First blister since Poland. What’s going on, I thought I was over that phase!! Still, I shouldnt die of cellulitis before I get home. There are a lot more things to worry about in that department.
As usual I have my cappuccino and croisant of a morning and then off I go for the day before arriving back at the hotel around 5 for my glass of wine and rest.
Today I did the Parliament Walk…but extended version. I wandered through lovely streets just full of beautiful buildings of all types including Art Deco. I went through the beautiful undercover market of the area and had Cappuccino #2. I wandered around looking at all the lovely Hungarian produce. Then kept going to Freedom Square which has a Memorial to the Russians(obviously erected by the Russians…the Hungarians couldn’t give a fuck about the Russians) who died in the seige of Budapest, alongside a statue of Ronald Reagan..God knows why that is there, I haven’t got to the bottom of that one.
Then at the other end is the Anti Fascist Monument erected by the Hungarian Govt with the Nazi Eagle swooping down on the Angel Gabriel. But in front of that monument are memorial memorabilia (can you say that?) and the one that explained it all was a photo of 2 elderly Hungarian Jews with a note in English saying this is my grandparents, they were herded into the ghetto by HUNGARIAN Gendarme and then forced on a train to the concentration camps by HUNGARIAN Gendarme. In other words there are many who think erecting an anti-fascist memorial is whitewashing the role of Hungarians. Am I going on too much about this. Sorry!!
On I went, more lovely buildings, it is such a beautiful city. I walked arounf the parliament building and on down along the river. The most moving memorial is the bronzed shoes lining the river where hundreds of jews were forced to take off their shoes before being shot and falling into the Danube. It hits you between the eyes. Overwhelming and incredibly poignant.
I walked up to the Chain Bridge but then jumped on a bus to go to Buda Castle and the National Gallery. There was an exhibition of Surrealism that I went to and then did a quick flip around the Permanent Collection. I was particularly interested in seeing the work of Mihaly Munkacsy, Hungary’s most famous artist. Then walked back to the bus and back to my hotel. I got a txt from Will yesterday telling me about a restaurant he loved called Mazel Tov. I was going to go there but I couldn’t be bothered taking off again to be honest, so that will wait until tomorrow. Going downstairs to the restaurant here is getting boring to be Honest but it is seductively easy.