Budapest

<Previous    Photo Index>

It is really a large Royal Palace rather than castle. Yet another Hapsburg palace totally destroyed in WWII & rebuilt since.

Ann at the Palace.

Me posing. We were pestered here by someone offering his services as a guide. He obviously didn't realise that by annoying tourists, he was not going to get any business.

Another monumental space fashioned to impress the masses.

The Communists were dedicated to raising monuments hailing their glory. At least they chose high locations with good views.

Behind Ann, there is a plinth with a statue missing....

Notice I had the digital camera & Ann was still clinging on gamely to her trusty 35mm one.

But what do you do with all these Communist-inspired monuments & sculptures after you boot out the Russians?

Answer - see below!

Rather than melting them all down, in 1991, the City fathers decided to create a park for all the hated statues.

This is the metal Bela Kun Memorial. It reminded me of a cartoon cut-out, blown up out of all proportion.

There was one incident which happened on our first full day which did sour our memories of Budapest. We bought a Carnet of tickets at the kiosk to use on the metro. We turned round to see where to validate them, couldn't see any machine (It was outside the station, but we couldn't see it) so went down to the platform. Again no machine, so when a metro came, we assumed that the validation machine was in the carriage (same as on the buses), but again no such machine. When we got out of the carriage, thinking that maybe you validate tickets on exit, we were pounced on by a group of ticket inspectors, who forcefully demanded a fine. Even though we could show that we had paid for a whole group of tickets, it was in the rules that we had to be fined & they were not interested in listening to us. This mindless, bureaucratic attitude is a legacy of the Communist regime.

This is the missing statue from the plinth of the Liberation Monument as (not) seen in an earlier photo....

Chain bridge from our hotel. A short holiday that left us with mixed feelings about the city.

<Previous    Photo Index>