Day 6 - July 31st

Today was a rather quiet day. We decided to go back to Matyas Templom, To see the interior. As our tour book suggested it was rather dull. The interior contained a lot of scaffolding because a major restoration is taking place. There was an excellent exhibit showcasing x-rays of walls and items undergoing renovation and the result of these renovations. The craftsmanship required to do this type of work is amazing... not only woodworkers, but painters, silversmiths, iron workers and plaster specialists, fabric restorers and a person to oversee all these activities. I absolutely love stained glass windows and the church had many. The more vivid...the better.

This afternoon, after purchasing some more Hungarian food for our breakfast we went to a family gathering where we met up with my sister and her children as well as with cousins I had not seen in 20 years. It was wonderful to catch up and to meet children who had not yet existed 20 years ago! all continues to go very well... hope it is the same at home!

 

Day 5 - July 30th

We were out and about earlier than usual today. First we went to visit the biggest synagogue in Europe and the 2nd biggest in the world... the Great Synagogue. There are three parts to the visit... the incredibly beautiful, ornate synagogue...

the attached museum which offers an exhibit very concisely detailing the Jewish faith...

...and the very touching memorial garden which has the weeping willow Tree of Life sculpture... a monument to Hungarian victims of the Holocaust as well as a symbolic grave of Raoul Wallenberg. The metal willow tree contains the names of those who perished at the hands of the fascists during WW II. There were also many people who saved the lives of tens of thousands of Jews, among them, Raoul Wallenburg, a Swedish diplomat and Carl Lutz, a Swiss vice-consul. The names of these non-Jews are also memorialized in this garden as well. We also learned that Catholic priests actually hid 25 torahs to keep them out of the hands of those who would destroy them. These torahs are now in the ark of the synagogue. After visiting this very powerful place we went to see St. Stephen's Basilica... the biggest church in Budapest.

We could not go into the church because they were preparing for an organ concert... but we did manage to take an elevator and then climb another 145 stairs to get to the observation deck. we had magnificent views of Budapest as far as the eye could see in each direction. Afterwards we walked around this section of the city and had a lovely dinner on a nice cool evening... a much appreciated change in the weather. A couple of sites during our walk merited a photo each...

All is well... we're having a great time.

 

Day 4 - July 29th

This morning started in typical fashion... however we managed to get out of the apartment by 11AM. My cousin, Nora, had suggested we visit the 'Hospital in the Rock' under Castle Hill. This is a 25,000 sq.ft. of labyrinthine network of hospital and fallout shelter corridors. In 1939 at the outbreak of WW II the Hungarian government began building a secret emergency surgical hospital. The hospital was state of the art for the period... the best in Europe. It was meant to serve 200 patients at a time but actually served three times as many. It was then forgotten but resurrected during the 1956 Revolution for a couple of months. During the Cold War in the late 1950's and 60's there was an actual fallout shelter built with a very sophisticated system which had a pressurized interior so that fallout could never be drawn into the shelter. The air exchange system is turned on each night for a few hours... it is capable of completely exchanging the air for the entire area in 10 minutes. It also keeps the machinery from rusting and mold and mildew from forming. The bandages which were amassed in the tunnels expired in 1961. There were operating theaters and cabinets full of original surgical tools and needles. Photography was not allowed so I have nothing to share of this fascinating site. Today we also saw Matthias Church but only the exterior.

This church has. beautifully tiled roof...

 

We look forward to returning to take a tour of the interior. After resting a bit in the late afternoon I snapped a photo of the exterior of the apartment in which we're staying. The interior is decorated completely with IKEA... all the way down to the dish towels and all cabinetry! You can see Jim in the corner.

 

We went to check out the location of the second largest synagogue in the world but ran into torrential rain. Instead we went to Bob's Pizza where we had an outstanding Hungarian meal! We did notice the prices of the pizzas... would you prefer 24 cm or 32 cm pizza?

So much for our adventures today!

3rd Day - Sat. July 28th

I posted a blog... tried to edit it and lost it. This time I am also keeping a copy on the iPad!

