Dear Readers:
The Habers are once again on the road. After a rather tortuous trip, we have arrived in Budapest. Our first day here was a typical full busy one complicated only by the weather; it is as hot here as it is in NY; wonderful weather for sitting by the pool; not so great for sightseeing and walking and walking, etc. The bottoms of my feet feel worn away.
My initial impression of Budapest is quite positive. There’s lots to see and do. In fact, I suspect I won’t get to see everything that is on my list. While we are staying in the center of town, places of interest are rather widespread. However, there is a terrific public transportation system: metro, trams and buses and we used all 3 already. The metro (subway) is your typical system built by the Russians; amazingly far underground, clean and efficient. We found the same thing in Prague and St. Petersburg.
Our first stop this morning was the Great Synagogue; yes, that’s what it’s called. It is the second largest synagogue in the world; the largest is Temple Emanuel in Manhattan. The synagogue seats 3000. It looks very Moorish and reminded us of Central Synagogue (where Doug was bar mitzvahed). I’ve attached a photo. It is considered a “liberal” synagogue; this means they basically use the Orthodox service BUT there is a huge organ. Men and women sit separately but both are in the main section without a divider. As an aside (and as many of you know), my grandfather was a “liberal” rabbi in Berlin. During World War II, the Gestapo used part of the synagogue as their headquarters. As a result, the Germans didn’t bomb the synagogue and neither did the British (since it was a synagogue) and thus it managed to get through the war unscathed. Before World War II there were 800,000 Jews in Hungary; afterwards only 200,000; today about 100,000 of which 85% are in Budapest. Hungary has the 3rd largest Jewish population in Europe (after Great Britain and France).
In the courtyard there’s a metallic sculpture of the Tree of Life; see photo. It looks like a weeping willow tree (to symbolize the tears shed due to the Holocaust) but it also looks like an upside down menorah. Each of the 4000 leaves bears the name of a Hungarian Holocaust victim.
The grounds also contain a small Jewish museum. We wound up getting a personalized tour since no one else from our synagogue tour went to the museum. The museum contains primarily objects related to the various Jewish holidays; nothing that we haven’t seen in many other places before. They did have some nice stained windows though with various Biblical stories on them; one is attached.
At this point it was time to move on to other topics and we went to the House of Terror which covers both what the Nazis did to the Hungarians as well as what the Communists did to them. They didn’t have an easy time of it. I am using Rick Steve’s guide book for Budapest. He took us through each room (3 floors worth) of the House of Terror; it was like having your own personal guide; very useful, especially since most of the explanations are in Hungarian which is an difficult language and only related to Finnish. Marty is trying his hardest but… He has mastered a few phrases; most people do speak English. The most interesting and terrifying part of the House of Terror was the basement which housed various cells where prisoners were kept. However, it wasn’t nearly as claustrophobic as the prison we visited in Tallin, Estonia a few years ago; I couldn’t wait to get out of there.
At this point we took a little break and traveled to the New York Cafe. Normally I would avoid a place with a name like this but it was touted so highly that we went. It is named for the New York Life Insurance Company (pretty funny, no?) which had it built (why?) in 1894. It lay dormant for many years and was refurbished in 2006. It is an explosion of opulent Neo-Baroque design; fun to look at. The food was ordinary.
From there we traveled to the Opera House, another example of opulence, very elaborate; lots and lots of gold. The official state box was amazing. It holds 1250 seats and is the 6th best acoustical house for opera in the world; La Scala in Milan is number one. Their opera season is over but there was a mini (very mini) concert at the end of the tour. While 75% of Budapest had to be re-built after World War II, the Opera House also was not harmed during the war.
Lastly we went to the Postal Museum which was supposed to be a quirky little place but turned out to be disappointing. However, I did get some current Hungarian stamps for my collection so not a total waste.
A good day of sightseeing; each of us got to see something of particular interest. Both of us are exhausted, primarily due to the heat which is scheduled to continue.
For dinner we went to a small restaurant recommended by the concierge as well as an arbitrator friend of Marty’s who lives with a woman who grew up in Budapest. We enjoyed the atmosphere but found the food underwhelming; I had a salad with goat cheese (the cheese was great) and a duck breast. We did enjoy some of the local wine though. I am withholding a final verdict on the food for the moment.
So ends Day 1. More to come as we continue along. Hope you’re enjoying my Travel Report and hope to hear from ALL of you.
The Reporter
PS: Doug: I’m sorry I didn’t include any photos with us in them; I will try harder tomorrow!
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