Andrássy út and Szent István tér

After leaving Hősök tere and stopping for a bite of lunch, we had ourselves a stroll along Andrássy út to see the sights. Mostly, we saw lots of high-end shopping places that we had no business going into. But along the way we did see a few interesting doorways.

Vajdahunyad vára and Hősök tere

In 1896, the city of Budapest dressed itself up and put on a show to celebrate the 1000 years since the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin and the foundation of the Hungarian State. To commemorate this event, a large park was created, Hősök tere (Hero's Square), at the end of an upgraded Andrássy Avenue and this park contained a series of statues to celebrate the mighty Hungarians of old, kings and such as that. Next to this park is a city park to which the Vajdahunyad vára, the castle you see above was added.

These two areas form the largest park in the city. On this fine autumn day, we went for a stroll in the park to see the sights.

A Few Observations about Budapest

After spending a while in Budapest, a place with such a different language, in a former communist country, and strong traditions that do not resemble any we know from elsewhere, it seemed like time to reflect on some of the things we have seen and experienced here.

I went recently back to the ramshackle house not far from us and caught it just at sunset to set the bright red foliage on fire. This seems like a good image to represent much of what we see here. A place with its own beauty, but still in need of some care.

Rákospalotai temető - All Saints Day

As promised, we returned to the cemetery in the evening of All Saints Day to see a cemetery full of light and life. It was certainly a place filled with both.

Rákospalotai temető - Halloween

Today we explored a section of a cemetery about a 15 minute walk from where we are staying. To give you a feeling for how out of sync life and the blog is, this visit happened on Halloween. The day after, All Saints Day, and today are celebrated quite differently here than they are in the US. First of all, there has been very little Halloween candy on display in the stores. A few Christmas displays are already out in Tesco.

The Remainder of our Visit to the Puszta

The denouement to the entertainment was to see some of the other animals traditionally found on farms in the Puszta. First up were the oxen pulling a wagon.

Csikós in Action

After the spectacular showmanship of the standing rider, we got down to business. The Csikós aren't just guys who herd horses and cows about on the farm, they were also the backbone of the Hungarian army. This meant that there were things these horses needed to be trained to do to protect themselves and their riders under attack.

The Csikós

After the horse stampede about the paddock, we headed to a different field (also filled with dusty sand) for the main event. This included a variety of Csikós showing us how they ride and manage their mounts. It was fascinating.

Lajosmizse and the Puszta Horse Show

Our guide/driver took us to a horse farm near the small town of Lajosmizse. This place hosts groups of tourists like us to see the horses and the Hungarian cowboys called csikós (sounds a little like "chicos").

These fellows dress and ride very differently from American cowboys, as you will see in a subsequent post. They also all carry whips, and I'll treat you to some video clips of that as well. We were greeted with a round of whip cracking and the next thing you know they are driving a herd of horses around the paddock. The soil here is sandy resulting in a field of deep and dusty sand. Although we felt perfectly safe behind the wooden rail, these animals were really charging past us.

Kecskemét, Hungary

On what appears to the last day of Indian summer here in Hungary, we booked a tour to the plains south and east of Budapest to see a little (a very little) of the town of Kecskemét, known as the Garden of Hungary. This is a town of 100k or so located in the heart of farmland.

As seems to be the case in every Hungarian town, there is a statue of Kossuth Lajos, The Governor-President of the Kingdom of Hungary during the revolution of 1848-49. Do not ask what a Governor-President is, for I do not know.

Devin Castle

About a 15 minute taxi ride from Bratislava, headed upstream along the Danube, we come to the confluence of the Morava river with the Danube. here, on a high rocky outcropping, is the Devin Castle. Or at least what is left of it.

St. Martin's Cathedral

The most interesting place we visited in Bratislava has to be St. Martin's Cathedral. The front of the church is an interesting place. To the left of the photo above is a large four-lane bridge connecting the rest of the city to the bridge across the Danube to Austria. The communists were not too particular about what was destroyed to build what they wanted.

The photo above shows a section of the original wall around the city. And just out of view to the right is the church.

The Church of the Elevation of the Cross

The Church of the Elevation of the Cross is externally still mostly in good shape even if very little remains inside. Above you can see the spire of the church with the Bratislava Castle on the hill in the distance. And before you ask, we did not visit the castle.

