Budapest

Среда, 24 Ноября 2010 г. 18:02 + в цитатник

abandond buildings - seemingly so anyway

At the end was heros square, which was fantastic, though some buildings on the south of the square were again delapodated

it has two museums, one for contempory art

and one for paintings - which was HUGE and impressive

back out onto heroes square

behind it is the city park, which has a castle made up of most of the styles you wil find in Budapest

though an agriculture museum wasnt enough to draw me inside

in the park is also the Szechenyi Baths, one of the largest bathing complexs in Europe and fuelld by natural hot springs

the interior was beautiful

and the outsie spectacular, once you work your way through a labarynth of smaller pools

a walk to the castle, unfortunately the lake had been drained and it had been used by go-carts it think

There was a nice atmosphere in this park with a little concert going on, i believe the memorila is to the uprising

walking back down andrassy avenue these street scenes were typical, 4-6 story buildings, all beautiful

the opera house, designed to rival Viennas and Dresdens

In the evening i walked to the river front (the Danube) again through a delapodated arcade where a homeless person had set up a bed and was just lying in it with people walking past, with the lighting and his beard it looked really like he wasin his death bed (creepy). The view that greeted me though was spectacular with the castle on the hill and chain bridge lit up

I then had a river cruise on the danube with a glass of cheap champagne and noticed how high and extreemly fast the river was! but those pics are too blurry

The next day i went to the Catedral, St Stephens whose mumified hand is kept in a case which you pay to light up! This are was really nice and you could see alot of work had been done recently

and then a trip to the top of the dome (unusually by a lift)

the square in front of the cathedral

i loved the tiled roofs of the city

ground view of the square, the building on the right reminds me why its sometimes called the continental London

and here some unloved beautiful buildings, one next to it was being demolished

I think this was called liberty park, with the national bank and tv station around it

and at one end a memorial to the Russians who lost their lives liberating the city fromt eh Nazis though if someone can translate what was written on it i doubt it would be nice

The problem is for some of us is not just what RawLee mentioned, but there was a Flag and a memorial that symbolized the separeted but organic Hungarian nation.

The memorial:

The square:

There were 4 statues too:

North: Az emlékmű főalakja a három méter magas, keresztrefeszített Hungária. A hozzásimuló fiú a tót nemzet ragaszkodását jelképezi az anyaországhoz. A kettő egységét kivont karddal előretörő kuruc alakja védi, emlékeztetve arra, hogy a magyar szabadságért Rákóczi hadaiban tótok is küzdöttek.

Symbolizing: the Hungarians in Slovakia

West: A szoborcsoporton az ifjú az elszakított nyugati vármegyéket jelképezi. Térdre hullva borul a magyar Szent Koronára, s míg jobbjával az ország testéről leszakadni készülő nyugati vármegyék címerpajzsát öleli magához, addig baljával görcsösen kapaszkodik a nagy magyar kettőskeresztes pajzsba. Fölötte áll Hadúr alakja, kezét nyugtatva az ifjú címert szorító karján, jobbjában védően tartva a nemzet pallosát. Arcán kemény dac, hit és önbizalom. Lábainál szárnyait repülésre tárva a Turul.

Symbolizing: the Hungarians in Austria

South: A szobor főalakja karddal és a magyar címerrel díszített pajzzsal kel a Délvidéket jelképező svábleány védelmére. Az előtte lévő búzakévék Nagy-Magyarország éléstárát, a Bácskát és a Bánátot jelképezik.

Symbolizing: the Hungarians in Serbia

East: A szobron az ősi magyar erőt megtestesítő Csaba vezér a megtorlás pillanatát várva felszabadítja a levetkőztetett és kopjafához láncolt, bilincsekbe vert, Erdélyt jelképező - kezében az országrész címerét görcsös reménységgel szorító - alakot.

Symbolizing: the Hungarians in Transylvania, Romania

Opposite are a building where the bullet holes are marked where a politician was shot, and the Ethnographical museum (?), very impressive outside and even more so on the inside (if a bit boring for a musuem)

Walking towards the main shopping street (Vaci Utca)

At the start is a square (with one of the few modern buildings under construction) and one of the most famous cafes

And then a walk down the street, which was very narrow for the main shopping street. I couldnt help think that it would have been better to have regenerated Andrassy avenue than this street, though i can apreciate how it fits in more with other areas

An arcade, slightly deserted by shoppers and shops yet very beautiful

I loved the way these buildings marked the entrance to Elizabeth bridge, thoguh didnt like the way the rd disconected the two hlaf of the street

At the end of Vaci utca was the main market hall, extreemly impressive though whats the deal with all the nets being sold?

walking across here is the view of Gellert hill

and here is the Gellert hotel, which to me really had similarities with Gaudi (im talking about the baths entrance and parts of Sagrada de Familia) again it was very dirty

yet the inside was prestine

Unfortunately the roof was being refurbished which took away the main feature of these baths, but it was still nice anyway (though the water in this pool was cold)

view of liberty bridge

outside the rock church

inside

It was a very high hill, and not very clear on how to get to the top. An asian couple asked which way at a crossroads and we went seperate ways agreeing to see who got to the top first (i did!)

New York and Paris are not the only cities to of a statue of Liberty

One of the great urban views

Gellerts monumnet, he was a priest who was rolled down this hill in a barrel by local heathens, again this area was covered in graffitie and along with some mud was not the safe beautiful area it was advertised as