Budapest - Hungary - 12-14.4.1970

Budapest was a surprise, after almost 2 weeks in Yugoslavia, which we loved, especially it's natural beauty but there was often the presence of Military and there were photos of Tito in every home, shop, or public building.

Budapest was so sophisticated in comparison, it was under Communist Rule but it was so much freer than we thought it would be, we had a fair bit paperwork to fill out at the border and were only given 48 hours but the whole atmosphere was one of happy people in a free country.

From Wiki-
From the 1960s to the late 1980s Hungary was often satirically referred to as 'the happiest barrack' within the Eastern Bloc, and much of the wartime damage to the city was finally repaired. Work on Erzebet Bridge,  the last to be rebuilt, was finished in 1965. In the early 1970s, Budapest Metro's East West M2 Line was opened, followed by the M3 Line in 1982.

We met Margit in a cafe in Lenin Korut, her English was good, she was eager for a chat and we ended up spending most of the day with her as she took us to all sorts of interesting places in Budapest, she was absolutely delightful even taking us back to her home for a coffee.  Below is her photo of us! 

Nemzeti National Museum, The 'Exhibition' city where centuries of architectural styles sit together.

 We bought this painting from Margit, the painting itself is only 10cm X 13cm and it's been sitting on our bedroom wall for 40 years or so and I don't think I've ever cleaned it.  I took it down this morning to have a look inside and give it a good clean.  Margit said she'd painted this, (a copy of a Francois Boucher Portrait of Marie-Louis O'Murphy (Nude on a Sofa), 1752 which is found in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich, Germany.)  on a piece of 'ivory'!  Well we never believed that so we either didn't understand her or she got the words 'ivory' and 'plastic' mixed up or she actually said she'd painted it on 'ivory plastic'... anyway I took it apart today for the first time and it's painted on a piece of thick plastic!


I love Francoise Boucher's paintings and he certainly loved his voluptuous nudes!  He painted lots and lots of them as well as some Portraits of Madame de Pompadour who was his illustrious patron.


The original is below, Margit didn't do a bad job did she, although the head and face are different.   I cannot remember how much we paid for Margit's little painting but it wouldn't have been much and I've never regretted buying it for a minute.

 

Budapest - Hungary - 12-14.4.1970

 Looking towards Buda to The Castle across the River Danube.

From Wiki:  (I have just donated $100 to Wiki seeing I use them for almost every post.)
The Széchenyi Chain Bridge designed by the Englishman William Tierney Clark in 1839 after Count Istvan Szechenyi's initiative in the same year, with construction supervisor Scottish engineer Adam Clark (no relation).  It is a larger scale version of William Tierney Clark's earlier Marlow Bridge across the River Thames in Marlow, England.  It was funded to a considerable extent by the Greek merchant Georgios Sinas who had considerable financial and land interests in the city and whose name is inscribed on the base of the south western foundation of the bridge on the Buda side.

 On the River Danube looking towards Pest with The Castle behind us.

 The Castle in Budapest, the river Danube is behind us.  Hey! and guess what... there's another Tram! 

 Inside the Budapest Art Gallery.

 To the River Danube from the Art Gallery.

 Bullet holes in one of the back streets, left over from the 1956 Revolution.

Hungary - Palic, Serbia to Szeged, Hungary - 11.4.1970

 Going through the border from Yugoslavia to Hungary.  Customs allowed us 48 hours in Hungary, it isn't on our Bank of NSW Itinerary so we must have decided to see Hungary instead of going to Vienna via Zagreb and Ljubljana., which is on our Itinerary.   I'm glad we did, we both loved Hungary.

 The Village of Szeged.

 Cobbled streets and a tram for David.

 Hungarian State Railways, Steam on the outskirts of Budapest.

 Aquincum and below the leaflet I'm reading above!

Above and below - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Aquincum site, Budapest, location of he city within the Roman Empire.

The ancient city of Aquincum was situated on the North-Eastern borders of the Pannonia province within the Roman Empire. The ruins of the city can be found today in Budapest, the capital city of Hungary.  It is believed that Marcus Aurelius may have written at least part of his book Meditations  at Aquincum.

Originally settled by the Eravisci,  a Celtic tribe, Aquincum served as a military base, having been part of the Roman border protection system called 'limes'. . Around AD 41-54, a 500-strong cavalry unit arrived, and a Roman Legion of 6000 men was stationed here by AD 89. The city gradually grew around the fortress, and after Pannonia was reorganized by the Romans in AD 106, Aquincum became the capital city of Pannonia Inferior.  The city had around 30,000 to 40,000 inhabitants by the end of the 2nd century, and covered a significant part of the area today known as the Ovuda district within Budapest. Ruins from the old Roman settlement can be seen in other parts of Budapest as well, notably Contra-Aquincum and the Amphitheater.
People living in the settlement could enjoy the achievements of the Empire, like central heating in the houses, public baths, a Mirhreaum and palaces, as well as ampitheatres for gladiatorial combats and beast fights.
Many historic artifacts from the city now appear in the Aquincum Museum.

From Belgrade to Hungary.