Post from Tim:
With 2 million citizens, Budapest's size compares to other major cities in eastern Europe. But it seemed much larger to me, with so much to see and do that I spent half my days walking, metroing, and bussing from place to place. Transportation issues rarely seemed a drag, but rather opportunities to see more of the city besides its high points.
After spending the afternoon visiting Castle Hill's gardens, avenues, stately buildings, art galleries, and historic churches, I headed to the Fisherman's Bastion for an excellent view of the city across the Danube - admiring the river boats gliding between the solid historic buildings that line the waterfront.
I found street performers every 20 feet in some areas of Castle Hill, but they were not your garden variety chainsaw jugglers. True to Budapest's love of the arts, they all played classical music. I passed two giggly young women playing a fast-paced classical duet on matching violins. Nearby the pair, a lone flutist blew a morose tune to himself.
In the mid-day heat I ducked underground to Castle Hill's spooky Labyrinth, a cold damp collection of caves and cellars converted into a cross between an art experiment and a haunted house. Strange noises such as heartbeats, drumbeats, whimsical music, and supernatural sounds echoed from the cave walls, which were under-lit by weak bulbs strategically placed to make the hair stand up on the back of my neck. The exhibition started with reproductions from the Lascaux cave paintings in France. It then got progressively unreal, eventually highlighting archeological "finds" from Homo Consumus - an exhibit poking fun of modern humans by looking at us through the eyes of people 40 million years in the future.
Watching the visitors react to their unreal surroundings provided the most fun, especially when I inadvertently walked behind a young couple with my squeaky sandals and made them jump with fright. I laughed and said hello when I bumbled by, but they didn't shake off their look of fear. I didn't know I was that scary.
After spending the afternoon visiting Castle Hill's gardens, avenues, stately buildings, art galleries, and historic churches, I headed to the Fisherman's Bastion for an excellent view of the city across the Danube - admiring the river boats gliding between the solid historic buildings that line the waterfront.
I found street performers every 20 feet in some areas of Castle Hill, but they were not your garden variety chainsaw jugglers. True to Budapest's love of the arts, they all played classical music. I passed two giggly young women playing a fast-paced classical duet on matching violins. Nearby the pair, a lone flutist blew a morose tune to himself.
In the mid-day heat I ducked underground to Castle Hill's spooky Labyrinth, a cold damp collection of caves and cellars converted into a cross between an art experiment and a haunted house. Strange noises such as heartbeats, drumbeats, whimsical music, and supernatural sounds echoed from the cave walls, which were under-lit by weak bulbs strategically placed to make the hair stand up on the back of my neck. The exhibition started with reproductions from the Lascaux cave paintings in France. It then got progressively unreal, eventually highlighting archeological "finds" from Homo Consumus - an exhibit poking fun of modern humans by looking at us through the eyes of people 40 million years in the future.
Watching the visitors react to their unreal surroundings provided the most fun, especially when I inadvertently walked behind a young couple with my squeaky sandals and made them jump with fright. I laughed and said hello when I bumbled by, but they didn't shake off their look of fear. I didn't know I was that scary.
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