Gödöllő and the Sissi Palace

Last weekend, well, last Friday to be exact, and amidst the Formula one crowds that had descended on the city, I decided to take another Hév adventure. (for a recap, the Hév is the suburban railway. like the GO, but without shocks, air-conditioning or heating, door sensors (they slamn whether you, or your purse, is in between then), and with a foot-ish size step up to actually get on the thing).

While Szentendre is in the Buda burbs, I decided to venture to the outskirts of Pest, to a small town called Gödöllő, home to the summer castle of the former King (not Kaiser) and Queen of Hungary, Franz Joseph and Sissi.

Officially, the Royal Palace is called Királyi Kastély, but unofficially, it is called Sissi's Palace. Primarily because Sissi spent alot of time there and also apparently loved everything about Hungary. A reciprocal relationship soon developed between the people of Hungary, and Sissi (who even managed to learn Hungarian! Now THAT should receive some props my friends).

Anyway, Királyi Kastély was where I was headed and Királyi Kastély is where I ended up (eventually). As this point I feel it necessary to thank the nice old man who attempted to help me in my frantic 'OMG, I have no idea what stop we are at, OMG which stop do I have to get off of, OMG what if I get stuck in the forest, OMG, why can't I ever remember words when accents are involved. The multitude of OMGs caused me to develop mild form of OCD and I was getting up to check the Hév map every five seconds thinking something would change. It also made it look like I was a panicked maniac. If I could have told the nice old man, that I was just a stupid person who can never keep track of metro stops, I would have. Instead I said 'Nem, Kussi Sapen' (short form for No, thanks though) and smiled.

I did actually get off at the right stop and find the palace. No thanks to RS. I mean really what does 'when you get off the train, the palace is kitty cornered to the left' actually mean. Whose left are we talking about?

I did end up finding it, based on the logic of 'hey, that looks like a rather large house, maybe I should venture over there'.

The Palace was built in 1735 by a Count named Anton Grassalkovich. He didn’t like Garlic or Draculas (if you were wondering, as the only count I know was purple, had wings, and taught me how to count backwards and forwards, by ones and by two every Saturday morning).

It was used by the count, and his family, for a while and was even visited by Maria Teresa in 1751 (the historical highlight pre-sissi). In the Grassalkovich part of the castle there were old costumes, swords and maps of the time…pretty historically cool! After Grassalkovich died, the palace went through several owners (on the account that Grassalkovich family had no male heirs).

Franz Josef and Sissi received the castle as a coronation gift in 1867 (and decided to useit partially because they thought it a good idea to have a home in one of the countries they ‘reigned’ over during the Austro-Hungary days of yonder). After World War I, and the demise of the dynasty, the palace came under supervision of the Regent Miklós Horvath, then after WWII the Soviets took control. They used it for several purposes, including a barracks for their troops, social housing, and then a nursing home. Sadly, the turn over post WWI lead to serious, decrepit deterioration of the entire palace.

In the Mid 1980s, renewed interest also meant the beginnings of a large scale refurbishment of the castle, and in 1996 the first rooms were made available to the public. Over the years more and more of the rooms and areas of the castle are becoming open to visitors (including this springs re-opening of the Palace Gardens).

When I arrived, I bought my ticket at followed the signs to open areas. The whole palace is more like a museam, taking you through the years of the Grassalkovich occupancie and general Hungarian aristocratic culture of the time, marshalling you through various apartments with clothing, furniture and paintings tell the story of the family. There are two other ‘wings’ of the palace, one devoted to Franz Josef, and the other to Sissi. It is silent on the Regent and Soviet Occupation (which I thought was kind of sad as it’s apart of the history even if it’s not exactly the most charming part). I liked the Sissi wing as they displayed photographs of Sissi and her ladies, books, china and furniture all over her small ‘apartment’. There was also two wedding paintings of Franz Joseph and Sissi, and a painting as large as a living room wall of their coronation at St. Mathias Church.
It was cool to see the coronation ‘in action’ as St. Mathias church was the first church I visited in Budapest. I remember learning about the coronation when I visited the church and thinking about what it would have actually been like. The painting showed me and that is neat-o.

One of Sissi’s rooms was purple. Something I thought was also cool.

Other notable palace features were: the servants’ doors, who actually walked through the walls to each room. When the count built the palace, servants were not to be seen, so the walls are built wide enough for people to walk through. The ovens (heaters) in each room are also backwards as the servants would refill them and churn them from inside their wall passage ways (can you churn an old heater?).

After walking through the second floor apartments, the chapel viewing area and the state room (which was fantastic), I went out to the Gardens. Other than the white pebbles that attacked my feet, I was happy to be out of Buda (but not pest), happy to be relieved of all construction noises (they are rebuilding the tram line in front of my house) and also, was happy to enjoy the very low people to square inch ratio. (I’ve been here for a while now, but I still have a North American need for space).

In Gardens just opened in May, and had beautiful green manicured lawns, and very beautiful flower beds. The palace stables were out there too (but they haven’t finished the renovations) as was a small Pavilion. I am not sure what the purpose of that was though (there were no signs. At. All.).

The gardens also gave way to a whole section of the palace that was most definitely no where near complete, broken windows, doors, floors, dust, dirt, peeling walls, etc. It was a very stark contrast to the wonderfully renovated areas, but also a humble reminder of what happens when one lets things deteriorate, and how much work has been put into making the palace what it once was.

After the palace I decided to give the town of Gödöllő a once around (which is all it needed). There was one tiny church that looked more like a chapel, and a statue of a guy named Pétofi. There is a Pétofi bridge in Budapest, and I wondered if this was the same guy. Could be. But the trouble is that there are many many common Hungarian names…so who knows! Then I grabbed a gumbloc (ball) of tiramisu Fagy (Fudggy) or ice cream (my new favourite flavour and dessert), and walked back to the Hév…..and headed back through the formula one fans (the race was in the ‘burbs as well) to my flat in the city. to spend the weekend in the city.