last look at budapest

with this face, i am regularly approached on the streets by people who think i am hungarian, ticket patrollers don't give me a second look, and people give me just a little more respect then they give to the blatantly american students. i call it my hungarian face.

just off kiraly

the cemetary is tied (with margitsziget) for my favorite park in budapest.

the grave of janos kadar, the communist leader of hungary from just after the revolution in 1956 until his death before the fall of the regime in 1989, was recently vandalized and his wife's urn (complete with ashes) stolen. everything was back in order by the time i made it back to look at the damage.

tram storage at the end of baross utca.

the division between shitty roma housing in outer viii and the small, but new, chinese enclave (it's so small and hungarian-chinese, i'm not sure if it counts as an authentic china town). speaking of hungarian minorities (both roma and chinese are among the 13 officially recognized minority groups who have a right to self-government), the jewish minority nearly disappeared after wwii.

a monument erected in 2005. many jews were lined along the danube and shot into the river. just south of parliament was a popular location, and this would have been their last view.

memorial tree behind the synagogue. this was the western border of the jewish ghetto.

open apartment corridor in viii.

urania theater, one of the many art house cinemas in budapest.

cotton candy on margitsziget.

nothin' but the blues, bar in viii.

szimpla, my new favorite bar, ever, is hard to find, but i think it's in vii.

outdoor patio surrounded by ugly brick facades, upper level covered in plants, random rooms with interesting interior.

and that's it for budapest. at least for the next couple of years.