Bratislava, Slovenia

For a change of scenery, we headed over to Slovakia to see a little of the Old Town in Bratislava. All thing are possible when you are retired and the train tickets and hotels are cheap. Above is the street (pedestrian) just outside our hotel. At the end of the street is Michael's Gate. This is only remaining of the four original medieval gates to the city. It was built in 1300 and reconstructed in 1758 in its current form.

Ferenciek Tere

After my visit to the Franciscan Church, I headed back out into Ferenciek Tere to go catch up with E. On the way I spotted this imposing statue with interesting buildings in the background.

Budapesti Belvárosi Ferences Templom

After out immersion in WWI and a front row seat to the National Day parade, we rode back to Pest and stopped in Ferenciek Tere. I'd like to tell you that it was to see sites of great historical significance, but alas, I cannot. E saw a toy store she wanted to stop to see.

While she was shopping for a new puzzle to assemble on the dining room table, I was on the other side of the square investigating the the Pest Franciscan Church.

Várkert Bazár

We went to an exhibition created to mark the centennial of WWI. It is located at the Várkert Bazár on the Buda side of the river at the bottom of the hill on which the castle sits. This was wonderful, immersive experience. Three floors of a pretty fancy building have been turned into three layers of the history of Hungary (and Europe) starting in the late 19th century and ending (after a quick dash through WWII) with the 1950's and the 1956 rebellion against Communism.

Unfortunately, photos are not allowed inside or I'd show you more. However, as we sat nearby at what is quickly becoming a favorite place to stop for a coffee and a sweet to perk up the afternoon, we found ourselves becoming engulfed in what seemed to be a demonstration.

Rákospalota, MÁV-telep

About a 20 minute walk from where we are staying is Rákospalota MÁV-telep, the Rákospalota tram station. I went down on a grand afternoon for bit of tram spotting.

Semmelweis Orvostörténeti Múzeum

The Semmelweis Museum of Medical History is a place filled with loosely connected items. Some are connected to Dr. Semmelweis, such a reconstruction of a room in his house. His parents once owned a house/grocery on the same site. Others, such as the item above, are less clearly connected.

A Walk About Batthyány tér

We decided to take a low-key day and have a bit of a stroll about the  Batthyány tér area on the Buda side of the Danube. Right on the square is Budapest-Felsővízivárosi Szent Anna plébániatemplom, the St. Anna Parish Church of Budapest-Upper Town. As you will see, we really picked the wrong day to visit churches...they were all closed on a Saturday. But we enjoyed them from the outside.

B&W Retrospective

I occasionally like to go back trough recent photos and see if any would be improved by conversion to B&W. I believe that a few of these from Budapest fill the bill. See what you think. Above and below are image from the Dohany Street Synagogue.

Kozma utcai izraelita temető

We finally visited the Kozma Street Jewish Cemetery on a day when it was open. It is quite an amazing place.

St. Stephan's Basiclia

On our first attempt to see the inside of St. Stephen's Basilica, we were prevented from a full view inside by some activity that had most of the church roped off. On our second visit, it was fully open and I thought I'd update you with the full details. What a place this is!

Museum of Fine Arts

In a place created for the 1896 celebration of 1000 years of Hungary called Hősök Tere (Heroes' Square), stand the Museum of Fine Arts. It is an imposing building filled with some nice antiquities and art from Hungary and around the world.

As you will see below, one of the most interesting things to see in the museum is the museum itself.

Új Köztemető - 2

The cemetery is wooded and we walked along several tree lined lanes that were filled with autumn color.

Új Köztemető - 1

We made a trip, via three trolleys to visit the large Jewish cemetery  (Kozma utcai izraelita temető). For reasons that we never sorted out (that pesky language thing), it was closed. Perhaps we'll try again. But, to salvage the day, the Új Köztemető, the New Public Cemetery, is just next door. So, here is the first of a two-part report on our visit to this cemetery.

In Our Neighborhood

In our neighborhood, no more than a ten to fifteen minute walk from where we are staying I found a few places that are worth documenting. For example, the church above is being cleaned by the local parishioners for service on Sunday. In the shank of the day, people are showing their devotion to God and church by keeping thing clean. Or maybe they just like to have a clean church.

