House of Terror

Video on walls talking with survivors of loved one taken
away in boxcars never to return.

 I know the House of Terror sounds like a Halloween fun house, but here in Hungary it's a pretty sobering museum. The building itself was the party headquarters of the Hungarian Nazis.  The museum is laid out very effectively, including the actual detention and torture rooms in the basement. Several rooms recreate the offices complete with furniture, files, telephones, and ashtrays.  One room has pews like those used in the trials of Jews, only the entire room from furniture to floor is covered in manuscripts from those trials.  You can sit in those pews and watch actual tapes of those trials. There are lots of

No need to do "reproductions" these are the real
furniture & decorations from one of the offices.

 heartbreaking interviews from survivors of that time, and hundreds of names of victims printed on the walls.  There is also the wall of shame of the victimizers, complete with birth & death dates, and their photos.  It was a very chilling museum. Photos aren't allowed inside, these are scanned from the brochure.

 Yes, this is a real tank in the center of the building with the photos of the Nazi's on the wall.
You can look down on it from the balconies of all the floors.

In the basement are the cells and even the torture rooms. Awful conditions and we assume they weren't any better when occupied.  The feeling I got from all of these places where people were mistreated was that of Honor.  They're heartache was not in vain if we can honor the history and vow to never repeat it.

We had to cheer ourselves up with lunch, more goulash soup & the Hungarian version of ravioli. I know I talk about beer a lot here, but I gotta say it's really good! I like the lower alcohols content and the robust favors. We figured out the subway system, which is the oldest in Eastern Europe.  It's surprisingly easy to use even when the signs are unpronounceable. You have to be quick though, the doors are only open about 10 seconds then BUZZ you better be on or off! Luckily, we managed to be pretty nimble & didn't get squished anywhere!

We checked out Hero's Square, full of statues from Hungary's history. After suffering damage in WW2, the citizens decided to tear down all the Habsburgs royalty statues, and erect more relevant ones to their history. And why not!

Pam has a cool setting on her camera where she can select the color.

We also checked out the Hungarian State Opera, at least we walked in the lobby and oohed and Ahhhed. They just don't make 'em like that anymore. We also checked out the lovely and expansive City Park complete with baths, a circus, amusement park, and castle.

 ING glass office building.

 This sculpture has an "hour glass" in the middle, supposed to slip from one side to the other over the course of a year.  The wheel can then be turned and it starts all over again.  Too bad it doesn't work, but Jane & tried to help turn it!

Yes, you can rent these bikes if you dare!

We enjoyed our last night together at another charming outdoor cafe - I bet you can't guess what we ate- yes goulash soup and beer! Afterwards, we took the champagne from the Viking cruise in Pam & Jane's room to our hotel lobby for a goodbye toast.  The bartender was kind enough to provide glasses and we toasted our fabulous trip.

This street was lined with restaurants and their outdoor seating - what great people watching!

 We watched the beginning of the closing ceremonies of the Olympics in the lobby bar, it's a different experience watching with German commentary.  And by golly, it's still on!  If you haven't watched the taped version in the States yet, just a warning, it goes on for hours! I don't think I'll be able to stay up for the dousing of the torch, it's already midnight here, and it started at 9pm.

We opened the bottle of champagne from the Viking Cruise, and toasted our last night together. Jane & I had saved the last Weltenburger beer to share - ah such memories!

We are leaving Budapest tomorrow, taking the train back to Prague.  It should be a fun ride.  We'll be staying at our same hotel there- which we loved - for our last night in Eastern Europe.