Last day as a tourist.....Andrassy utca and Hero's Square

Well, today, I am sad to say was the last day of my little vacation. Yup, that is right...tomorrow I start my internship- the reason why I decided to pack my bags and move to the land of the Magyars.

It is also the day when reality will sink in...

After sleeping in a bit, and organizing some things in my new room, I decided to try another Rick Steves walking tour. I am a bit tired of navigating, so I choose the "Andrassy Utca" walk, because it required that I walk in a straight line.

Andrassy Utca is the Budpest version of the Champs-Élysées, in Paris. I have been to the Champs-Élysées, and well, while Andrassy Utca is very long (3.2 KM, the CE is 2 KM) and home to several high end retailers like Gucci, DG etc, and is definitely nicer than most streets that I have been on in Budapest, but I thought it lacked the splendor and grandiose that I felt walking up the champs in Paris. It could have been the weather too... but I think it may have been more that Budapest is still a city making up for years of neglect.

I started out pretty good, I made it to the 'start' of the tour Deak Ter, and fumbled a bit on the directions. You see, Deak ter is where all three metro lines meet, and well there are about 8 different places to exit (it is one of those 'choose your own stair case metro stops'). Rick just says "Start at the Ter". This left me to wonder, which part of the ter?. I exited at the wrong exit three times. (you see the photo? that is one of the failed exits. I had to get across the ter...which was past all those cars). Eventually I exited at the right stair case, and was able to properly follow Rick's instructions to the second "stop". (I should explain how his books work. Basically, he has written out 'walking tours' that start at one part of the city and end at another. Throughout the 'tour' he gives you instructions from stop 1 to stop 2 etc. While I was able to find Deak Ter without any issues. His instructions to get to stop 2 is where the I fumbled because I wasn't at the right part of the square). Gah. The annoying things about moving to a new place!

Anyway, I did end up on Andrassy Utca. On the left is a photo of the 'bottom of the square'. Again, this is supposed to be the CE in Paris...not exactly...but to be fair, near the top it did get nicer. As I walked up the Utca, I walked by the Postal Museum. It is closed on Mondays, but I will have to make a note to go back. It looked pretty cool! Then, as the street went on, I began to see all the 'high-end retailors' like Gucci. Man, if I ever wanted (or hell, if i ever could afford) to shop at Gucci, I think I would shop at this location. Who wouldn't want to enter a store with statues like that guarding the door? me!. Across from Gucci was the grand ole' opera house.

It actually has a neat history. It was built because the Hungarians of yesteryear wanted to make Budapest a real European city, and well, apparently the only way to do this is to ensure that your city has its own opera house.This was during the Hapburg's Rule . King Josef agreed to finance half of the construction (as Budapest was the co-capital of his empire, and, well, I guess a co-capital of an empire does need its' own opera house.). However, in agreeing to pay for half of it (the state paid for the rest I guess), he put the condition that the physical size of the house be smaller than the opera house in his hometown, Vienna. This was agreed upon, however, much to the chagrin of Franz Josef, while the actual building is physically smaller, the architect, Miklos Ybl, made sure that everything else about the place (i.e. the interior decor, design, acoustics, 'opulence' as RS says in his book etc), was better than the opera house in Vienna. It was reported that Josef wasn't exactly happy, but you must give credit to the designer who did follow the directions. to a Tee. I popped inside (hoping to pick up a flyer for the upcoming operas and ballets, which I want to go an see), and well, it was very posh. As a result, I thought I should be on my best behavior......until I had an urge to act out. And so, the reason behind this picture.

At the Opera House I did manage to get a show schedule. Although it is in Hungarian, the beauty of schedules is that they only use basic words, that can be figured out quite easily!. Don Carlo, The Barber of Seville and The Clemency of Titus are amongst the 7 operas current being shown/staged here. I will most definitely catch a few. Tickets range from 400 HUFs (2 $) for a seriously obstructed view, to 12 100 HUF (60 $) for the best seat in the house). I have always wanted to sit in the balcony. you know? where are the important people sit? In all the old movies where the posh people gossip?

After my (self) entertaining jaunt and photo opt at the Opera house, I crossed the street and walked about 100 meters to a lovely little cafe called Muvesz Kavehaz . Apparently this cafe (literally translated to 'coffee house') is where all the cool ackTors go after their stage rehearsals and such. (The opera house is in the 'Broadway district', home to several Hungarian play houses). As their was an English menu, and the waiter could speak English, I decided that it was a good time to stop for a coffee and my first Hungarian Coffee House Pastry. How these coffee houses work is that you sit down, acknowledge your presence, then get up and go to the showcase and pick the yummy treat you wish to have. I picked a yummy looking mille feuille called the Francia Creme. It was 6 layers of yummy ness. The top was this sugary hard icing (it was brown-ish, I thought it was caramel, but it was just brown icing). then there was layers of filo-type pastry that was slightly saltly. Then after that there was a layer of white creme, then a layer of vanilla custard, then a layer of sweet soft marange. The bottom layer was a second layer of filo pastry (the mille feuille part). The whole thing had a hint of lemon (which seems to be very popular). It was yummy!

