BUDAPEST

I have been there twice, the first in the 80s during the communist regime when, leaving from Trieste alone, I went to visit three capitals: Vienna, Budapest and Prague and the second during a long trip to central Europe around 2010. I liked it and surprised me the first time because unlike Prague which is very similar to it, Budapest was much more Western, lively and cheerful. In fact, the Russians had punished Prague for the 1969 revolt and attempted an experiment with Budapest, leaving it free to undertake to the point that there were shops even on the second and third floors of the buildings and then there were many entertainment venues frequented by citizens of all the Eastern Bloc countries that could not visit the West and found an outlet in Budapest, including the Russians. On the train I met a girl from Budapest who had come to Italy to stock up on clothes for her Budapest shop. She took me to eat in a private restaurant and then even to the theater where they were showing CATS the Broadway musical but in Hungarian so I didn't understand anything but it was equally spectacular. I went to visit the Royal Palace on the hill in Buda, the old part of the city which today houses a library, a rich gallery and a historical museum of Budapes, the Church of St. Matthias and the Fishermen's Bastions, a very romantic white stone viewpoint which it overlooks the Danube below. Next to it there is an even higher hill, that of Gellert, a panoramic point of the city with the citadel, while below there are the Gellert spa with a beautiful outdoor swimming pool and a smaller one in a beautiful building inside. Budapest has in fact been a spa city since the times of Rome, it has many spas of which the most famous with a huge and spectacular swimming pool is the Szechenyi which is located in the Varosliger park in Pest not far from Heroes' Square which contains the statues of all main Hungarian monarchs and the Museum of Fine Arts with works by great artists ​ Another attraction and symbol of the city is the spectacular Parliament Building along the Danube, an immense Gothic palace which is illuminated in the evening and is very suggestive. Then the green chain bridge, the oldest and pedestrian one that leads to the Buda steps that lead to the Royal Palace, my hostel where I stayed on the second trip was located near it. There is a beautiful walk along the Danube and you arrive at the Basilica of St. Peter who was the first Hungarian king whose right hand is preserved and you can climb the bell tower to see the panorama of the city. Then there is the Jewish quarter, one of the largest in Europe with its beautiful synagogue, the largest after that of Jerusalem. Also worth a visit is the central Nagy Vasarcsarnok market on three floors with typical food and craft products, souvenirs, etc... Absolutely not to be missed is the New York cafĂ©, judged the most beautiful in the world and a UNESCO heritage site, on four floors in Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo style. There is a beautiful opera house from the late 19th century and the National Museum which tells the story of the town until 1990. In Buda I took an old train and arrived at an open-air museum where they brought all the enormous statues from the communist period including two legs and feet of Lenin, what remained of an enormous destroyed statue. It is worth a visit even if it is quite far away. In the middle of the Danube river not far from the center there is Margaret Island with a large green park and the Palatinus Strand Baths. A boat cruise along the Danube is recommended, especially in the evening when you can see the banks and buildings lit up. Of course you need to go at least one afternoon to a spa, preferably the spectacular Szecheneyi or the Gelert. Try the spicy gulyas-leves which is served spicy with paprika more like a soup rather than a beef stew. then the langos, a fried pancake garnished with various vegetables or stuffed with yogurt, sour cream or potatoes and then the cabbage rolls, chicken with paprika, the porkolt a meat stew, the lecso or peperonata, then the galuska the Hungarian dumplings, the Hungarian salami, for dessert the dobos cake made up of six layers of sponge cake, the kurtos cylinder of brioche dough, the palacsinta a Hungarian crepe, the gerbeaud chocolate cake, you drink a strong liqueur obtained from fruit, the palinka, never refuse it , they take offense and the unicum bitterness of herbs, among the wines the most famous is the white tocai enjoy the beautiful and cheerful Budapest! />

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