DAY 94 - 35° Celsius = HOT!!

June 21 - Buda + pest= Beautiful city on the Danube

Budapest is the capital and largest city in Hungary with over 3 million including the suburbs.  Cited as one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, Budapest became one city in 1873 with Buda on one side and Pest on the other side of the Danube River.

Rich captured a beautiful panorama view of Budapest along the Danube river

  Highlights include a total of 80 geothermal springs,  the world's largest thermal water cave system, second largest synagogue, and third largest Parliament building.

In 1944,  Budapest was partly destroyed by British and American air raids. From Christmas Eve 1944 until Valentine's Day 1945, the city was besieged during the Battle of Budapest. The city suffered major damage caused by the attacking Soviet and Romanian troops and the defending German and Hungarian troops. All bridges were destroyed by the Germans. Luckily, the stone lions of the Chain Bridge that have taken their place in 1852 survived the devastation of the war.

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Sam, our Budapest host took us around the area

More than 38,000 civilians lost their lives.

Close to 40% of the 1/4 million Jewish population were part of the Nazi genocide.

A very interesting Memorial to the Jews from WWII

The Shoes on the Danube Promenade is a memorial concept by a film director and sculptor on the bank of the Danube River.. It honors the Jews who were killed by fascist Arrow Cross militiamen in Budapest at the end of WWII.  They were ordered to take off their shoes, and were shot at the edge of the freezing water so that their bodies fell into the river and were carried away. It represents their shoes left behind on the bank.

The Swedish diplomat managed to save the lives of tens of thousands of Jews in Budapest by giving them Swedish passports.  Between 1945 and 1948, the Soviets and Romanian troops took over Budapest and interned 40,000 people across the country.  By 1950, four central internment camps were set up where several thousand prisoners had to carry out forced labor.    So many terrible stories of this time in history that I knew nothing about.

We had met our host, Sam, the night before when we came in around 9 p.m.  We had our own bedroom, which was nice, but oh...was it hot!  No cooling down here in the evening.  A Catholic church was right outside our window and the bells went off each hour even through the night.

The Catholic Church outside our window rang its bell all night

  And - you could hear the young people partying all night.

The King-sized bed took up most of the bedroom.

                              

WELCOME to an old Jewish ghetto area made into a famous cafe

 The following pictures are in one of the famous cafes that have been established in the Jewish ghetto. The whole area is called "Ruin Bars."  It used to be Jewish flats, but when the Jewish people all left for the concentration camps, the buildings were empty for years, so the government gave money for rennovation and this area is now one of the most popular places in the city.  I find it very eclectic and innovative.  ENJOY!!

 

Sam has dreamed of owning one of these.

 On to the Great Market Hall of Budapest, the largest and oldest indoor market in Budapest.....  It was built in 1897 with three floors.

 It's amazing to me how people love to shop.  There was EVERYTHING there, so while Rich was looking at produce, Sam bought some meat, and headed back to his flat.  I decided to go upstairs and try to find a spoon from Hungary and maybe some other souvenirs for family.  We were to meet at the corner of the stairs where we last saw each other.  Our rule is IF WE GET SEPARATED, ALWAYS GO BACK TO WHERE WE LAST SAW EACH OTHER.  Meet in 20 minutes, so we can go and get something to eat as it was lunch time.

LOTS of different booths for food, souvenirs, and little cafes.

                                         

Fun little shop where there is PAPRIKA & SAFRAN gifts everywhere.....very famous items here.

All this produce is so colorful and pretty

After shopping, I went to meet Rich at the location we had agreed upon.  I waited and waited and waited.  The trouble is that he, too, waited and waited, but I had gone to a different corner.  It looked the same except that the Italian vendor had left.  I couldn't figure out why, but oh well....wait some more (for over an hour).  Rich was frantic, so he had them call on the loud speaker for me.

Where can she be?  What do I do next?

 I heard the message, but didn't hear my name, so I kept waiting.  I thought about doing my "Yoo-Hoo" call that I often do, especially in the olden days when I would call my dog or my son home for dinner.  I had already had to use the call a month ago when we were in a Rome subway and I went in a different direction than Rich and we got lost from each other.  The station was packed with people and I was frantic as I didn't know what subway we were to catch, so I did a "Yoo-Hoo" twice and Rich came running.  All the people around us thought I was crazy, but oh well!

So, just as I was ready to do the call, Rich came waltzing up to me.  I was really mad because he was so late and sometimes he loses track of time and I just figured he was having a great time shopping without me.  He, on the other hand, looked gray with worry and gave me a big hug.  He was going to look around the place one more time before calling the police, figuring that I had been kidnapped.  Happy Ending!

We celebrated by eating 1/4 of a watermelon that was so juicy and sweet

 The Liberty Statue of Budapest was first erected in 1947 in remembrance of the  Soviet occupation of Hungary during WWII, which ended the occupation by Nazi Germany.  Over the following years, public sentiment toward the Soviets decreased to the point of revolution, (obviously, since
the Russians had killed so many of the Hungarians from their forced labor camps). The revolution was attempted and temporarily succeeded in 1956 and subsequently damaged some portions of the monument.

 The inscription originally said - To the memory of the liberating Soviet heroes [erected by] the grateful Hungarian people [in] 1945.  After the 1989 transition from communist rule to democracy, the inscription was modified to read:  To the memory of those all who sacrificed their lives for the independence, freedom, and prosperity of Hungary

The Beautiful Blue Danube is a little gray

Love the Habsburg Empire History and all the statues and sculptures

"Hey - Check out my strong biceps."   "Sorry, too busy itchin' this mosquito bite."

 I've been paying attention to the trend and the styles of European women and have been really impressed by Timisoara, Budapest, Prague, and Vienna fashion.  The women tend to dress up even for walking down the street to go shopping.  Many have the tight and bright pants or leggings with skirts or a light summer dress with a leather bag and trendy shoes.

 Up to now, most European women had been wearing shorter than short raggy blue jean shorts with the pockets hanging down below.  Then they had bright colored sneakers with laces.  The laces, however, were tucked inside so as not to show.  Most pulled their hair up on top in a quick bun, but always scraggly looking and not neat and straight as we used to do back in the 60's.

The Bun is the most popular

The Budapest dress is pretty classy

 Richard Wagner was born 200 years ago, so all over Europe, there are concerts this summer. 

Born in 1813

 We got tickets to go to the new fancy theater on the other side of the city.  It was a Vocal Concert with 4 different singers.  Rich was a little bored, but I enjoyed it...all in German and all Wagner.

Outside the concert hall - such a beautiful venue

 On our way home we saw hundreds out in the streets.  No special reason, except it was a Friday night.  Young people love to mingle with each other, eating, drinking, and being merry.  This is a favorite "hang-out" spot around the statue.

A large ferris wheel was in town - so beautiful at night

 What a wonderful day we had in Budapest.  Can't wait to sleep!  We slept with no covers on, though, because it was 35 celsius - a HOT summer night of 95 degrees, and it never cooled down.  I think we slept  (not sure) because we also competed with the church bells outside our window, and the noise from the young partying crowd below us.  Tomorrow is a new day and the decision of whether to go to one of the famous spas or have a fish pedicure......mmmmm.......Decisions, decisions........