A step back to a Communist past

A visit to Memento Park in Budapest, also known as Statue Park takes one back to times when  about half of Europe was ruled by communists.  In most eastern-European countries large Soviet inspired monuments of the red dictatorship were demolished after 1990.  In Budapest, 40 of these monoliths of the Communist era have been collected together and housed on the outskirts of the city in a park. They make a powerful exhibition and for me, brought back very strong memories of my childhood in Budapest.  Memory however plays strange tricks, I remembered most of these monuments but most of them were in fact  created after I had left as a child.  I did however make visits back so maybe I did glimpse some of these "works of communist art".

At the gates of the park the visitor is greeted by Stalin's boots.  The crowd of people revolting in 1956 pulled down the statue of the much hated state leader and commander-in-chief.  The crowd toppled the 8 meter statue and broke it to pieces.  The boots however remained on the pedestal until the revolution was put down.  The pair of boots displayed on the grandstand at Memento Park are a authentic replica of the original and they represent the revolution of 1956 in Hungary.

I have a very strong memory of this gigantic statue of a Russian sailor but my memory is faulty.  I must have seen photos of it as it was created after my life in Hungary.

This statue representing Hungarian-Russian friendship which had formerly stood on Gellert Hill is rightly in my portfolio of memories.  Together with the one below

the 6 metre tall statue of the gimlet eyed Soviet soldier also once stood on top of Gellert Hill in central Budapest, well seen by everyone from every direction.

In a lighter vein, Andrew and I are sampling the cakes at Russwurm, which some say have the best cakes in the city.  We did not dress alike on purpose by the way - it just happened that we are both in yellow.

This wonderful fountain with Gillian sitting at the foot is up at the Royal Palace in Buda.  It is the most realistic depiction of hunting dogs with the one appearing to be lapping up the flowing water of the fountain.  As both the Bennetts and we are dog lovers we had to capture this fountain.  Please click on it to enlarge it and enjoy these dogs.  I think you will agree that they are much nicer than the communist inspired statues.

Back in Budapest

Back in Budapest and enjoying the ambience.  We went to a great dinner and klezmer concert at Spinozahaz in Dob utca in the former Jewish quarter.  They have a dinner + concert each Friday evening.

The concert was great.

The dinner too was delicious.  Roast goose breast with red cabbage.  I have been cooking goose and duck ever since.  They are amazingly plentiful and cheap in the great market just opposite where we live.

Budapest has been suffering from a heat wave this last week.  Temperatures were in the high 30s which you would think we hardy Aussies would take with ease but the humidity is not what we can cope with.  So we had to escape to one of the baths.

We went to the Szechenyi Baths which like all others, have several outdoor and even more pools of varying degrees of warmth  inside.  Szecheny Baths has probably the nicest exterior of all the baths.  They are all horribly expensive to visit, about the equivalent of AUD$20 per person.  The waters are thermal and considered therapeutic. Hungarian citizens can get a doctor's prescription to go there while the tourists subsidise them by the hefty charges.

It is compulsory to wear a bathing cap in the large swimming pool but not in any of the others.  I cannot fathom the logic of that.  If you don't have one you have to hire a cap.

Above is the monument of cast iron shoes along a specific part on the bank of the Danube, in memory of the thousand of Jews shot into the Danube the by the Arrow Cross, the very willing Hungarian Nazis.

The view across the Danube at night.

The Gellert Hotel lit up at night.

Prague

We finally made it to Prague, together with the rest of the world.  It is the most touristy place but its natural beauty explains why everyone is there.

The old town square.  One of Europe's biggest and most beautiful urban spaces.  The old town square has been Prague's principal public squares since`the 10th century and its main market place since the beginning of the 20th.

Wenceslas Square -this square commemorates the velvet revolution.

The entry to the Charles Bridge, Europe's most walked over bridge.  It spans the Vltava River.

Looking through the entrance to the bridge.

Approaching Prague Castle.

Part of the castle.  The castle looms over the river on the left bank and it dominates the city.  It has always been the seat of Czech rulers.  It is an eclectic collection of architectural styles involving 4 major reconstructions from its beginnings in the 9th century.  It had a classical face lift under Maria Theresa.  According to the Guinnes Book of Records, Prague Castle is the largest ancient castle in the world.

Inside a part of the castle.  This hall was used, among other things, for jousting on horseback.

The Basilica of St George.

Inside the Basilica of St George.  The basilica originates in the 10th century with its present appearance thanks mostly to restorations made between 1887 and 1908.  It is magnificently high and we were very fortunate that a choir from Ohio was singing inside.  The sound was glorious.

The city view from the castle end of the city.

Another Romanesque church in the castle precinct.

and another unnamed beautiful building that I could not resist photographing.

The bridges over the Vlatava.

A modest serving of goulash soup with which to end our visit. 

Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic

Lonely Planet says that Cesky Krumlov is the Czech Republic's only world class sight apart from Prague.  It is the most fairy tale town with a Rennaissance castle towering over the 17th century landscape.  And there is  a river running right through the town below the castle.

I had heard about its beauty and resolved to go and see it.  I was not disappointed.

The castle occupies a promontory high above the town.  It began life in the 13th century but acquired its present appearance in the 16th to the 18th centuries under the ownership of two noble families.  The town is a web of backstreets, alleyways, bridges and river banks - delightful to just wander around and get slightly lost.

The most difficult exercise is to decide which of the many photos we took we should select to post on this blog.  It was a truly lovely place to visit one of the nicest I had ever been.

I mean how can you forget this?

A photo displayed in the town taken from above - not one of ours.

This was the view from the window of our lodgings.

Dinner at a riverside cafe.  Note the sandbags.  The river was up but it had not flooded.  You can see the strong current running.

And the last shot of Cesky Krumlov - one of the bears that are in an enclosure below the castle near where the moat may have been.  There have been bears kept for centuries in this enclosure.  The bear was part of the noble shield of the owners of the castle.

Vienna - briefly

We hired a car with our friends Warwick and Diana and came to Vienna for a couple of days.

It too has a St Stephen's Basilica albeit larger and older than the one in Budapest.  This one towers very high and it is not possible to capture its entirety.

These costumed gentlemen are ticket sellers to various concerts and musical events around the city.  We went to one in the Palais Palffy and enjoyed it very much.

Three of us from the touring party in front of the Basilica.

Looking up at some of the spires of the Basilica.

Palais Ephrussi from the book The Hare with the Amber Eyes.

And this building is 4 Wohllebengasse from Good Living Street, another book of a Viennese Jewish family. This family was merely rich while the Ephrussis were mega-rich but both suffered from the Nazi persecution. For me, Good Living Street had special meaning because I actually knew and had played bridge with one of the main characters in the book Anne Bonyhady.

It gave me pleasure to be able to see both houses which featured in the two books.

Once again, the lure of beautiful buildings overcame me.  This is another combination of us three in front of a very beautiful building the name of which I did not find out.  It must have been a theatre or something like it surely.

This castle-like building is St Francis of Assisi Church.

A building with the statue of Johannes Gutenberg, as of the Gutenberg Press in front of it.

The painted steps of the Albertina Museum done in the style of one of Manet's lily ponds.