Heroes Square

Hey everyone,

Sorry I'm so disorganized, I keep going through my camera or my archives and realizing all the cool stuff I haven't posted.  In particular, I realized that I never posted these pictures of Heroes Square, one of the cooler public monuments in Budapest (as you guys know, I'm a sucker for statues:

Here's the wide shot.  As you can see, it's a monument of pretty impressive scale:

The centerpiece is the angel Gabriel, who according to legend presented the crown Saint Istvan, first King of Hungary, in a dream:

Beneath Gabriel are the Magyars, the tribe the first settled in Hungary in 896, led by their chief, Arpad

(the name Arpad is probably not familiar to you, but it was to me before I ever knew who he was--basically every statue in the square has half a dozen streets, buildings, squares or bridges named after them somewhere in the city)

On either side are statues of famous Hungarians.  I think my favorites are the ones on the far right:

Originally, the last five of these statues depicted the Hapsburg Monarchs (Leopold, Franz Joszeph), as Hungary was still under their rule when the Square was constructed.  However, the statues were damaged during the War and were later replaced--but not by statues of the Hapsburgs, instead by more contemporary figures such as Imre Thokoly, Francis Rakczi, and Kossuth Lajos--who are hailed as heroes in Hungary for their roles in uprisings against the Hapsburgs XD

Finally, flanking the square are two very important buildings.  First, the Museum of Fine Arts (containing a fantastic collection of works by the Old Masters--the pieces by Hungarian artists, however, are reserved for the Hungarian National Gallery up on Castle Hill):

 Then, on the other side, the Palace of Art, housing more contemporary art.  Built many years after the Museum of Fine arts, I choose to imagine they told the architect something like, "ok, we want it to look very similar to the Museum, but cooler and with more colors.  That'll show 'em"

Anyways, there we have it, Heroes Square.  Definitely not to be missed if you ever visit Budapest.  It's a pity I didn't have an opportunity to take pictures at night (I don't usually take my camera when I got out for the night), as the Square is even more fantastic at night when the statues are lit by floodlights.  Guess you'll just have to come and see for yourself

Noah out

Typical night out; Godor

 Hey guys,

Thought I'd share a few pics from one of my favorite places to start out a Friday or Saturday night, Godor (actually it has to o-with-two-little-dots-over-it, but as I've said before, we get by just fine with only 26 letters and I see no need to add any more).  Whenever I run into tourist or suchlike (I often chat up English speakers at Rudas) I often send them here, it's a fun place and an enjoyable way to kick off the night before going clubbing or something

Godor is an open-air venue, a large sunken pit near one of the main stations (maybe I'll try to grab a picture during the day to put here).  At night it's always packed!

Friday and Saturday nights there's always live bands playing down in the pit, which is of course awesome:

And of course plenty of drink!  In Hungary there's no law against drinking in public, so you can go up, grab a beer, and wander off with it.  In addition, they have a great selection of palinka

As for food?  Well, wouldn't be a good place to start off a Friday night without it.  You can't always count on food, as every day different vendors or carts show up, but there's pretty consistently at least something good to munch on

And there we have it.  Cheers!

Noah out

Sketchy Chinese Market

Hey everybody,

Fun news!  I discovered a super sketchy Chinese market out on the outskirts of Budapest.  Like, tin-roof-shantytown-next-to-the-train-tracks sketchy . . . I understand this is not everyone's cup of tea, but for me it's pretty much the coolest thing ever.  I've been there twice now, once last weekend on a hot summer day.  The second time, on Saturday, it was slightly rainy which was even cooler--got to listen to the rain hitting the tin roofs and had to avoid the streams of water coming through the cracks as I navigated the crowded marketplace . . . could not be any more awesome, in my book

