Thursday 21st September
Today the weather is bad, wet and windy, the worst we have seen for our entire trip. The whole city is blanketed in low cloud that is soaking Budapest, what would normally be a very walkable city is today not so. Our plan, now a mission, is to stay dry and visit two inside venues, The Royal Palace, in particular the national gallery, then go onto the Central Market Hall, apparently a must see for visitors. Breakfast first, as we take our first meal of the day we see busy pedestrians making their way passed the hotel. Umbrellas are turned inside out, the rain is horizontal, we are on the Pest side of the Danube, there is a good chance that if we venture out with a good strong umbrella we could be blown across the Danube to the Buda side where the Royal Palace sits daring us to pay a visit. There are plenty of bridges, one almost outside our door but crossing the river today without yachtsman’s wet weather gear is definitely mission impossible, unless you are Tom Cruise of course.
Fortified after a good breakfast, we take the bull by the horns, dress in the warmest clothes, don our totally inadequate shower proof jackets and venture out, by taxi. The Hungarians maybe learning English in school but the taxi drivers are not school children, our driver takes us to the Palace, but we end up at the Budapest history museum not the gallery. The Palace is huge, we are hoping that inside the various museums are connected but they are not. We ask at the desk about the gallery it seems the entrance is located on the other side of the building, one look outside and the decision is made, the history museum it then!
The history of Budapest is fascinating, dating back to Roman times, when the Romans had forts on both sides of the river. When they left the dark ages plunged the area into chaos and little is known about the times until a king emerges in the 11th century to build a castle on the foundations of the roman ruins. The beginnings of The Royal Palace on the Buda side, then called Obuda, we are standing in today. Excavations over the years have unearthed parts of the original castle that can be dated to the 12th century. The display of these remnants of stone carvings is nothing short of amazing.
Over the years the Pest side grew, as more people from Germany traveled down the Danube and settled on that side. The two sides of the river where accessible only by ferry at this juncture. Then came the Turks in 1526, under Sultan Süleyman I (the Magnificent) many churches were converted into mosques, and Budapest became the seat of a Grand Vizier. In 1686 the Hapsburg dynasty enters the scene, by 1867 their control has evolved into the Austrian-Hungarian empire, beginning a golden age of building magnificent palaces and civic buildings. Then of course came the events of 1914 when the Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, starting events that would change the world for ever. Budapest suffered economically from then on, briefly (six months) becoming the capital of the Hungarian soviet republic, then the capital of the Hungarian democratic republic after French backed Romanian forces take control. Then in March 1944 Hitler takes control of Hungary installing a collaborative government that joins forces with Germany collaborating in the murdering Jews by the thousands. In 1945 the Soviets together with Romanians besiege the city, liberating it, but not before a serious amount of damage is done by retreating Germans. In 1956 Hungarians revolt against soviet occupation that is put down in a bloody fashion. Finally in 1989 the soviets are finally banished and the city becomes capital of the Third Hungarian republic.
After this large dose of central European history, we decide to take a look at the Central Market. A look out through the museums windows tells us the weather is unchanged.
We successfully call up a taxi using a local taxi service app on our phone and we are soon whisked away in an other little yellow taxi to the Market Hall. The Great Market Hall as locals call it is located at the end of the famous pedestrian shopping street Váci utca and on the Pest side of the Liberty bridge at Fővám square. Just a short taxi ride and we are deposited at the entrance, built in 1897 as an indoor market in a neo gothic style covering some 10,000 square meters the space is large, with a ground floor occupied by fruit & vegetable stalls, delicatessen stalls, selling all manor of fresh and cured meats as well as the spice, and liqueur stalls. The upper floor that forms a mezzanine around the outer walls is full of local handicrafts and souvenirs with a few food stalls that are so busy that the food just has to be good. Throngs of people queue for a plate of sausage or local guylas (Goulash) but very few tables in which to eat it. Like every building here, war damage was extensive but the site is now back to the former glory it deserves. We are here for the paprika and saffron, every second stall has these spices for sale but we eventually find packaging to our liking, hopefully we can successful navigate through Australian customs with our purchases.
Missions completed we now need to make our way back to the hotel, the taxi app has stopped working but we see a taxi rank across the street. Nearly blown off the street and in drizzly rain we make our way to the cab stand, first driver we approach tells us to go to the head of the queue of taxis, taxi etiquette at play. This driver though doesn’t want to play ball, 5000 forints he wants to charge us for a ten minute ride back to the hotel, I know enough by now to know that this is too much. We retreat to review our options. A cab in front of us drops off incoming passengers, we grab him and we are on our way and back at the hotel at a cost of 2000 forints. Amanda comments that the driver we first encountered was rejected by several customers and eventually told to move on by his colleagues behind, weird behaviour sent to test us.
Back at the hotel the weather inside is calm and warm, the scene of yesterday’s lunch looks inviting for a hot coffee and Hungarian cake. A side trip to a local pharmacy earlier on in the day was challenging but fruitful, we both need to fortify ourselves against the pressing cold symptoms that while not crippling are annoying. Tonight we eat in, pizza is on the room service menu and that glass of Chardonnay for medicinal purposes only completes the deal. We watch some world news but Australia is missing, it is still where we left it isn’t it? Tomorrow we are hopeful of a cloudy but rain free day to continue our explorations. We will see!