Hungary (and Germany) are famous for Christmas Markets. These last from Nov. 11 to January 1. Think craft-show-food-fair on a fairly immense scale, at night, with lots of lights. What most impressed me was that there was not loud music, just the buzz of many people having a good time. Again, no way to do justice to these with a small camera, at night, but hope you get the idea.
I took this as a picture of something we might try doing for #NorthernMaineFair.
Another little farmers market had these as doors to the bathrooms.
We went into the old jewish quarter in search of antique shops, and found a nice market. One shop owner had a nice display of Lenin statues and military paraphernalia, and a Roman helmet which he let me try on. Not very comfortable.
This is a beautiful large synagog in Budapest. The stained glass and tire work on the sides, mostly in the pattern of star-of-David, are very beautiful. Also along the side is a long row of important Jewish members of the Budapest community – famous writers, singers, professors, etc., many with lives that ended in 1944. The building is now a museum.
I have previously posted photos of streets in Szczecin, Warsaw and Poznan, but Budapest is the best of those put on steroids. No way to get photos of these. Big, incredibly fancy late 19th century buildings everywhere, block after block of them. The late 19th century was a period of great prosperity for Budapest, and I am sure I will find Vienna as well. This was the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and of course all this ended with World War I. There is also statuary everywhere. Of all the places that I have seen in Europe, this in the one place I know I need to return to, there is so much.
It was nighttime by the time we got to Brandenburg Gate. A group of German tourists was lined up for a picture and I took advantage of the shot. There was a, as best as I could tell, Syrian protest of Iranian activities going on nearby.
Along that avenue is this fairly recently built Holocaust Memorial. This covers the area of a city block – another portion that became available after The Wall came down. The Memorial consists of rows and rows – there must be thousands – of large concrete blocks of various sizes, all in neat rows without sign or explanation. There are many people just walking among all this. This is easily the most evocative memorial, of any kind, that I have ever seen.
This is a very large avenue, with walking trails and bike paths on both sides. Where did they get all of this room – from The Wall. There was behind the eastern side of the wall, a 100 meter “killing zone” with machine gun emplacements and obstacles to prevent people from crossing (still, hundreds tried and died in the attempt). There is a lengthy display along this path of photos that show what this route used to look like. The Communists in Germany were only marginally better than the Nazis.
What to do on Christmas Day, when everything is closed down? Why, see Rogue One of course!