Category: Trans Europa

Any one can confuse Buda with Pest. All corrected in previous post, which of course you spotted. Buda Castle was always more likely to identify as a Buda. What a nuisance.

With our orientation sorted out we headed for the Central Market. Lots of things being sold by stall holders with varying expressions: hope; resignation; boredom; engagement. An an Aldi – which didn’t have M&Ms, the goto snack. The first Tescos visit of the trip came to the rescue. Except they only accept Hungarian Loyalty cards.

The next shock was the statue of Jeremy Corbyn. Luckily it turned out to be John Calvin, dourly overlooking Kalvin Square and Budapest’s first Reformist Church. One of them will have a lasting legacy, the other a diverionary footnote.

Budapest, or rather the very small area we’ve sampled, is bustling with young people. Which belies the statistic that it actually has an older population than Central Hungary. Maybe the younger people congregate where the action is. Like we are.

St Stephen’s Basilica has an impressive exterior. And an entrance fee which goes towards keeping its inner bling bright. So summoning our inner Calvins, we went to a happy Vegan lunch place instead.

Barbara went to Heroes Square, bravely navigating the Metro, leaving the Shed Fairy to get to work.

Tomorrow out into wine country

We crossed to explore the Buda side, leaving Pest for tomorrow. Great rivers demand great bridges and the Danube especially. The most famous is the Chain bridge, relieved of is refurbishing scaffolding we last saw it decorated with. The romantic name derives from it being Hungary’s first such suspension bridge with the cruising bit held up by chains.

It has a wee sibling: in Marlow where the engineer Clark built his original, before upscaling to Budapest. (Mid 19C). The Hungarian one was rebuilt in 1949 after being destroyed in WW2.

There are so many statues watching: small, large; metal, stone; stern, poignant, funny. Most people go past, heading to the honey spots and jostle for selfies.

The power and wealth behind the creation of the buildings boggles the imagination. Actually the skills of the builders even more so.

Big cities can be daunting. We last stayed here 3 years to the day, so the challenge will be to look confident we know what to do. The greater metropolitan area has 3.3 million people, a third of the population and more than Wales. The “city” is a smaller 1.7million.

The feeling of urbanisation starts about 25miles outside. The villages approaching that point start to feel like more holiday homes.

Good to see a sea of solar panels – though Hungary remains dependent on Russian gas (as does France).

The Danube looked a little brown – not quite the same ring for Strauss: “On the Beautiful Brown Danube”. 2001 might never have happened. The ferry crossing went You can tell it was a hot day and some brain cells overheated.

We get into Budapest via Eurovelo 6, then some “just go for it” crossing of traffic lanes in the centre. Just like locals, only slower. Then the excitement of a laundry hunt – hopefully I’ll be able to get into my shorts after the dryer cremation…….

2 rest days here, so plenty of time to do nothing. Ha!

Kylie must have been here, doing the Holloko. It’s a 13 C village of some specific ethnic group which became a UNESCO site in 1987. Today the houses are holiday apartments – basically fine: younger people don’t want to live as there forebears and creating the “preserved” village became what kept it alive.

Which can’t be said about a lot of the former industrial sites and towns we went through day. Ex-coal mining, iron/steel buildings. Some tips. A lot like parts of South Wales Valleys, frozen” in time and deprivation. There are a lot of people, mainly women, cleaning the streets and ditches. I suspect not “My Green Valley” volunteers – more like a local employment scheme.

In between there are sunflowers, fields of wheat and forests. And hills.

Tomorrow to Budapest and a double “rest” day.