Down Another Champs-Élysées

My text is below the pictures. Life is short--eat dessert first!

I thought of sister Suzy as we walked by the Swaroski Crystal shop. The Art Nouveau doorway is lined with crystals.

This is a monument to aLutheran pastor who rescued 2,000 local Jews.
His back must be killing him!
The Opera House.
From inside the House of Terror. On the walls are photos of people killed there.

The monuments to the heroes of Hungary erected for their millennium celebration in 1896.
The art museum
This is a broken clock called the Time Wheel. It was made for the celebration when Hungary joined the European Union on May 1, 2004. The wheel has sand inside the circle, acting like a giant hourglass. It's supposed to be manually rotated 180 degrees every year to restart it. But there was condensation inside, which gummed up the works to it doesn't work anymore. Nobody yet has bothered to fix it or haul it away.
The park's castle with 4 types of architecture is in the background.
George Washington.
The park is a lovely place to spend some time. We could have gone boating.

More shots of the castle combo.

This is a Romanesque Church where a wedding was about to take place.
Shots from our cruise along the Danube. This is a statue on Buda, overlooking the river and Pest.

I love the way the Parliament Building looks. It is still another building erected for the Millennium Celebration in 1896.
Here I am with our guide Fru, on Margaret Island.
The Japanese Garden on Margaret Island.

Now, for the main course:
Today we set off with just one major goal--to see the House of Terror. We looked at our city map and decided to try walking there down Andrassy ut, what our guidebook describes as the Champs-Elysees of Budapest. Andrassy ut is the main boulevard lined with trees, shops, and cafes. Like Paris it has distinctive architecture. It is two miles long and ends at the Millenium Park/Heroes Square. Along the route we went into the Postal Museum, which is in a lovely old mansion that never was destroyed or carved up into smaller apartments during various rules. We went by the Opera House, but weren't there at the right time for a tour. We enjoyed the outside of the building, though. We proceeded by Franz Liszt Square before finally making it to the House of Terror.

The House of Terror is the museum in the building where two tragic periods of Hungarian history took place, the Nazi era and the Communist era. During the Nazi era the building was the "House of Loyalty" for the Hungarian Nazi party. Then, when the Communists took over, many citizens were also brought there for torture. The museum effectively used video clips of victims and family members, newspaper articles, furnishings of the time, and cells with torture implements. The exhibits were very well done and the whole experience was moving.

We were ready for something on a lighter note after the House of Terror, so headed on down Andrassy ut for Heroes' Square and the city park. Heroes' Square was built for the country's 1000 birthday in 1896. It is the site of not only a grand looking monument for heroes throughout Hungarian history, but also a couple of museums. The statues there are impressive. We walked on to the park where we saw a statue of George Washington. We found Vajdahunyad Castle, which was erected for the Millennial National Exhibition there. It has four parts, each representing a high point in Hungarian architectural style. It is funky, but likable. Next to it is a Romanesque Benedictine chapel where a wedding was about to take place. We wrapped up our tour of the park by checking out the Szechenyi Baths, which we plan to return to on Monday.

We weren't ready to go home yet, so decided to try going to the Memento Park, where all the old Soviet sculptures got stuck. We thought it would be interesting. However, it's outside of town and hard to get to on public transit. We decided to leave that for another time. Instead, we headed for a cruise of the Danube and tour of Margaret Island. It was a fun relaxing way to end our day of touring. On Margaret Island, in the middle of the Danube between Buda and Pest, we were guided by a lovely young woman, Fru, who showed us the main sites and explained there significance. She mentioned that she had just been to Bainbridge Island visiting friends this July. Small world. Fru also said that she didn't think the Memento Park was so important to see. Hurray! Now we won't have to struggle figuring out the transit for that. After the tour, we went to the Greek restaurant near us called Dionysus Taverna. The food was outstanding and the service great. What a long, but pleasant day we had!