Budapest, a city that is separated by the great Danube river but unifies the country of Hungry. Its history is long, dense, and not all it is pleasant. Still it continues on today as one of the beaconing new and improving cities of Europe that holds rich culture and history unique to its own. While many compare Hungry to Austria due to Austria's hold over Hungry for some time the two countries are quite different from each other. One of the biggest differences is the influencing culture. Austria is influenced by Germanic culture while Hungry is heavily influenced by Slavic culture with some impressions from Germanic. This makes Budapest an interesting combination of the two cultures that can be seen through the differing architecture, ideas, and language. While many of the buildings in Budapest are modeled on European designs, for different reasons, the over all feeling of the city is darker and more city like than Vienna. This could be due to the fact that while Vienna was controlled by the Allied Powers Budapest came under communist power from the U.S.S.R. This caused them to face more difficulties as city then Vienna did. After all many buildings have a run down or destroyed appearance because of the mass poverty the city faced. Despite all its hardships Budapest marches on and is trying to improve its economic status in the world by renovation old buildings and building new and exciting attractions. Budapest is much larger than Vienna so it can progress a lot in this aspect. You can also feel a difference between the two cities in the people. While both seem a little abrasive Budapest's people feel a little more intimidating. This could be due to either the unfamiliarity of their language, or the socialization of their people differs in how to deal with foreigners. I also found it interesting how the food while similar seems more bland and international than Vienna's food. This could be due to their attempts to build their tourism industry. As a whole I enjoyed both cities equally appreciating the different aspects of the world and what they have to offer.
Overall I enjoyed all the sightseeing we did in Budapest. I was interesting learning about Budapest's past and how it has affected their buildings and lifestyle today. The city is quite beautiful during the day and along the river at night. The river tour at night was what made me really start to fall in love with Budapest which is a shame since we are leaving so soon. Another part of today while I won't say was enjoyable it was necessary to understand Hungry as a whole better and to broaden my horizon was the Terror Háza (Terror House). This was a museum about the Nazi and Communist Regime in the country of Budapest. It beautifully honored the victims of these regimes while also educating the public about what actually happened during these tragic times. The building they used for the museums was actually the headquarters of the Arrow Cross (the communist party) and was the final resting place of many Hungarians who were trying to fight against the fascist regime. The exhibit was interactive and haunting and really left me with better understanding of our past than when I walked in. We also went to what is commonly called the Shoes, a memorial along the Danube river honored the Jewish people who were shot and thrown into the river during the time of Nazi occupation. It was chilling to see the abandoned shoes along the river side and know that this actually happened to people not too long ago.
Someday I would like to return to Budapest and learn more about its history as well as being able to visit more of the sights and overall get to know the city better. I enjoyed today's adventure to a new place immensely and hope the rest of the trip s just as education and exciting.
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