I also tried to order an americano. but failed even when I tried to order it the 'correct way'. Let me explain. The last time I attempted to have an americano at a restaurant here was on my first day and I just asked for an Americano. The person corrected me, saying yes, I will make you an espresso longo. I clued into the possibility that an Americano is also called an espresso longo. So, here, I ordered and espresso longo, saying espresso with hot water (when the waiter looked a bit confused). The guy brought me an espresso and perrier. close but no cigar. The espresso was lovely though. I can't (and am not) really complaining. :). It's Just funny how important language is for getting what you want.

After my 'lunch' break, I kept making my way up the street, past the Oktogon, (which is a huge street crossing shaped like an Oktogon) and the Museum of Terror (a museum about the recent history of the occupations of Hungary (Hitler and Stalin). Another thing on my 'to do' list. Then made my past a smaller version of the Oktogon, called Kodaly Korond ter, named after the man who lived in the mansion on the square (see the photo on the left?). This ter used to be called Hitler Ter, during the Natzi occupation of Hungary. Oktogon was called Mussolini Ter at that time too.

Finally, after hours of walking (and several detours), I made it to Heros Square. (the photo at the top of the Blog). The square is the end of Andrassy Utca (which reminded me more of CE than the bottom of the Utca). The square is home to several statues that pay homage to Great Hungarians/Magyars of the Past. The statuein the centre is the king of the Magyar tribe, Arpad. The Magyars are the 'ethic' tribe that first arrived in Hungary way back when( like the 'anglo saxons' or 'celts'). He is known as the 'granddaddy' of all Magyars. (the photo on the right). In the back of the square, there are statues of the 'Heroes' of Hungary dating back to 967 with St. Istvan, the first son of King Geza to be baptized Christian, and consequently marking the beginning of the Magyar's integration with Europe (apparently before they at war with their neighbors), all the way up to 1894 with Lajos Kossuth. He was the man who attempted to lead an independence movement to free Hungary from the Hapsburg Empire. He even put a call out for help from the U.S.A, speaking to congress on the matter. Too bad the US was still in its isolationist FP era, or that at the time of his speech the US was fighting it's civil war. Apparently, according to a NY times article that I found, the Kossuth speak wasn't exactly received as whole hardheadedly as it could have been....apparently congress "...refused to "commit" the country to sympathy with nations struggling for liberty...". Kossuth ended up dieing in exile. But, on a interesting fact note, apparently there is a statue of Kossuth on Capitol Hill in Washington (one of only two statues of non-Americans!).

The two statues that I liked, I took a picture with them. See? The one on the left is a guy named Kalman, he apparently traded a bloody sword for a pile of books to read (point for pacifism), AND he was the first ruler in Europe to ban trials and burning of women accused of being witches (point for women's rights!). The guy on the right is Andras II. He was the Hungarian king who decided, er, realized, that absolutism was not the best way forward, and accepted to share his power (albeit only with the nobility, but it was a start!). His gold medallion represents the Golden Bull of 1222, which is a decree similar to the Magna Carta. (point for sharing power!).

After Hero's Square I headed home, with a 'short stop' to grab some things I still needed for my house. I found a kitchen store and decided to go in to see if they had any cheap-er knife. The ones in my apartment are just not cutting it. (sorry for the pun, I couldn't resist). But in actuality, last night the knife I was using BENT as I cut into a piece of BREAD. Anyway, I got my knife (a cute yellow one), and headed to the shops to get something quick for dinner, then home. I forgot I was in a foreign country. again. and trying to find plain ole 'pasta' sauce was of course a challenge. They don't exactly have a 'pasta sauce aisle'. hell, they didn't even have a 'pasta sauce shelf' (I did find 'Lumber Jack Maple Syrup' (apparently, imported from Canada)). The closest thing I could find was a can of crushed tomatoes, on the bottom shelf below the four shelves of ketchup (non were Heinz by the way). Then I thought, 'this is okay' ill just grab some spices and everything will be in order. wrong. the spices were in Hungarian and I am not so good as deciphering pictures of green leafs. The guy who lived in my room before me left some spices in the cupboard. They are green. I am not sure what they are, but I guess I'll try'em. I forgot that I should always travel with my pocket language book.......which I forgot today...

Tomorrow is my first day at work! This also means that my blogs will most likely be shorter. (or perhaps more to the point!). I hope everyone is doing great, I like all your comments too (it makes me feel less far away from 'my world'. I am having fun here. Yes, there are trying times, but really, it would be super boring here if I didn't venture out into this foreign land!

tata for now!