My sister tells me that by the 3rd day our body clocks begin to match the local clocks and that we should begin to feel 'normal' soon. Today we had our typical Hungarian breakfast of kifli (croissant type roll without all the butter), salami, green pepper and tomatoes with tea. What a perfectly wonderful way to start our day. We decided to explore the Parliament building and proceeded to take the #2 tram (villamos) to get there. The building has much scaffolding around it... we suspect it is being cleaned. The front, facing the Danube, is clean and just beautiful. The architectural style resembles buildings in London because that is where the architect apparently studied.

One can see this side of the building is yet to be cleaned. As we walked along the Danube we happened upon 50 pairs of bronzed shoes. Apparently this is a Holocaust Monument dedicated to Hungarian Jews who were massacred here by the puppet Nazi government called the Arrow Cross which came to power in 1944. A very sobering and sad sight.

Continuing along the Danube we came across a stand where we purchased tickets for a dinner cruise at 7PM. We thought this would be a cute little boat ride but we were in for a surprise. We got on the boat and found a very elegant buffet with incredible Hungarian dishes and desserts.

We were also entertained by incredible musicians who began the evening by playing The Blue Danube Waltz by Johannes Strauss. What a perfectly romantic evening. From the boat we saw the Parliament building again... as the sun set...

Yet another beautiful Day in Budapest. Good Night.

Day 2 - July 27, 2012

although it took some it e to get back to sleep after delivery of our suitcases... sleep we did. I slept until noon and Jim until 2PM. after a most refreshing shower I packed up to look for breakfast. Rather than go to the Nagyvasarcsarnok (Great Market Hall) to purchase the food I went to the local grocery store. I bought the requisite Hungarian salami, beautiful green peppers and kifli which are crescent rolls. I also bought a couple freshly baked cherry pastries. At 2:30 PM Jim and I had breakfast. At 3:30 we left the apartment to look around. We found ourselves crossing Szabadsag Hid (Freedom Bridge) to the Gellert Hegy. We climbed the hill to the Citadel to see the Liberation Memorial and to get a glimpse of exceptional views of this beautiful city.

From a distance we could have been looking out over Florence with all the red tiled roofs and many church spires. I recalled that this area was near the apartment where my grandparents lived many years ago... and where I had visited them. Jim and I decided to see if we could find the address and see if my cousin still lived there. We got on the #47 bus which took us to Moricz Zsigmondy Korter. Although there was much construction in the area we managed to find the building and discovered that my cousin and her son do indeed live there.

We had a wonderful visit and I came away with several books pertaining to my ancestors.In the photograph above you can see the door at the end of the hall where an uncle lived for many years. This door is adjacent to the entrance to my grandparents apartment. After our visit we went to the For Sale Pub which boasts the very best Gulyas Leves (Goulash Soup). We didn't eat the soup but did have a marvelous dinner in a very different restaurant. The walls are covered with business cards, drawings, photographs and lots of other paraphernalia which could be tacked up. Another fun but hot day in Budapest.

 

 

Our First Day - July 26, 2012

The flight from Dulles left about an hour late. Fortunately we did not have to endure the hour on the tarmac but rather in the terminal. We arrived in Frankfurt about an hour late and had to run to catch the Franfurt to Budapest plane for the last leg of our travel on July 26th. In Budapest we did not face crowds to go through customs... the only problem was that we had no suitcases... they did not make the plane in Frankfurt. After filling out paperwork we were told that the suitcases would arrive in Budapest in the 2:30 plane. We thought we'd have our belongings by late afternoon to early evening. After calling the airport we learned that the delivery would not be made until after 10PM. There was a family event planned in the evening which we did not want to miss. This was the only day on which all the extended family members who had come to Budapest were able to meet. So, Jim and I freshened up as best we could and we got on the #2 villamos and headed off to meet everyone. We were in trouble as soon as we hit the front door of our apartment building... we got a,torrential downpour of rain. Unfortunately our umbrellas were in the suitcases! While we tried to decide if we should buy another umbrella to add to our collection the rain soon subsided and we went on our way. A 10 minute ride and we reached our destination.. where there was not a drop of rain!!!!! We reached my cousin's beautiful home where we had drinks and hors d'oevres. At 7 we went to Szep Ilona Restaurant where family members enjoyed porkolt, wiener schnitzel and the most fantastic palacsinta ever!!!! We arrived back at our apartment at around 10 and waited for our suitcases to be delivered. After determining we could no longer keep our eyes open we turned in at 111PM. At 2 AM the apartment provided cell phone rang. It was the messenger service to deliver our suitcases.