
european rail pass, and wanted to make sure I got it done before the last
minute. Well, 3 different windows/counters later, I finally had it validated,
and I was off to the largest synagogue in Hungary, and the second-largest in
the world (I can only assume the one in Jerusalem is the largest).
"Part 1"
--------
In front of me in the ticket line were two college students who showed their
I.D. cards and asked about the different types of tickets. I overheard the
whole explanation in english, so when it was my turn, I simply did what they
did: buy the all-inclusive ticket covering the synagogue, the museum, and the
memorial garden in the back. I got a bunch of tickets, a lot more than 3... and
joked with the two girls in front of me why we needed so many tickets for just
3 things to be seen there -- more than anything, just happy to speak in
english!
(End Part 1, Parts 2 & 3 will be in next two emails).
The guide arrived shortly, and she was an older lady who had lived in Budapest
all her life, experiencing first-hand the terrors of World War 2, and one of
the few Jewish survivors of the war (her parents managed to escape through the
underground movement..) Anyway, she was very... hmmm.... "patriotic" towards
Hungary, explaining how Hungarian jews had it a lot worse than say, Polish jews
during the war.
Ok.
The synagogue is very unique - designed like a basilica, with the seating
arrangements also like in a basilica. Also, there is a cemetary on the grounds
-- an absolute no-no in Judaism, but a necessity during the harsh wartime (this
was in a part of the Budapest ghetto). Behind the synagogue was a garden with a
"weeping willow" tree sculpture. Upstairs was a Holocaust museum. Our tourguide
made sure to tell all the gory details of what some of her family members went
through, and how "nobody in Poland or any of the other Nazi-occupied countries
had to go through things like that"
Ok.
[few silent/almost sarcastic "eye-rolling" looks exchanged between myself and
the two college students]
The tour was educational, if a little too heavy on the propoganda. It was also
made absolutely clear that during the communist era in Hungary, since everybody
was treated as equal, there was no antisemitism. Now during the democratic era
when people are allowed to express their views, there are a lot of neo-nazi
movements within hungary.... skinheads, etc.... "Things were better then".
Well, after that tour, I was pretty much "done" with most of the things I
wanted to see in Budapest. I spent the rest of the day roaming around town,
went to take a few pictures of the Parliament from across the Danube river in
the DAYTIME (small consolation to missing the night view)... went to the city
garden and grinned cruelly while watching the ducks chase crying toddlers back
to their mommies and daddies... then went down to "Vaci Utca" which is the main
pedestrian street/plaza in Budapest. A big "final meal" there with another pina
colada, and it was time to go back to my hotel to pick up my bags and head to
the train station...
I had a train to Vienna -- 4 PM to 7:30 PM, then 3 hours in Vienna and 10:30PM
overnight train to Krakow, Poland.
Original intention: I wanted to walk down the main pedestrian street in Vienna
and visit all the cafes having some of their pastries.
What actually happened: I went straight from Westbahnoff to Sudbahnoff train
station in Vienna and waited in the lounge there for the 10:30 train. I was
feeling pretty down about leaving "buutiful budapest" (or maybe it was just
this morning's depressing tour about the horrors of war), so I didn't feel like
roaming around Vienna those 3 hours. Also this way, I wouldn't use up my
precious euros on this trip, only enough for 1 ticket on the U-bahn (metro).
I'm running way over-budget on food on this trip... overindulging in a lot of
sweets/cakes/pastries/ice cream cones (well, its HOT!)/ice cream
milkshakes/pretty much anything else..
The train to Krakow left right on time... and for the first time, also ARRIVED
on time.
But that, along with "Part 2", is a story for another email......
Ciao,
moi.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| May 31 | Contents | June 2 |