Memories of Budapest

Barbarians destroyed Budapest two thousand years ago , then it was overrun by Huns and Magyars and Ostrogoths. Then it was destroyed by the Mongols and was later captured by the Turks ... and we're only up to 154l.

More recently the Hungarians living in Buda and Pest - two cities separated by the famous Danube River - suffered greatly under the Germans and then the Russians during World War II, only fifty years ago.

It's perfectly safe to go now, of course, and so a group of us visited Hungary and its famous capital city ... (more)

View point
There is Buda, and then there is Pest. Buda's on the left, Pest is on the...

The Danube
Even through the haze we could see that it really isn't very blue.

Church steeple
As in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, which we'd just visited,...

Fountain
Looking for the best angle.

Russian military hat
One of the reminders of the past, when Hungary suffered under Russian...

Local art
The artists may be local, but the American influence is obvious.

Hmm
Do I really look like that? As I recall, it was a very warm afternoon and...

Winner
There are 29 McDonald Restaurants in Budapest and this one is considered the...

On our bus
A short ride to the Danube for a river boat cruise.

Village
At the end of our boat ride was this little village of Szentendre...

Village sign
I'm not sure what this store is advertising.

Better sign
But there's no problem figuring out what this shop sells.

Tavern
Another warm day, so a stop here seemed better than visiting yet another store.

The Danube Bend
A nice view of the river below

Happy time
After the boat ride, another bus ride and the steep climb up the hill...

Ready for lunch
After the boat ride and the bus ride and the climb up the hill to see that...

King and his court
The men were happy to sit on or near the throne, but the royal ladies seemed...

Strolling troubadour
He sang lots of local songs, but ' Greensleeves ' got the most applause.

Wagon ride
On our last night , we drove about an hour out of Budapest into...

Bull
I think this one's for making calves, not steaks.

Hungarian rodeo
Time to show off some expert bareback riding.

Class photo
Our travel group on the final night of our tour. Half would get up at...

article published 6/24/2002

Comments

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And Pozsony(Pressburg,or Bratislava)was Hungary`s capital less than 160 years ago and you have to wait now so much at the border between the old capital and the new one...in 2002 !
— geza, March 4, 2006

Fred Gordon
Hi Bob. Your photos bring back memories of my cruise on the Danube a few years back. Our trip was from Linz to Bratislava. The journey took in Vienna etc. A coach visit from Bratislava to Budapest was a nightmare as we waited 2 hours to get through border control going and the same on the return journey. When we finally arrived in budapest we had only 2 Hrs to look around. On alighting the coach we were virtually mobbed by women selling their wares? Our party of 4 took the wrong turning on our walkabout and saw virtually nothing of interest. We finally arrived at a fairly fashionable shopping street where people dressed in national costume paraded but when we attempted to take a photo they refused unless we paid them. What a fiasco and we were glad to get back to the cruise ship. However nice to see someone has got Photos.
— Fred Gordon, October 9, 2002

Thanks, Gabi
Thanks for the correction. I want to be as factual as possible, but I don't think I should change my story. If I do, then your fine comment and correction wouldn't make any sense, would it?
— Bob Fairbanks, July 22, 2002

Hope you don't mind the correction.
It's relly great that more and more people choose Hugary as their travel destination and I hope you had a really good time while you were visiting. Nonetheless, I think you should update your history knowledge on Hungary. The Huns were a Hungarian tribe and the Magyars are T H E Hungarians. They did not overrun Hungary. They were nomads who came from the Urals in the 9th century and decided to settle in the Carpathian basin. They in turn were the ones who were constanlty overrun in the later centuries by other nations like the Mongols and the Turks and so on.
— Gabi Selmeczi, June 30, 2002

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