Glimpse of Budapest via Five on Friday

Lilly thanks everyone for your kind comments in regard to her blog post last week.  It's been a busy week here with my little grandson staying with us since his parents have the flu.  But, unfortunately, he came down with the flu yesterday after school so now he's back home.  I feel so bad for all of them being ill but hopefully they will recover soon.  It's scary for my little grandson and little baby granddaughter :(

I thought I'd go down memory lane a bit and share some photos from my trip to Budapest, Hungary from 2014.  It's not been quite two years since I visited this amazing country.  Hungary always brought to mind the Gabor sisters; Zsa Zsa and Eva who were quite popular when I was young.   We had the pleasure to stay at an Airbnb apartment which was still furnished in it's mid century style.  The owner's father was a graphic artist who designed the Hungarian coat of arms.  Below is a photo of that design which was in the apartment. 
 

The graphic artist who designed this modern coat of arms was Piros Tibor. And, here's another pencil drawing of the design.  He originally lived in the apartment we rented and is now owned by his daughter.   

 

Here's another view of the interior of the apartment.  I found this ceramic tile stove quite fascinating as it is the original one that was used to heat the apartment. 

 

The apartment had a long, narrow balcony with quite a nice view of the city.  You can see the unique architecture and the beautiful church to the left of this photo. 

 

This was my first trip to Hungary.  The closest I had gotten to this area was Czech Republic and Slovakia back in 2004.  This photo shows a courtyard with the building on the left housing a public market.  It was quite fascinating going inside and seeing all the fresh fruits, vegetables, baked goods, meats and dairy.  Almost all the attendants wore white outfits with matching hats.  It reminded me of a picture I had seen of soviet Russia from years ago.  The selection of food items was really quite good. 

 

I might add that Hungarian beer and their world famous goulash made with Hungarian paprika are delicious!

Budapest is quite a large city and encompasses a large area.  My husband found someone to chat with at opera square one afternoon.

The architecture was fascinating although some parts of the city look a bit weary and worn out.  I got a different feel from Budapest; not a happy, lively feeling.  I don't know why. To me it was a bit of a ghost feeling.  The economics of the country is another subject.

But, it is a city filled with lots of history.  Almost at every corner as seen by this special marker.

Budapest like Vienna has a rich history of coffee houses.  And, they are still alive and operating today.  I love this feeling of going back in time.

Here's a better view of the chuch across the street from where we stayed.  Do you see the hill in the background?  That is the Buda side.  We stayed on the Pest side. 

I love trains and wish we had a train culture here in America like they do in Europe.  Here's the interior of the Budapest train station.  Again, the design was amazing!

And, look at these windows from the train station!  If you recall a few months ago, Syrian refugees were stranded at this train station in Budapest trying to get across the border to go to western Europe.

I love looking at old buildings and trying to peek inside and imagine who lived there and what their life was like.  Here's another photo of the street scene across from where we stayed looking down the street from the other side. 

 

Budapest is a lovely city with a long history.  We left Budapest via train and went to Vienna which to me was totally different in feeling.  Although, at one time they were the Austro-Hungarian Empire.  

Here's some interesting facts:

1.  Buda is built on the hills above the Danube River and Pest is built on the flat plains.  Hence, the name Budapest.

2.  It is a city known for it's Gothic architecture.

3.  There are over 1,750,000 inhabitants in Budapest, as it is the largest city in Hungary

4.  The Hungarian language is not related to any other languages.  It is a Uralic language and is somewhat similar to Finnish and Estonian.  

5.  Hungary is home to the luxury brand Herend Porcelain factory which produced many fine objects for the aristocracy of Europe.  You can buy modern day pieces of Herend Porcelain in Budapest today.    

It's Friday again so you can find me at Amy's Five on Friday.   I always look forward to this link party as I've made so many friends.

Wherever you are, I hope you are well and safe.  Be careful out there as the flu season has started to take hold.  Until next time,

my best to you,

Pat