After leaving Vienna we traveled to Budapest. Budapest was the city that I was least certain I would enjoy before the trip. However, I was proven wrong as I had a great time. Budapest was breathtakingly beautiful and I loved getting to explore this city.
 |
| Bridges over Danube |
The
aspect of Budapest that I was most fascinated by was the many bridges over the
Danube. Budapest is actually the combination of two different cities on either
side of the Danube, Buda and Pest. The bridges connect these two different
cities and make transportation and economic activity possible. During World War
II, the retreating Nazis destroyed every bridge. These bridges are essential to
life in Budapest and were quickly rebuilt. In Budapest I was impressed by how
the locals utilized the waterfront along the Danube. Unlike the other cities we
visited, the river seemed to still be essential. The use of the bridges to
close the gap between the two sides of the Danube was a very interesting aspect
of Budapest.
 |
| Szechenyi Chain Bridge Across Danube |
My
favorite academic experience was attending a folk dance performance. We
attended the performance with a Hungarian woman who met with us in the United
States. She knew the songs and dances shown, which meant the dances we watched
were really traditional not simply created as entertainment for tourists.
Watching these performances felt like it gave me a better sense of what it
meant to be Hungarian. These dances are a major part of Hungarian culture. The
men’s dances were very aggressive and warlike with a lot of stomping and boot
slapping. The women’s dances were usually more delicate. The dance that we
watched was highly dominated by men’s dances. It was easy to see how these
dances would be used at celebrations or other joyous events. I really enjoyed
witnessing such an important part of Hungarian identity and culture.
My
favorite extra-curricular experience in Budapest was visiting Memento Park.
This relatively isolated park is where statues from the Communist era were
moved and housed. Unlike other countries who destroyed all these statues when
the Communist government fell, Hungary kept the statues as reminders. As a
history student I really enjoyed seeing these massive statues. It is clear that
many of these statues represented the values of a Communist society such as
stoicism and hard work for the state. I was most struck by the gigantic size of
the statues. When they stood in the main streets of Budapest they would have
been impossible to ignore. I am glad that I was able to visit this site and see
statues that would have been completely destroyed every else.
 |
| Statue in Memento Park |
My
food recommendation for Budapest is in the Great Market Hall. The Great Market
Hall is a massive building that houses many shopping and food vendors. The
entire first floor is essentially like a massive farmer’s market with almost
any type of food you can imagine. Fantastic fresh foods can be found here. The
second floor has small vendors for souvenirs and fine hand-stitched fabrics. On
the second floor is also a food vendor that has a large selection of
traditional Hungarian food. Although this is always very crowded and there are
few places to sit, this is a cheap and tasty place to grab lunch. There is a
wide selection of food and everything that I tried tasted fantastic. When
visiting Budapest, I highly recommend a stop in the Great Market Hall both for
some shopping and to grab some lunch.
 |
| Great Market Hall |
I
had an amazing time in Budapest. It was truly a beautiful place that I will
never forget. Next blog post I will be talking about my experiences in Krakow,
Poland.
References:
Bridges of Budapest. “The eight
famous bridges of Budapest.” Accessed July 15, 2014.
http://www.bridgesofbudapest.com/.
Budapest by Locals. “Great Market
Hall Budapest.” Accessed July 15, 2014.
http://www.budapestbylocals.com/great-market-hall.html.
Hungarian Folk. “Hungarian Folk
Shows.” Accessed July 15, 2014.
http://hungarianfolk.com/.
Memento Park. “Statue Park.”
Accessed July 15, 2014.
http://www.mementopark.hu/pages/sights/.
Picture References:
1.
Emily
Herkert. Budapest from Citadella.
June 21, 2014. Budapest, Hungary.
2.
Emily
Herkert. Bridges over the Danube. June
21, 2014. Budapest, Hungary.
3.
Emily
Herkert. Szechenyi Chain Bridge. June
18, 2014. Budapest, Hungary.
4.
Emily
Herkert. Folk Dance. June 17, 2014.
Budapest, Hungary.
5.
Emily
Herkert. Memento Park. June 19, 2014.
Budapest, Hungary.
6.
Emily
Herkert. Great Market Hall. June 17,
2014. Budapest, Hungary.
