Budapest

A very rough comparison can be made between Budapest and Thunder Bay.  Both are two towns that became one.  Both have a hill (Buda / Port Arthur) and a plain (Pest / Fort William).  To make the resemblance closer let's move the Kaministiquia to flow down Oliver Road / John Street and make it about ten times larger.  We'll have to move Mount McKay and plunk it onto Hill Crest Park to give it some substance.  And call it Castle Hill.  Then sprinkle the PA-side homes and apartments up and around the NorWester slopes, there done.

Our strategy of booking hotels close the train station worked well in Budapest.  Damp grey afternoon as we made our way out of the train station.  Central square in front all torn-up construction making all directions look same-same.  'Well, the hotel is supposed to be close.  Let's just cross the street, (avoiding multiple buses and cars,) and do a circumference.  Bingo!'
Reception on the fifth floor and rooms on the sixth, accessed by a small glass-sided elevator on the edge of the courtyard.  Tiny iron balconies come complete with geraniums - except our top-floor room with its anonymous windows.  A very large man lives in a wood and glass hut at the front door to scrutinize all entrants.
First day. We wandered our neighbourhood, the Old Jewish Quarter.  Rebuilt synagogue included a small museum to explain the main Jewish traditions as well as the awful experiences of the 600,000 Hungarian Jews.  Helen, our museum guide, talked non-stop for 45 minutes, giving us a comprehensive overview.

A miniature, three compartment funicular clicks up the side of Castle Hill.  Gorgeous views over the Danube, bridges and the super-sized Parliament building.  We ignored the Palace / art gallery and toured the Hospital in the Rock.  Natural limestone caves under the Castle had been used since the 13th century.  Turned in a 120 bed hospital with one kilometer of tunnels to house all needed support roles.  Did double duty during the 1956 Hungarian Uprising treating 800 + patients over the two month conflict.  Final active career enlarged to be an emergency nuclear war hospital bunker, complete with generators and decontamination rooms for in-patients.  Selected doctors and nurses did practice drills for 40 years as they had to get underground 15 minutes after the alarm - then the doors would have been sealed for three days.  (American missiles in Italy had 15 minute flight time.)  Secrecy was the watch-word.  Pipes for the diesel fuel came up in a castle flower garden and a modified municipal water truck filled them.

We asked at the Frans Lizts Music Academy if there were any free concerts coming up.  The next evening we joined proud parents as ~ 30 students took turns in a old-fashioned music recital.  Aged from seven or so to mid-teens, each had a very challenging piece, demonstrating competence on a range of instruments.  So rare to hear a good xylophone.

"Hungary has a heavy history" - comment by the attendant as we were leaving the House of Terror, a museum exposing the secret police repression of the pre-WWll. 'Arrows Crossed', Hungarian home-grown facists.  Followed immediately after the conflict by Stalin's loving embrace as brain-washed local thugs continued to carry on the torture and executions.  All this right downtown on fancy Argassy ut, mentioned above.  A dark and impressive display of old films, artifacts, models and modern video clips from survivors as you walk around the actual offices, cells and basement execution chamber.  Small photo plaques of the hundreds of victims circle the outside of the building, highlighted by the soft glow of candles.
Earlier in the day we puzzled out the local transportation to Memorial Park on the outskirts of Budapest where a sample of various Lenin and other 'heroic' soviet realism statues from that era are displayed. Have to keep in mind that it was only 1989 that the whole rotten, anti-democratic state imploded.

Different, lighter topic:. Food - Yes, there is more than gulash.  'Chaud lent' is a Jewish baked beans, smoky and very salty, topped with a roasted goose leg or thin slices of beef.  Lamb meatball soup starts with a good meaty broth, adds yogurt, cauliflower and unidentified herb, (sorrel - chervil - ?).

Andrassy Ut is Budapest's fancy boulevard.  Wide, treed and lined with high-end stores, fancy hotels and 1890's cafes that will serve you thick chocolate sludge.  Fortunately the accompanying hot milk and whipped cream dilute to make an ambrosian drink that warms the day.

Snapshots Shots:. Firsts - Taxi drivers inside the station approaching all obvious tourists offering rides, informal money changers stand at your elbow in front of the 'Change' booth, (better rate too,) while offers of tours were just outside.  Shades of Cuba.
Lots of people wearing sandwich boards for restaurants or other tourist experiences.  Every city square has people passing out handbills for concerts / tours / misc.