There are no photographs allowed in the marketplace, which should tell you enough about the reputability of their wares!  In addition, all over there were Chinese guys gambling on xianqi (I'da joined in but I don't know how to play), cards (I'da joined in but I didn't quite know the game most of them were playing--although it was a variation on Big 2, except with three players and then four cards dealt into the middle), and mahjong (I'da joined in but I know I would have gotten destroyed--you do not mess with old Chinese dudes playing mahjong, they will take you for all you are worth)

Most of the vendors were speaking Mandarin, although there were a fair amount of Viet and some Thai as well (might have been some others I missed, but Viet and Thai are very distinctive languages!).  A couple stalls were run by Eastern Europeans as well, although not a lot--I think there are other flea market type places with more of an Eastern European presence, this place was pretty solidly Asian

Most of the stalls were selling clothing, shoes or accessories--obviously not the name brands they claimed to be but still seemed like decent quality.  I didn't buy anything, but only because I don't need anything.  Pretty good selection and the prices, obviously, were unbeatable--pretty decent prices to begin with and I found, through my just-for-fun haggling that you could usually get them to drop as much as half price

I did, however, pick up a pair of collapsible batons . . . those will definitely be fun to play with at my martial arts school back in Seattle.  As someone says every time I bring in a new toy, "someone is definitely going to get hurt, huh?" . . . but I mean, come on.  I got the pair for less than $15, would have cost twice or thrice that in the States.  How could I refuse?
By the way, a friend asked if there's any technique to using these, other than "just swinging it around" . . . I passed on this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3RfzAyfsmk&feature=player_detailpage#t=79s
(I deeplinked to the stick vs. stick section, but the whole video is awesome.  Grandmaster Atillo is just phenomenal)

Anyways, as I'm sure you're all wondering (and commending my discipline for not bringing it up until now)--the food!!!

There were a number of the always ubiquitous gyros places, and some looked very good but come on, I'm not gonna have gyros at an Asian market.  The most common type of place seems to be a buffet-style stall where you get a bowl of rice and then just point at things in glass trays.  I made a point of going early as I could in the day, while everything was still cooked fresh.  Highlights included stewed pork belly, fried shrimp, stir-fried greens, tofu-skin rolls, pork dumplings, chicken with zucchini . . . I could go on and on!  Oh, and by the way, total price for a piled-high plate of food?  800ft, or around $4

However, even cooler than that, in the back I found a pho place!  First chance to have pho since coming to Budapest, and I didn't realize how much I missed it!  In addition to quality pho, they make their own hot sauce and have their own pickled peppers (an arena where both Hungarians and Viet agree--pickled peppers are an absolute necessity) . . . both pretty sure ways to win my heart and stomach over.  So after having my big plate of Chinese food on rice for breakfast, I wandered around for a few hours then had a bowl of pho for lunch!  When I went there last weekend and it was hot, they were also selling fresh mung bean drink over ice which was phenomenal, and then this weekend when it was chilly they had freshly fried sesame balls!  I've been there both times I've visited the market, and I can pretty confidently say that I will be back

So anyways, definitely glad I found this place.  It's a bit of a hassle to get to (8min bus ride to 10min subway ride to 15min tram ride) but absolutely worth it.  And they're even open on Sundays!  I'll be back there practically once I week, I predict

Noah

Budapest Jewish Quarter, part 3

Hey everyone,

One last post from the Jewish quarter, sorry these have taken so long to post

First of all, I highly recommend a tour of the Jewish quarter for anyone here in Budapest on a Sunday.  First of all because everything else in the entire city is closed on Sundays, but also because on Sundays there's a really cool arts+crafts bazaar right of of Kiraly utca!

Here are some pictures:

There was all sorts of cool stuff from art . . .

 . . . to textiles . . .

 . . . to pottery!

 Again, maybe it's Pike Place speaking to me, but it doesn't count as a market unless there's someone selling honey:

 These are very common in Hungary--creative "puzzles" shaped into all sorts of cool stuff.  I'da loved them as a kid, for sure:

In addition to the other, for-display only synagogues, there is one Orthodox synagogue in the district that is still active and holding services.  However, we came on a Sunday, so the place was open for tours!

