Budapest-two cities on the Danube

Budapest by night was another perfect introduction to a city with a complex past. The wide Danube reflected the carefully illuminated buldings, as we heard the stories of the devastation of the war years, followed by the neglect which occurred during the Communist years. The twin cities of Buda and Pest are joined by several graceful bridges.

The seat of government is found in the Parliament Buildings, so huge that they only use half of the rooms. The Parliament was built when Hungary was a vast Empire of 60million people. Now , because of the Treaty of Trianon, it has only one third of its former territory.I was intrigued that there are 96 steps up to the buildings commemorating the beginning of the Arped Dynasty in 1096. For more history see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungary

Attila the Hun was famous proto Hungarian, a long time ago- in the 5th century. He is still remembered for his fierceness and refusal to submit.

Early morning we visited Heroes Square , a grand open space with statues of heroes of the last 1000 years of Hungarian history. It is situated at in front of the City Park, at the end of the Andrássy Avenue, one of the most important streets of Budapest, a World Heritage site. The millenial monument was built in 1896 to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of the arrival of Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin.

Heroes Square is where the Russian tanks rolled in 1956.

It is on the edge of a gracious and leafy park,surrounded by elegant houses now occupied by embassies. They used to be wealthy family homes, until the commuists nationalised everything, and required up to 12 families to inhabit each home.

We saw the Great Synagogue built in a Moorish style, and heard a little of the Jewish people being resettled and put in ghettoes, transported, and killed. See
.http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Budapest.html

A very sombre visit was to the House of Terror, a museum of the Nazi and Soviet days in Hungary. A tank pointing directly at the visitor is a scary start. On the walls are thousands and housands of photos of people who died or disappeared duriing those dark days. All around are old black telephones reminding us of the surveillance and informer networks which so terrorised the population. I saw copies of signed 'confessions', photos of the terrible conditions experienced by those sent to brutal work camps in Siberia, and displays of books, jewellery and belongings of those forced to leave home in a hurry. The Museum is on elegant Andrassy Avenue, in the former headquarters of the Hungarian Nazi Party. It is compulsory viewing to see what evil people are capable of, given the 'right'conditions.http://www.terrorhaza.hu/index3.html