[Itinery] Budapest

[manc]

i fly out tomorrow for a few days (free holiday because fiance has meeting there.....sweet! :rock on:

anyway's.......what i'm after is if anyone knows the city and if there is anything i should go and see/ do when there?


thanks


manc

[dhaa]

hey - tomorrow I came back from Hungary after a week - If I had noticed this thread we could have arranged some meeting - but I made the whole trip without even looking at PPB since there hadn't been any mention of Hungary before I left...

of course I have a few tips and some photos to post as well mainly from Budapest since this was my 5th or 6th visit. could any of the mods create the Hungary section? (or is there any way I could make it myself?)

[admin]

post it and i'll make a new section

[dhaa]

ok, it'll take some time. I'm at work now.

[Hotrats]

I'm also off to Budapest for a few days between Christmas and New Year.

Does anyone have any info on Architectural Highlights that should be seen???

I've checked the couple of Budapest threads on PPB, ( Transit Art Cafe, Gödör klub etc.) - just wondering if there's any more that spring to mind??

Any suggestions greatly appreciated - (and photos will be posted afterwards).

[dhaa]

well, the numerous thermal baths in Budapest or in HUngary in general is a chapter for itself.

You shouldn't miss the Rudas Bath - the Turkish bath from the 15th century, restored some 2 years ago. The main vaulted space is incredible with the "portholes" in the copula glazed in stained glass that bring fantastic meditative light in. It is the type of bath that surely insipired Peter Zumthor when he designed the bath in Vals - remember the blue skylights?

attached images of the exterior and the interior. when I went there I had in mind Kevin's heroic secret report from Vals and I took a camera with me. but once I was there I simply didn't dare to take pictures. I didn't feel like disturbing the people there.

also an important thing to mention is that unlike other baths in Budapest this one is originally for men only. and they still partially keep the tradition - men and women can visit it in alternate days.

[dhaa]

It is located at the foot of mount Gellért (Gellért hegy) right at the riverside, closed to the Elisabeth Bridge (Erzsébet híd).

[archie1492]

well, the numerous thermal baths in Budapest or in HUngary in general is a chapter for itself.

You shouldn't miss the Rudas Bath - the Turkish bath from the 15th century, restored some 2 years ago.

Agreed the bathhouses in Budapest are a must see! I was only in Budapest for a few days, but I managed to visit several. I remember enjoying the Széchenyi Baths much more than the Gellert Baths. Although, the Gellert is probably more interesting architecturally, the Széchenyi Baths have more interesting pools. Whirlpools of all sorts, massage rooms, cabana rooms, steam rooms, saunas, hot waters, warm waters, and cold waters! It was really awesome. Also they have chess tables in the pool for people to play.

I haven't been to the Rudas bath, but it looks beautiful. Next time I am in Budapest I will seek it out.

[dhaa]

yes - I have already been some 4 or 5 times in Széchenyi Baths - a nice neorennaisance building - the outdoor part is a very favourite place among the locals for organizing parties. and yes I played chess there:) Rudas bath is a much more quiet and contemplative space. the old part is also surprisingly small which doesn't devalue it in any way. however I've never been to Gellért. next time I'm in Budapest perhaps, which could easily be this New Year's Eve;)

[dhaa]

there's also a very famous or rather infamous building called Terror Háza (http://www.terrorhaza.hu/index2.html) or House of Terror. It's located at Andrássy 60 (right next to the Oktogon metro station), which used to be the feared address where Hungarian secret police had their offices and where they used to torture people during the dark 50's. My Hungarian friends whom I trust when they recommend something told me that the museum is definitly worth visiting not only to see the brutal history, but also that the way it is designed and organized makes it surely the most contemporary museum in Hungary. For myself I cannot judge cos so far I've never made it in the opening hours...:o I only know it from the outside - and I like that part - see the photo.
I remember when I saw it for the first time - back in the winter of 2002 - it was some Hungarian national feast and less than a month after opening of the museum. You could see Hungarian flags everywhere. And there was an enormous crowd of people that filled the street in front of the house. I guess it must have taken several hours to get in... I think the entrance was free then;)

[carbide]

there's also a very famous or rather infamous building called Terror Háza (http://www.terrorhaza.hu/index2.html) or House of Terror. It's located at Andrássy 60 (right next to the Oktogon metro station), which used to be the feared direction where Hungarian secret police had their offices and where they used to torture people during the dark 50's. My Hungarian friends whom I trust when they recommend something told me that the museum is definitly worth visiting not only to see the brutal history, but also that the way it is designed and organized makes it surely the most contemporary museum in Hungary.

i visited last year and found the design very impressive (especially the descent to the basement), but the whole thing is very harrowing and not great if you're remotely claustrophobic. a lot of the audiovisual pieces are solely in hungarian. it also ends in a cafe selling communist kitsch candles, which is jarring after the history lesson.

the two other not-strictly-architectural things i found most interesting in budapest were walking up to the top of gellert hill for the view down onto the city and the bridges, and the ludwig museum (http://www.museum.hu/search/museum_en.asp?ID=47) of contemporary art.

oh, and the metro stations, but i suppose they speak for themselves. i loved the older interiors, and also this...

[dhaa]

for anyone interested in contemporary architecture in Budapest make sure you get the latest issue (#13) of A10 (http://www.a10.eu/). it features a brief selection of 25 examples of the latest works including the addresses.