Here's the front entrance (we came in from the side, however) . . .

 . . . and the same from the inside!

The whole interior is lavishly painted and, since it's a working synagogue, well kept up!

 Who says churches have to have all the fun?

Anyways, that's all I have from our fantastic tour of the Jewish quarter.  I highly recommend it for anyone coming to Budapest!

Cheers,

Noah

Budapest Jewish Quarter, part 2

Hey guys,

One of the cool things about the Budapest Jewish quarter is that everything is within easy walking distance.  After the Great Synagogue we went and checked out another synagogue, whose name I don't recall but if I remember to I will come back and stealth edit this later so none of you will know that I forgot the name

Sadly, this synagogue is in a really bad state of repair:

There are even feral cats living there which, while adorable, is probably not a good sign:

But it's a shame, because the temple itself is absolutely magnificent, and would be gorgeous if fully restored.  The main chamber is simply a large octagon with beautiful columns and wallpaper:

 And of course, an amazing dome in the center:

 As a complete side note, this quote really exemplifies what I admire about Judaism.  "The Faith cannot be Independent from the Ethics and from the Ethical Deeds"

Often times, you see the word "mitzvah" translated as "good deed", but that's not a literal translation--it actually simply means "commandment" (the Jews believe that the Ten Commandments are more of "top 10", and there are many, many more).  Think about the implications of that . . . basically, Judaism holds that, in essence, being good and doing good deeds is a summary of what their God commanded of them.  I think that's pretty cool

Also in the Jewish quarter is this very cool statue:

"Whoever saves a life is considered as if he has saved an entire world

(Talmud)

In memory of those who in 1944

under the leadership of the Swiss Consul

Carl Lutz (1895-1975) rescued thousands

from National Social persecution"

I think that's worth a statue, don't you?

Noah out

Budapest Jewish Quarter, part 1

Hey everyone,

Sorry it's been a while since my last post.  I was absolutely swamped at work last week--I didn't even have enough free time to check webcomics.  If you know me, that's a pretty impressive statement

Anyways, back on track, I thought I'd post some pictures from when my mother and I visited the Budapest Jewish quarter.  This was actually a very nice Sunday outing--everything else in the entire city is closed on Sundays, but the Jewish quarter sights are still open (cuz they're closed on Saturdays, obviously)

First stop was the Great Synagogue, which is the second largest temple in the world (after whatsitcalled in NYC).  Though maybe not quite as grand as some of the churches I've seen, it was still impressive without a doubt (sorry the pictures are dark, we weren't allowed to use flash)

Here's the main hall.  You can hopefully make out the upper galleries to the sides--traditionally synagogues have separate areas for men and women, so the upstairs is for the ladies

A closeup of the side galleries.  Pretty cool

Presumably the eternal light (although theirs appears to be electronic, which seems like cheating)

I like spiral staircases, ok?  I think they are cool.  This was a particularly cool one, so I took a picture

In addition to the synagogue, the complex also has a memorial and cemetery.  Not quite as impressively depressing as the one in Prague, still very solemn

 The memorial itself is a weeping willow.  Each leaf is inscribed with the name of a Hungarian Jew killed during the Holocaust

A very poignant reminder

Finally, there is a museum of relics and other memorabilia.  There was some absolutely gorgeous stuff here.  And, unlike the similar museum in Prague, they allowed photos here :)

A torah.  For those that don't know, the silver thing is a pointer that is traditionally included with a torah to help reading--you're not allowed to touch the scroll with your bare fingers

Beautiful stained-glass work

And absolutely stunning Hannukiah

Finally, in the basement, there was a small memorial with a place to donate.  I emptied all the change out of my pockets :D

Noah out

Hungarian Parliament

Hey guys,

So, while my mom was still here (yes, these blog posts lag behind reality by as much as a couple of weeks, sorry) she and I did the tour of Parliament that everyone says is not to be missed.  And it truly was . . . pretty fantastic.  Opulent.  Bordering on decadent--in fact, I would have said decadent if it were a church or a private palace, but the fact that it's a hall for a democratically elected government makes it seem a little better

