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| I took the communism theme walking tour, so of course we walked to the man who slayed the Red Menace |
This morning I went down to Vörösmarty tér (Vörösmarty Square, for those unfamiliar with the Magyar tongue) (which probably would be everybody who doesn't actually live in Hungary). I found that this was the place where the Budapest Christmas Market is centered.
But I did not go to Vörösmarty tér for the Christmas or for the capitalism. I was there for the communism. Specifically, the communist-themed walking tour of Budapest.
Christmas and communism. Together in Budapest. (Apparently, when Budapesters want to go to Christmas markets to get into the Christmas spirit, they head to Vienna. So, yes, Budapest has a Christmas market, but it does not appear to be a "destination" type of Christmas market.)
Let's walk.
Good news for Budapest, but bad news for the tour, there are not many vestiges of communism to see in Budapest. Budapest Centrum, the downtown core, was spared the Brutalist style of Soviet architecture, and the horrors of Le Corbusier and the Bauhaus School of architecture, which decreed buildings must be unadorned and ugly. In Soviet Brutalism, it was the actual intent to kill the spirit through public ugliness in architecture. For the moderns and post-moderns, it was merely an unhappy consequence.
I mean, come on, St. Stephen's Basilica! (Szent István-bazilika in the original Magyar.) It's nice that there is no communism to its design.
On the other hand, across the street, is this monstrosity.
Soviet brutalism. Why the tour was light on actual communist sights, it was packed with historical knowledge. Such as: Did you know that Bela Lugosi, you know, Count Dracula Bela Lugosi, fled Hungary in 1919. Why? He was part of the very brief communist revolution that seized power in Hungary at the end of World War I. One. Not two. There were communist takeovers of Hungary at the end of both world wars. The post-WWI communist takeover was brief, only 131 days, and the 37 year old communist fled for Hollywood after it was over, a place where the communist revolution took hold, and despite a brief hiccup in the McCarthy Era, has ruled Hollywood unabated since. Oops. Sorry. Not going to get political.
This carving above looks like it could be communist. Workers and farmers and all that. But it's not. And it's on the side of a bank,
Next up is a very very very controversial holocaust memorial:
The eagle represents Nazi Germany. The archangel Gabriel below represents Hungary. This is to represent a holocaust being foisted upon the innocent Hungarian people by the Nazis. Reality, unfortunately, was more complicated. Apparently the Hungarian Nazis, the Arrow Cross, were even more efficient than the Germans in operating a holocaust within their borderss.
That could be a communist era building there. It's ugly enough. Final note on the Arrow Cross and the communists. After WWII, a large number of the members of the local Nazi Party, the Arrow Cross, joined up and became loyal communists, continuing their work of slaughtering the local population.
Speaking of controversy and of slaughtering the local population, above is an obelisk that serves as a memorial to the Soviet Red Army soldiers who were killed liberating the country from the Nazis. If that is not the very definition of "mixed emotions," I don't know what would be.
Lots of nice buildings surrounding the Soviet Red Army memorial. Such as:
And this:
These certainly would have been part of the pre-communist Budapest. But the man more responsible than any other American for their being a post-communist Budapest (and, perhaps, more responsible than anyone else on the planet -- you decide)
Ladies and gentleman, I give you Ronald Reagan. He's posing here with our tour guide. Tour Guide is in blue. The President is in bronze.
And here's President Reagan posing with an elderly American tourist,
Here is a sort-of Hungarian hero of the communist era: Imre Nagy. He was the premier of communist Hungary who allowed the 1956 revolt against communism to happen. It was brutally suppressed by the Soviets and their Warsaw Pact allies.
Nagy was executed by the communists as a result. Buried upside and in an unmarked grave.
After communism fell in 1989, Nagy's body was exhumed and he was reburied with proper honors. But, to keep Hungary, a lot of red blood flowed in the interim.
The metal balls -- which are all over the courtyard and square behind the Parliament building -- represent each bullet that was fired into the crowd of true revolutionaries who died trying to throw off the yoke of communism.
Speaking of Parliament, this is Budapest's signature building, its Parliament building.
Most certainly not communist-era. It now houses the democratically-elected national legislature. Because communism is dead. The only red in modern day Hungary is their delicious "Bull's Blood" red wine. As it should be.
