Subtle differences

Buda was nice, majestic, historical, ancient. What does Pest have to offer?

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We slept for the second night at the Memento car park. We have been quite lucky so far, as we have not been bothered. We get the same bus as we got yesterday and then a tram to Pest.

Buda and Pest are world-wide known as one city. But they are actually two divided by the Danube river. Buda was born first because of its hill. The first habitants preferred to build their houses on the top of it to protect themselves from other tribes.

Soon after, people started to settle on the other side of the Danube river, creating Pest. Around the middle age kings built the castle in Buda and, therefore, the city became the administrative and economic centre, and ruling Pest for centuries.

You may say that as the cities are so close, you wouldn’t notice much difference between the two. This is partly true. But they have also gone through different historic cycles and this is also noticeable. Buda seems a bit more señorial, royal, and touristic. Pest looks a bit more modern, it has more residential housing and there seems to be more young people around.

There are currently eight bridges joining the cities. This is our favourite one.

Buda is magnificent but Pest is equally beautiful.

We find that marble is a widely used material around the city. These seats are quirky as well as comfortable.

An interesting refurbishment of two warehouses, the centre part being covered by an amorphous greenhouse. We wouldn’t have been able to build this twenty years ago, the technology couldn’t work out all those different triangles, and the accuracy just wasn’t good enough.

But this is still expensive architecture, you can only afford these cladding costs on either public buildings or retail complexes!

You might say that retail can spend their money on what they want, if it works for them and draws in more customers why not, but public buildings, well this is your, the taxpayers, money.

It is quite interesting, but looks to be struggling. It is a bit out of the way and quite a few units are still empty, but time will tell.

Quite an awkward junction with the original building, crude but it just about works. You would never get away with this sort of juxtaposition in the UK!

But inside, it is pretty much lost to a standard approach to retailing. GDR

I am getting influenced by Gary and starting paying more attention to buildings. The blinds of this one catch my attention. Panels of crystal undulate all the way down the front of the building.

I have so many questions for Gary; are the panels moving with the sun? No. How does the air flow between them and the facade? Is the glass double or triple glazed? And more importantly, is this technique very expensive? Yes.

Well it does technically just about work, but there is no benefit beyond the aesthetic of the undulations. The exterior layer of glass traps heat behind it, preventing this heat from entering the building. As there are gaps top and bottom, the heat rises, creating a chimney effect, drawing in cooler air and ejecting the hot air from the top. This keeps the facade cool. The outer skin will be single glazed heat strengthened glass, the inner panes will be double glazed…probably.

Public building, a university, so you get a better budget and probably an environmental agenda! GDR

What we dream about in the UK, a proper market. This one is plainly for the tourist, with tourist pricing, not many local around here. GDR

Pest used to have a Jewish quarter, but not much of it remains today, only the Great Synagogue which also holds the Hungarian Jewish museum. The ticket includes both.

The twin towered entrance of the Synagogue is impressive. We could only fit one tower, our camera lens are not big enough to fit the two, as we are too close.

Synagogues look grandiose, imposing, but modestly decorated compared to christian churches, mainly due to the lack of images. They have an interesting structure; they have two floors with seats looking at the front of the synagogue, where the services are held. They remind me of a theatre, although with a rectangular shape.

Splendid light caused by a combination of both, big windows and high ceilings.

Light is a feature which has been downplayed by the architecture of Catholic churches. Is it because the darker the room the more intimate and, therefore, the closer you are to god?

Those dramatic rays of light are so important to the christian tradition, the heavens opening up and god speaking. Every church ceiling has a religious moody sky with beams emanating from behind. Maybe catholic churches try to emulate this, badly. GDR

The synagogue is not shy in using lively and bright colours.

Lots of fake marble effect going on here all applied with a paintbrush, being cautious with their money. GDR

We now move on to the Jewish museum. A Jewish cemetery is located just before the entrance. Many bodies were found here by the Red Army when they liberated the city from the Nazis at the end of the WWII.

This was the state of this courtyard when the Red Army arrived. It must have been devastating, but not as much as when they liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau. I still get goose bumps when I remember our trip to Auschwitz a couple of years ago.

People who could identified the bodies of their relatives put a plaque around the graves. Many bodies also buried here were never identified.

Next to the cemetery there is also a memorial to the victims. We have read that, out of the 740,000 Jewish living in Hungary at the beginning of the WWII, 600,000 were killed in Nazis concentration camps. We find this hard to believe.

The first exhibition of the Jewish museum starts here. It consists of a series of framed pictures all the way up to the second floor, and it narrates briefly, the history of the Jewish community from 1,500 B.C. to today.

On the second floor, there is a collection of art. And next door, they are showing a film about the Jewish culture, such as festivities, traditions, and eating habits.

So far, I have not been able to find satisfying reasons of why the Jewish have been hated so much throughout history. Occasionally, I have found explanations, such as people envied because they were very good at businesses, or that they were the inventors of interests, and therefore, they used to take advantage of who they lent money to. But really, were those the true reasons? The Jewish has always been highly educated. I just wonder whether they have ever done an objective critic as to where this hatred to them comes from.

Beautiful floor. GDR

After two hours wandering around the old Jewish headquarters, we head off to visit the Parliament. The next tour around the Parliament is in 45 minutes, we have just about enough time to get there and have a quick lunch.

Ronald Reagan?? What the hell is he doing in Pest?

Quirky bridge. It looks almost as big as the pond it crosses.

And here we are, at the Parliament. It is inspired by the House of Parliament in London.

And it does look like it, indeed. They have even built a metro station in the same place as Westminster tube station. It also looks at the river bank. It only misses the clock tower.

Those who know London, what do you think?

This horse seems to be a local addition by Pest, there is no such a horse around Westminster, or is there? I don’t remember, it has been so long…

Unfortunate, the parliament is close to the public today, so no tour for us, such a shame.

The square is immense. The Parliament is surrounded by other official buildings, all equally huge. We have noticed that since we are in Hungary, the functional, linear communist architecture has disappeared to give way a more classical, Viennese architectural style.

We are now heading off to our last museum planned for the day; the Terror House, an exhibition of crimes and atrocities committed by both Hungary’s fascists and communist regimes. But it is not our lucky day today, the museum is also closed. It always closes on Monday. We had not picked that up in the guide.

We had nothing else planned and there is no point to hung around another day to see this museum and the Parliament.

Sadly our Hungarian trip is coming to an end. But before we say good-bye to the country spas, we have another exciting one to visit tomorrow. This one is inside a cave.

An impressive field of yellow bright sunflowers contrasts with the green Hungarian landscape.

After a couple of hours drive, we stop at lay bay for tonight. It is quiet but a bit muddy, it must have been raining heavily around here today. We will have to give Dora a good clean tomorrow.

SM