It's still pretty ridiculous

Anyways, excepting very special occasions, they only let people in on guided tours (which are offered in like a dozen languages).  Sadly, this was actually the only part I didn't like--not that I felt restricted by the tour, but simply because our tour guide was pretty terrible.  For one, her English was not very good.  Second, she just had terrible delivery--it was like she was just reading from a script (she probably was) and didn't realize which lines were impressive or funny.  The only time she really showed any emotion was when she sternly reprimanded people for straying too far from the group >.<

Regardless, it was a fantastic building.  The pictures obviously don't come close to capturing it, but here they are anyways

The entrance hall.  They used static electricity to get the gold foil to cling to the brushes, allowing nearly microscopically thin layers of gold.  It still has the effect of opulence though, no doubt

Yeah that picture above is a perfect example of our guide having such terrible delivery:  "As much as was possible, this building was constructed from materials from within Hungary.  Of course, that was much easier back then because Hungary was about 3 times larger.  A notable exception--"  What??  Come on, that was a good line.  Play that for some laughs!

And then she went on "--a notable exception is these black pillars you can see in this hall.  These are carved from single pieces of Swiss granite.  These are very valuable, because it is very rare to find granite in a single piece this large.  In fact, there are only twelve pieces this large in the entire world.  Eight of them are in this room.  Now if you look at the windows . . ."

What???  That was an awesome fact!  And she just breezed through it like it was nothing.  *sigh* I could deliver a better tour than her . . .

The centerpiece of the building, if you'll recall from any exterior shots you've seen, is the dome.  I'm not going to say that the Budapest Parliament Building is essentially the London one but with a dome put on top . . . but well, I guess I just did XD

In addition, surrounding the domed hall are statues of notable Hungarians:  From Arpat, the chief of the Magyar Tribes that came from the East and founded Hungary in the 9th century; to Istvan, the first king; to some of the Hapsburg monarchs

In the middle of the hall is the crown, scepter, and sword of King Istvan (although technically speaking these were almost certainly not made until long after his reign).  Sorry for the crappy picture, but everyone was trying to take a picture so I just took one and then got out of the way

 All over the place, you'll notice these statues.  Like you'll commonly see in buildings like these, these statues are meant to portray Hungarian people.  However, what I found particularly cool is that these guys aren't just doctors and scientists and philosophers, like you'd usually see.  They also made statues holding rakes or hoes or hammers . . . this Parliament was meant to include all people of Hungary, not just the wealthy or educated. I thought that was kind of cool

These stained-glass windows, by the way, are the original pieces from when the Parliament was built hundreds of years ago.  Impressive enough on its own, even more impressive when you remember that this city was the site of the second longest and bloodiest siege of the second World War (behind Stalingrad, of course)

 In fact, when the Germans showed up, in order to preserve the windows one person had them removed for safety and then hidden in the basement.  Of course, this was all done in secret to prevent the Germans, Soviets, or whomever from taking them.  This would have been a great plan if the people responsible for hiding them hadn't all died in the war :(

The windows were just assumed to have been destroyed for decades, until someone was cleaning around in the basement of the Parliament and came across a number of large, carefully wrapped bundles . . . :)

And finally, the actual chamber of Parliament.  Technically this is only one of the two chambers, but apparently the entire building is symmetrical so they only take you through half.  I dunno, sounds like they're just being lazy . . .

Like I said.  Opulent

 And speaking of opulence, the chamber outside is lined with these.  What are they?  Why, personal cigar holders.  No government chamber should be without them

 So anyways, that was our tour of the Parliament!  Pretty impressive, right?
I can only imagine that Europeans come over to Washington DC, take a look at the White House or the Senate Buildings and say, "really?  That's it??"

Noah out