The communist tour complete, it was time for some other touring.
This is a non-evil eagle, the symbol of Budapest's multi-sport Ferencvárosi teams. Well, non-evil if you're a fan. Evil is cheer for a different Budapest football club, I guess.
I then went back to the hotel for a brief nap. Woke up at 3:00 p.m. feeling well-rested and awesome. Finally. Then I realized that 3:00 p.m. local time is 6:00 a.m. Las Vegas. I had just woken up at my regular waking time. Oh well, time to head to the Rudas thermal baths for a soapy water massage!
It was only a quarter to four or so, and it already was dusk in Budapest. The combination of being east in the time zone and rather far north makes for a very early sunset this time of year.
This area is St. Gellert Square, where the Gellert baths are located. But we are not soaking in the water of the Gellert today.
Bridge with barges. Artsy, no?
We are soaking at the Rudas.
No photos inside. You would not want to see a picture of me wearing the loin cloth thing you wear to soak in the Rudas. You really would not.
It was night time when I left after my soapy water massage, which is the Hungarian massage style using soap and hot water. That's the Elizabeth Bridge above, named for "CiCi," an enduring popular Habsburg royal who pretty much lived a life that was the 180-degree polar opposite of "communist."
Unless you are referring to the "communist lifestyle" lived by high officials of the party.
Trams at Gellert Square. Again, artsy, no?
Dinner was at a gluten free restaurant.
I had the porcini and sour cream soap for a starter. I then had something truly American for my main course.
BBQ bacon burger with french fries and cole slaw, On a gluten free bun. The burger was tasty, with barbecue sauce, mayo (!), lettuce and tomato. No cheese, however. They missed that detail. The bacon was crisp and thin-sliced like we Americans like our bacon, not all thick and fatty and European. Yum. The fries were given that double frying that makes them extra crispy, so that's a French fry-making secret that crossed the Atlantic.
The name of the restaurant was "Drop." It was packed with Hungarian hipsters. Yes, a little bit of Brooklyn all the way in Budapest. I probably was the only in there because God said eat gluten free, rather than eating gluten free as some sort of Brooklyn hipster statement. The restaurant was, literally, right across the walk from my hotel. And I mean literally-literally, not figuratively literally. The handle of the door fell off when I was leaving. Which seemed like quality workmanship from the communist era.
But I did not go to Vörösmarty tér for the Christmas or for the capitalism. I was there for the communism. Specifically, the communist-themed walking tour of Budapest.
Let's walk.
Good news for Budapest, but bad news for the tour, there are not many vestiges of communism to see in Budapest. Budapest Centrum, the downtown core, was spared the Brutalist style of Soviet architecture, and the horrors of Le Corbusier and the Bauhaus School of architecture, which decreed buildings must be unadorned and ugly. In Soviet Brutalism, it was the actual intent to kill the spirit through public ugliness in architecture. For the moderns and post-moderns, it was merely an unhappy consequence.
I mean, come on, St. Stephen's Basilica! (Szent István-bazilika in the original Magyar.) It's nice that there is no communism to its design.
On the other hand, across the street, is this monstrosity.
Soviet brutalism. Why the tour was light on actual communist sights, it was packed with historical knowledge. Such as: Did you know that Bela Lugosi, you know, Count Dracula Bela Lugosi, fled Hungary in 1919. Why? He was part of the very brief communist revolution that seized power in Hungary at the end of World War I. One. Not two. There were communist takeovers of Hungary at the end of both world wars. The post-WWI communist takeover was brief, only 131 days, and the 37 year old communist fled for Hollywood after it was over, a place where the communist revolution took hold, and despite a brief hiccup in the McCarthy Era, has ruled Hollywood unabated since. Oops. Sorry. Not going to get political.
This carving above looks like it could be communist. Workers and farmers and all that. But it's not. And it's on the side of a bank,
Next up is a very very very controversial holocaust memorial:
The eagle represents Nazi Germany. The archangel Gabriel below represents Hungary. This is to represent a holocaust being foisted upon the innocent Hungarian people by the Nazis. Reality, unfortunately, was more complicated. Apparently the Hungarian Nazis, the Arrow Cross, were even more efficient than the Germans in operating a holocaust within their borderss.