Gellért Gyógyfürdő és Uszoda

Decided to take the plunge. Literally. I went to the Gellert Thermal Bath for a massage and dip in the hot (-ish) mineral bath. As you can image, running about around the pools filled with scantily clad people of all ages and nationalities with a camera would be more than a little creepy. As a result, you only get to see the bits where people are (mostly) fully dressed.

Keleti Pályaudvar

On the way home from our visit to the Liszt Academy, we decide to stop at Keleti Pályaudvar, one of the three main train stations in Budapest. Along the way, I found this display of shoes in an alleyway that I thought seemed ripe for a photo.

Franz Liszt Academy of Music

Even though we've already been to the academy of Music for a concert (and a might fine one it was), we decided to go back for the tour to get some proper photos. Although this is not the original digs for this music school/performance venue, it is suitably impressive to honor Franz Liszt, the founder.

To get a feel for the caliber of this place, here is a short list of just the graduates that I have heard of (probably says more about who I don't know about than who they graduate...)

Béla Bartók

Charles Brunner

Ernő Dohnányi

Antal Doráti

Zoltán Kodály

György Ligeti

Eugene Ormandy

Fritz Reiner

Georg Solti

László Somogyi

János Starker

Impressive, eh?

Liszt Ferenc tér

In front of the Franz Liszt Academy of Music is Liszt Ferenc tér, that is, Franz Liszt Square. It is a tree filled pedestrian street lined with eateries and coffee shops. In the middle is this statue of Liszt himself in full engagement with his imaginary piano.

Dohány utcai Zsinagóga

In case you were wondering what the Hungarian in the title says, this is a post about the Tobacco Street Synagogue. This very large synagogue is a real marvel in style, scale, and execution. The architects choose a moorish style for the inside and out. Wikipedia tells us:

Built in a residential area between 1854-1859 by the Jewish community of Pest according to the plans of Ludwig Förster, the monumental synagogue has a capacity of 2,964 seats (1,492 for men and 1,472 in the women's galleries), making it the largest in Europe and one of the largest working synagogues in the world (after the Beit Midrash of Ger in Jerusalem, the Belz Great Synagogue and Temple Emanu-el in New York City). The consecration of the synagogue took place on 6 September 1859.

A Walk About the Old Jewish Quarter

We learned that there is a market on Sundays in the old Jewish quarter in downtown Budapest, so we headed out to investigate. This part of town is now no longer especially jewish, rather it is a trendy place filled with young people, tourists, and the sorts of stores and restaurants that appeal to them. And there are a few bright spots of street art fun bits to see.

Gazdálkodó Utca

Really, just around the corner from where are staying is this small dive bar. We stopped in one day looking for a diet Pepsi for E (no luck) and we were greeted by surprised and unwelcoming faces. Guess we'll not be going in there any more.

A Ride on the Danube

Part of our Hop-on/Hop-off bus tour was a one hour ride on the Danube. We took the later one, near sunset, enjoyed nice views of both Buda and Pest. Above is the Buda side of the river with the castle near the center of the frame.

The Central Market

The Central Market filled with good food and brightly colored packaging to delight the senses. There is also more saffron and paprika here than you can shake a stick at. You see in this bowl rather large bags of saffron selling for 450 Huf each. Just for reference, 300 Huf = $1.

Castle Garden

At the end of our day touring the Buda Castle Hill, we needed a few minutes to rest our dogs and refresh before heading home. We stopped at the Castle Gardens to find a restaurant.

Fisherman's Bastion

As part of the wall and ramparts around the Buda Castle and the Matthias Church, we find a fairy tale quality in the Fisherman's Bastion.

Matthias Church

You're seeing lots of churches from this trip because these Hungarians really know how to build a fine church. It seems that every one is more amazing that the last. This is perhaps the most beautiful of them all,,,the Matthias Church. It was commissioned by King Matthias Corvinus in the 13th century.

Buda Castle

A settlement has been the hill that is home for the old town and the Buda Castle for nearly a thousand years. In the 13th century, the castle and Matthias Church formed the core of a growing town. BY the 16th century, the Turks had taken over and it fell into neglect followed by Christian troops that destroyed everything. What you see above is pretty much what was left.

