Cubist Marx

IMG_5123, originally uploaded by bratislavadavis.

My cousins’ apartment is a short stroll from the Raoul Wallenberg Monument - a memorial to the late Swedish figure who saved over 20,000 Hungarian Jews by obtaining housing and fake Swedish documentation. After Budapest was liberated by the Soviets, Wallenberg disappeared never to be seen again. The prevalent belief is that he died in a Soviet labor camp. The United States Holocaust Museum in Washington is on Raoul Wallenberg Street.

I went after breakfast- the specialty being ham that was made from chicken instead of pig- to the castle in Buda. The castle dates back to the 13th century when King Bela IV built a defensive castle in response to Tartar attacks. It is located on top of a hill that is 197 feet above the Danube. The old town where the castle stands was completely in ruins during World War II and had to be reconstructed.

The Matyas Church was initially built between the 13th and 15th centuries and was named after King Matyas Corvinus who ordered the construction of the southern tower. Much of the original design of the church was destroyed when the Turks invaded as they converted the building into a mosque in 1541. The church was heavily damaged when Buda was liberated and was rebuilt in the baroque style. In 1723, the church was damaged again and was rebuilt in the neo-Gothic style in 1873-1896. The church isn’t that spectacular inside with the highlight being Bela Tower named after King Bela IV. There is the tomb of the royal couple of King Bella III and Anne de Chatillon in the chapel.

The most scenic view of the city is found on the Fishermen’s Bastion. The neo-Romanesque shrine was designed in 1895 as a memorial to the fishermen who once sold fish here during the medieval era. The defense walls of Buda were once here as well, but today the bastion is solely artistic and provides a grand view of the Parliament and the Danube River.

After lunch, I went to the Statue Park on the outskirts of the city where forty-one Communist propaganda statues are preserved as historical testimony to the Communist era. The statues were placed throughout the city during the Soviet rule. Communist-themed music blared through a radio as I entered the park. Old CCCP souvenirs were also available for purchase so for those longing for a shot glass with a Soviet flag, this was an opportunity not to be missed. The most interesting statue was a cubist-style piece of socialists Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

The evening entertainment consisted of a gypsy concert on Margaret Island which is now a lovely public park filled with greenery and trees. Ninety percent of the patrons at the concert were gypsies or Roma as they prefer to be called. The music however ranged from traditional folk music to modern rap. My cousins were mentioning that gypsies are the biggest social problem in Hungary similar to African-Americans in the United States. Most gypsies in Budapest are poor and lack a formal education with many reverting to crime, thus there is a polarizing clash between Hungarians and gypsies, as in much of Europe.

I had one of Hungary’s most famous dishes for dinner which was chicken paprikash - it was delicious with red, spicy sauce.