That could be a communist era building there. It's ugly enough. Final note on the Arrow Cross and the communists. After WWII, a large number of the members of the local Nazi Party, the Arrow Cross, joined up and became loyal communists, continuing their work of slaughtering the local population.
Speaking of controversy and of slaughtering the local population, above is an obelisk that serves as a memorial to the Soviet Red Army soldiers who were killed liberating the country from the Nazis. If that is not the very definition of "mixed emotions," I don't know what would be.
Lots of nice buildings surrounding the Soviet Red Army memorial. Such as:
And this:
These certainly would have been part of the pre-communist Budapest. But the man more responsible than any other American for their being a post-communist Budapest (and, perhaps, more responsible than anyone else on the planet -- you decide)
Ladies and gentleman, I give you Ronald Reagan. He's posing here with our tour guide. Tour Guide is in blue. The President is in bronze.
And here's President Reagan posing with an elderly American tourist,
Here is a sort-of Hungarian hero of the communist era: Imre Nagy. He was the premier of communist Hungary who allowed the 1956 revolt against communism to happen. It was brutally suppressed by the Soviets and their Warsaw Pact allies.
Nagy was executed by the communists as a result. Buried upside and in an unmarked grave.
After communism fell in 1989, Nagy's body was exhumed and he was reburied with proper honors. But, to keep Hungary, a lot of red blood flowed in the interim.
The metal balls -- which are all over the courtyard and square behind the Parliament building -- represent each bullet that was fired into the crowd of true revolutionaries who died trying to throw off the yoke of communism.
Speaking of Parliament, this is Budapest's signature building, its Parliament building.
Most certainly not communist-era. It now houses the democratically-elected national legislature. Because communism is dead. The only red in modern day Hungary is their delicious "Bull's Blood" red wine. As it should be.
The communist tour complete, it was time for some other touring.
This is a non-evil eagle, the symbol of Budapest's multi-sport Ferencvárosi teams. Well, non-evil if you're a fan. Evil is cheer for a different Budapest football club, I guess.
I then went back to the hotel for a brief nap. Woke up at 3:00 p.m. feeling well-rested and awesome. Finally. Then I realized that 3:00 p.m. local time is 6:00 a.m. Las Vegas. I had just woken up at my regular waking time. Oh well, time to head to the Rudas thermal baths for a soapy water massage!
It was only a quarter to four or so, and it already was dusk in Budapest. The combination of being east in the time zone and rather far north makes for a very early sunset this time of year.
This area is St. Gellert Square, where the Gellert baths are located. But we are not soaking in the water of the Gellert today.
Bridge with barges. Artsy, no?
We are soaking at the Rudas.
No photos inside. You would not want to see a picture of me wearing the loin cloth thing you wear to soak in the Rudas. You really would not.
It was night time when I left after my soapy water massage, which is the Hungarian massage style using soap and hot water. That's the Elizabeth Bridge above, named for "CiCi," an enduring popular Habsburg royal who pretty much lived a life that was the 180-degree polar opposite of "communist."
Unless you are referring to the "communist lifestyle" lived by high officials of the party.
Trams at Gellert Square. Again, artsy, no?
Dinner was at a gluten free restaurant.
I had the porcini and sour cream soap for a starter. I then had something truly American for my main course.
BBQ bacon burger with french fries and cole slaw, On a gluten free bun. The burger was tasty, with barbecue sauce, mayo (!), lettuce and tomato. No cheese, however. They missed that detail. The bacon was crisp and thin-sliced like we Americans like our bacon, not all thick and fatty and European. Yum. The fries were given that double frying that makes them extra crispy, so that's a French fry-making secret that crossed the Atlantic.
The name of the restaurant was "Drop." It was packed with Hungarian hipsters. Yes, a little bit of Brooklyn all the way in Budapest. I probably was the only in there because God said eat gluten free, rather than eating gluten free as some sort of Brooklyn hipster statement. The restaurant was, literally, right across the walk from my hotel. And I mean literally-literally, not figuratively literally. The handle of the door fell off when I was leaving. Which seemed like quality workmanship from the communist era.
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