Budapest

University Trip - March 2009

By Antonio Malara

Writing about a trip you did eight years ago is not simple, especially when you are a guest and you haven't planned anything. Memories are all upside down, sometimes you don't remember the name of some places, sometimes you remember thing in a different way. Editing the pictures for this post, helped me to connect memories in the right way.
Budapest has been my first time in East Europe, it was a travel planned by an University Student Association, which also involved teachers and researchers and I was invited by my sister that was a teacher at that time. 
Despite I was older than the average I have to say that I camouflage myself very well, some students though I was one of them, in fact some asked me which course I followed in the University.
Being with a big group of young persons gave me the opportunity not only discovering the city during the day with teachers, but also enjoying night life with students.
We had a guide for the first two days, then as obviously we split in a lot of little groups of people.

The front of the Parliament Building

A close view of the Parliament back

Budapest was originally divided in two different cities, Buda on the west up on a hill and Pest on the east right on the Danube river. The first day we visited all together the Széchenyi Medicinal Bath, this structure is the biggest in Europe. I realized that the locals were proud of it, so they announced the visit like a big thing. To be honest the spa is really huge and even the architecture is nice outside and inside, but as person who wasn't interested in bath I haven't been so impressed. The cool thing was to see all those people (unfortunately only old ones) in swimsuits in the pool outside, while it was so cold.  In the afternoon we went to the "heroes square", one of the most important square of the city. It's huge, there is a column in the center with states on both sides and I think  many events are held there. Near the square there's the Museum of Fine Arts that we visited days later.

The pool at the Széchenyi Medicinal Bath

The Museum of Fine Arts

Heroes' Square

The second day, we visited the Buda hill, where there are two beautiful places, the Buda Castle and the Fisherman's Bastion that is a terrace around the Matthias church. We got there walking up to the hill, there were many nice and colorful house along the street, it was a really nice walk.  Walking to Castle direction you find first the terrace, which in my opinion is the best part of the city. The bastion is composed by several little towers around the square, once you get under the towers you can find a lot of open "windows". From there you have the magical and iconic view above the Danube, the bridges and the Parliament Building on the left side. This view could seem the same as the one you find on the Castle Square, but getting the view through the towers make the experience different. I remember that when I was there, the atmosphere of view under the tower was more intimate and holy, I mean from there the view inspire silence and meditation.  Some steps further and you are outside the castle in the big square, below there are the gardens, even from this place there's a great view and with a little patience you can find nice perspective for pictures.

The Fisherman's Bastion

The square at the Buda Castle

The Parliament Building on the left, the Chain Bridge and Saint Stephen's Basilica on the right

The Chain Bridge

The Fountain of the Fishing Children

The Statue of Prince Eugene of Savoy

Once in a little group we discovered more the Pest side, the center, all the gardens ... As holy places we've been at the great Synagogue and Saint Stephen's Basilica. The Synagogue is the biggest in Europe and even if it's cool, it's located in a place where it's not easy to enjoy the view. St Stephan instead have a better location even if squeezed between streets, there's a  circular square in front and even here you can play with perspective if you like taking pictures.

The Great Synagogue

Saint Stephen's Basilica

Hungarian State Opera House

One of the last thing I did has been to go on the river promenade at night to take pictures to the chain bridge. This is all with lights up till midnight, a breathtaking view, it's really spectacular and I think it's the most shinning bridge I’ve seen, really no comparison even with the Brooklyn bridge. 

The Chain Bridge at night

Budapest has been a super cool experience, mostly because I played the student, there was always someone who guided me, I had not responsibility, what I did it was taking pictures and deal with the guys about the night ... It was positive but it was more like a school trip rather than a real travel.

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Photo: Antonio Malara
​Camera: Nikon D70s jpeg files edited on Camera Raw