An Improvement...I hope

When we travelled Australia, the use of Instagram and the Blog had very little overlap. This seems to no longer be true. I'm finding that sometimes (like concerts or shopping) I have photos to share from my iPhone that you blog-only followers never see. It is not always sensible to carry a camera on every outing. This means this stuff never shows up on the blog. That doesn't seem fair.

The Citadel

On hill not far south of the Buda Castle, we find the Citadel. Although it is currently close over some sort of legal dispute, a visit here does make for a nice place to see a panorama of the city.

Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary

We found this gem of a church down by the Danube near the Elizabeth Bridge. A church has been on this site since the 1000's. It was originlly built by St. Istvan, the first king of Hungary. In the 14th century it was rebuilt. The Turks used it for a mosque. It has been repeatedly burned and restored. The current restoration has produced a beautiful building.

Wandering about Budapest on the Way Back to the Bus Stop

I found the front of this store to be interesting. The combination of the fine tablecloth and the colorfully sewn fabric complements the string of paprika peppers hanging there. When Americans think of peppers hanging on a string, we think of the sort grown in Mexico or New Mexico. Paprika is not something we typically imagine this way. Yet here they are and when served, as they were to go with our lunch time pizza, they really spice things up.

St. Stephan's Basilica

The visit to St. Stephen's Basilica was both gratifying and annoying. It is a beautiful place and it is nice to see a place that really lives up to its reputation. On the other hand, visitors are restricted to a modest area near the door making it's hard to get the nice symmetric shots I enjoy taking. Nevertheless, here it is in all its glory... or at least all of it could access.

When you walk in the door, there is dome light just over your head. This makes for a nice image to show off the carefully patterned decorations, the guilding, and the generally darker character of the interior.

Nearby in Budapest

We have arrived in Budapest and are getting settled in our splendid new house. The owners are marvelous people and their house is really beautiful. But ½ a block away is a truly enormous apartment block surrounded by more large apartment blocks. And beyond this is a big, nice shopping center with Tesco, McDonalds, Starbucks, H&M, etc. all within walking distance.

But these apartment blocks are impressive and oppressive. There is such a Soviet era quality to them I took a few images to try to pass along the impression they make. There are all long exposures to erase the people (except for those standing pretty still) and the traffic (almost completely). I thought the juxtaposition of buildings full of people with streets without any would make a good contrast.

Prague Castle

Our exploration of Prague fittingly ends here in the Prague Castle. While we did not make an extensive exploration of the place, what we did see was worth a visit. We were discouraged by the crowd from entering St. George's Basilica and the state of our feet from walking through the armour displays in the Maria Theresa Hall. Clearly we need to make another visit.

On the other hand we (partially) saw the changing of the guards complete with the military band playing.

St. Vitus Cathedral

This is an impressive gothic cathedral. I quote from Wikipedia since retyping all the Czech is beyond me at the moment:

The Metropolitan Cathedral of Saints Vitus, Wenceslaus and Adalbert (Czech: metropolitní katedrála svatého Víta, Václava a Vojtěcha) is a Roman Catholic metropolitan cathedral in Prague, the seat of the Archbishop of Prague. Until 1997, the cathedral was dedicated only to Saint Vitus, and is still commonly named only as St. Vitus Cathedral.

It is located on the grounds of the Prague castle and is largely surrounded by the castles and its associated buildings. Thus, my photos from the outside are taken from fairly close and don't give a full reflection of the size. This is the third church on this site. Construction began on 21 November 1344 when Prague was elevated to the seat of an archbishopric.

A Little Info

I know that not everyone who follows this blog (the thronging crowd that you are...) is really into webby things and social media. However, Just a quick reminder that new blog entries are also posted to Twitter.

For those who would like to see something a bit more irreverent, I also post to Instagram when we are on the road (and a small amount when we are home). These are photos taken with my phone of things I find amusing or little more outside-the-box . Usually entirely different from the blog and once in a while kinda fun. These are also copied to Twitter in case that is your thing.

I'm found on Twitter at @SteveWhisnant and on Instagram at steve.whisnant. If either of these outlet is your "thing", enjoy.

Church of the Infant Jesus of Prague

A more modestly appointed church is the Infant of Jesus church. The decorations are pretty much all about Jesus and Mary.