It was when I was standing in front of the departures board at Prague’s central rail terminal looking at all the possibilities that I decided on taking a little jaunt to Budapest, on the grounds that it seemed the most exotic sounding.
I boarded the sleeper train in the evening, and a friendly guard showed me to my cabin. I had expected to be sharing, so I had bought some snacks and vodka to share, but as it happened I had the place to myself.
I admit I was somewhat relieved, I could do with a good night’s sleep.
“Excuse me, but where exactly am I?”
My train pulled into what I thought was Budapest’s central train station (turns out it wasn’t) in the early hours of the morning. The station was already buzzing with life, and the greeting of “Taxi! Taxi?” made me feel strangely at home.
I wandered out of the main entrance, and it soon became abundantly clear that I had absolutely no idea where I was in relation to anything else.
Hungarian is an utterly impenetrable language, apparently closely related to Finish. It was also clear that while English is the second language of most Europeans these days, it didn’t seem to be the case amongst the passive aggressive Hungarian railway employee demographic.
I was in no hurry so after a while trying to get my meaning across in English, Russian and German to no avail, I gave a resigned shrug and struck out in what I thought was the right direction.
A short metro ride later and I emerged in central Budapest, a short walk from the Hungarian parliament and other local landmarks including the beautiful great market hall (Központi Vásárcsarnok).
History, ancient and modern.
Hungary suffered greatly under Soviet occupation and evidence of this recent history is everywhere. Perhaps understandably then symbols of Hungarian nationalism are prominently placed.
Outside of the Hungarian parliament flies the Hungarian revolutionary flag. The hole in which is where the foreign soviet coat of arms – to many the symbol of occupation – was ripped out during the 1956 uprising.
The bullet holes from the resultant suppression are also marked with steel balls on the surrounding buildings.
The Chain Bridge, designed by William Tierney Clark, crosses the Danube nearby. The crossing guarded by the famous stone lions.
Hidden amidst the buildings and next to a spectacularly ugly communist era office block stands St. Stephen’s Basilica.
Completed in 1905 this is a relatively new building, however the architecture is still worth a look.
And so to bed…
Leaving Budapest I shared a couple of drinks with a charming woman who was apparently working to help move Hungary over to the Euro. She confessed to me that it was hard to take a currency seriously when it took 1500HUF for one small glass of wine, and I was forced to agree.
We drank a toast to greater European integration as our plane flew into the night.
