Days 15-18: Buda and Pest

When you visit the official web site of Budapest, you're greeted by nostalgic "late 90's" web site design with a message proclaiming loudly that "WE ARE UNDER TOTAL RECONSTRUCTION, PLEASE VISIT US AGAIN IN THE NEAR FUTURE FOR VALUABLE INFORMATION!". Never has there been a more fitting web site for a city. Indeed, everywhere you went, the city was in a state of disrepair and/or reconstruction. Plaster was peeling off from old buildings, graffiti was rampant, and the trams and subway trains were "charming" Soviet-era machines that looked like they hadn't been serviced since the fall of the Berlin Wall. But before you misunderstand me, let me state clearly that I really liked Budapest. The disrepair of the city was not of the same character as Brussels', a rich city whose neglect seemed to stem from urban flight and wanton disregard. Instead, Budapest seemed like a once-proud city that was still reeling from decades under Communism and also Nazism.

As I looked upon the city, I remembered a scene from the classic movie "A Time Machine", where the main character sits in the time machine and watches as the world around him flies by. Buildings are destroyed, new ones built, wars are waged, fashions change. The city itself was not any one of these points in time, but rather the sum of them all. Likewise, Budapest today is not true to the nature of the city but rather just a "phase" the city is going through. A few coats of paint, some new plaster, some new trams, and this city will be back to its full glory.

But just because Budapest is a little run-down doesn't mean that it isn't beautiful. Budapest is actually the merger of two cities - Buda in the west and Pest in the east - bisected by the noble Blue Danube river (I'm still waiting for Boston and Cambridge to finally merge and form Bostonbridge). On the Buda side, the massive Buda Castle and castle quarter sits atop the hill, dominating the skyline like a lion watching over its demesne. On the Pest side, the equally impressive Parliament Building presides. Between them lies one of the most famous and beautiful bridges in Europe. The Széchenyi Chain Bridge is simple yet elegant and straddles the Danube river. Those three sights, with the possible addition of St. Stephen's Basilica mostly define Budapest. I felt that the city lacked only a central town square to really pull everything together. Vaci Street, with its pedestrian shopping, cafes and restaurants, tried to be such a gathering spot but it lacked character and scale.

Most of the city feels more 19th/20th century than true Olde Worlde, but the Castle District does deliver that experience, with windy cobble-stone streets and well-preserved architecture. The people of Budapest have tried to add some tourist draw with new attractions as well. The Statue Park boasts a collection of Soviet-era statues and monuments gathered from around the city, but its boast was more bark than bite, and I found the park poorly done. On the opposite end of the spectrum, The House of Terror was a building/complex first used by the Nazis and then by the Communist Hungarian secret police. They have since turned it into a museum dedicated to the millions of people who died or suffered there. Frustratingly, the museum is extremely Anglo-unfriendly, with most displays in Hungarian only. Even more frustratingly, they did not allow photographs which was a shame because the museum showcased some really spectacular modern design that I would have loved to have captured.

I was lucky enough to be meeting up with my friend and co-worker Marjorie in Budapest, so I finally had a buddy to check out some nice restaurants and bars. Unlike much of the city, the restaurant scene was surprisingly hip and modern. Many restaurants were contemporary and very well-designed. Unfortunately, we were only there Monday through Thursday, so the nightlife seemed to be nonexistent. Regardless, we did our best to bar-hop Budapest style and we found a couple good spots even though they were pretty dead. On the last night, we actually managed to find a pretty cool dive bar - Cactus Juice - with lots of kids our age.

While I was never wowed by my experience in Budapest, I felt pangs of remorse when it was time to leave. Maybe one day, I will throw my time machine into forward and check out Budapest in another age.