Location: Semmelweiss utca – 11:07 am Local Time
It has been a week since I have been here and infinite are
the marvellous things I have seen in this Eastern European city, a city whose
history is not widely known, whose beauty is concealed, whose importance seems
to have eclipsed.
The last two days I did not write about are Tuesday and
Wednesday. On Tuesday 30th, my friend hand to go to university for
the whole day, so it was up to me to organise the daily tour in Budapest. My
decision was made according to where I did not go. I started from Ferenciek tere [Ferenziec tere],
Franciscan’s square, and crossed the Erszébét
híd over the Duna (Danube). My first stop was Szent Gellért
szobor [Sent Ghellērt
sobor], statue of Saint Gellert, which is based at the feet of Gellért
hegy [Gellērt heghi] or Mountain
Gellert. It commemorates two events: the arrival of the prophet Gellert who
brought Christianity to the Magyar population and converted King Istvan; and
the death of the prophet who, during a revolt, was beaten by pagans and thrown
off the hill where the statue stands. From there I climbed the mountain and
reached the Citadella [Zitadella] at
the top. It was built by the Austrians to symbolise their success after the
repression of the Hungarian War of Independence in 1849. There is also another
monument symbolising success and victory: it is the Szabadság
szobor [Sabadshág
sobor], or Liberation Monument, built by the Soviets in 1945 when the Nazis
were pushed out of the country. It is the only Communist building left in
Budapest after 1991. The only item removed was the statue of a Russian soldier
guarding the monument. The view from here is bliss, a 360 degree
panorama of all Budapest from the city centre to South Buda and the hills
behind Mountain Gellert.
Once back at the feet of the mountain (it is more a hill
than a mountain!), I walked along the river side of Buda from the Elizabeth Bridge
to the Magríd
híd [Margrit hīd], or Margaret Bridge, a 1.5 km
walk in front of beautiful, old buildings. I saw the entrance to the Royal
Palace, Batthyány
ter [Battliani ter], the view of Parliament on the side of Pest and Margrit sziget [Margrit sighet], or
Margaret Island. The sun peeked through the grey clouds during my promenade and
I felt the warmth of spring lit by the shiny white of buildings I could spot as
far as my eye could see. I crossed the Margaret Bridge and took Szent István
Korút [Sent Istvān Korūt],
or Saint Stephan’s Ring Road, to Nyugati
station. From there I went again to Városliget and saw the outside of
the Budapest Zoo. I had to meet my friend at Opera but I had had half an hour
left. Thus, I sat by the lake and talked to the ducks, talked to my inner self,
and felt enlightened. I did not feel wiser about something, I just felt bright
as if my soul were a glowing light.
Before meeting with my friend, I had to work almost the
whole length of Andrassy út. At Opera our paths crossed each
other and then, after paying the apartment rent at the agency, we happily went
back home. That night we went for a quick walk by the Danube. Words cannot
explain the romantic game of lights I witnessed.
On Wednesday 31st we did not do much all day. We had
a lie-in, had lunch, fell asleep again in the afternoon, but then went out
around 5:30 pm. The clouds, like the day before, were slightly apart from each
other and the light blue sky was above our heads reassuring us that it is
always there, maybe hidden but always there, like love in the tangling web of
routine. It was dusk and a pink haze rose from behind the Royal Palace. Sunlight was only a strong white aura slowly
fading, then the light blue turned turquoise as we walked by the river, past
the Chain Bridge and Roosevelt Square, past the Trabant cars on the street and
the boats touring the Danube, past the lights turning on one after the other
around the shape of Mathias’s Church, the Royal Palace, Batthany Square, the
Chain Bridge, the distant Citadella, the Parliament and the old city of Buda.
We got off out promenade at the Parliament and saw the
monument in honour of those who lost their lives in the 1956 revolution against
the Soviet Union. There was also a large board on which days (napok [napoc]), hours (órak [orac]), minutes (percek [perzec]) and seconds counted
down to Hungary’s entrance in the European Union. Then, from Parliament Square
we took Alkotmány
utca [Alcotmanu uzza] and Bajcsy-Zsilinszky
út [Baici-Silinski ūt] to reach Nyugati station. Her we found a well-known cake shop were all
slices are sold out at only F100 each after 6 pm. Wow! You can easily foretell
our gorgeous dinner when we went back home!
Today, 1st April, we had brunch with
tea and cakes (again!) at Jegbüfé, a very Communist-like café but nice none the less. It is within my
friend’s neighbourhood, Belváros, the fifth district of Budapest. Before coming
back home we went to see the Synagogue. Inside you could see the Jewish
graveyard commemorating the Holocaust. This was our last touristic visit and we
went home to get our things ready for our departure.
VOCABULARY:
Written
|
Pronounced (Italian phonetics)
|
Meaning
|
országhaz
|
orsāgas
|
parliament
|
egy
|
eghi
|
one
|
kettő
két
(in front of nouns)
|
chettō
|
two
|
három
|
arom
|
three
|
negy
|
neghi
|
four
|
öt
|
ōt
|
five
|
hat
|
at
|
six
|
hét
|
et
|
seven
|
nyolc
|
niols
|
eight
|
kilenc
|
chilenz
|
nine
|
tíz
|
tis
|
ten
|
tízenegy
|
tiseneghi
|
eleven
|
húsz
|
hus
|
twenty
|
húszonegy
|
husoneghi
|
twenty-one
|
ezer
|
eser
|
thousand
|
harminc
|
arminz
|
thirty
|
harmincegy
|
arminzeghi
|
thirty-one
|
negyven
|
neghiven
|
forty
|
ötven
|
ōtven
|
fifty
|
hatvan
|
atvan
|
sixty
|
hetven
|
etven
|
seventy
|
nyolcvan
|
niolzvan
|
eighty
|
kilencven
|
chilenzven
|
ninety
|
száz
|
sas
|
hundred
|
százegy
|
saseghi
|
hundred-one
|
ketszáz
|
chetsas
|
two-hundred
|
ezergy
|
eserghi
|
one thousand and one
|
ketezer
|
cheteser
|
two thousand
|
tízezer
|
tiseser
|
ten thousand
|
százezer
|
saseser
|
hundred thousand
|
gyerek
|
ghierec
|
child
|
szobor
|
sobor
|
statue
|
kenyer
|
chegnier
|
bread
|
könyv
|
chōgniv
|
book
|
diszkont
|
discont
|
discount
|
akció
|
akziō
|
offer
|
hova?
|
ova?
|
from where?
|
honman?
|
onman?
|
to where?
|
megyit fizetek?
|
meghit fisetec?
|
how much I pay?
|
megybe kerul a paprika?
|
meghie cherul a paprica?
|
how much does paprika cost?
|
-ok / -ek / -ak
|
|
Suffix for plural at end of wold |
-at / -et / -ot
|
|
Suffix for accusative at end of word (object)
|
