“Look up,” is what we were instructed to do some twenty-five years ago when first we came to Budapest. And those words remain to this day as something of a mantra to be given to friends and visitors who arrive as strangers to this most captivating of cities.
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| A typical apartment building on the Pest side of the Danube. |
So it was earlier this week we had occasion to be in the main post office of our district. Now, this is something in the past we would avoid unless absolutely necessary. Notwithstanding the long queues, a legacy of the previous, socialist regime, all too often we would finally arrive at the window only to have the curtain swept across, indicating the position closed, with no other possibility but to rejoin another line. Even then there remained the concern of having the correct papers for whatever transaction we hoped to effect. Never was purchasing a postage stamp more difficult.
But all that, as with so much else, has changed. The post office counter staff have obviously all graduated from charm school, the endless queues are replaced with a numbered ticket system and, armed with our ‘ID for Foreigners’, we romp through the business of the day.
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| Falk Miksa utca - a tree lined street close to the Parliament. |
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| Architectural detail in Falk Miksa utca. |
Anyway, less we digress further, we positively skipped out of the post office in near record time and, taking full advantage of the warm sunshine, headed off in the direction of the numerous antique shops to be found in Falk Miksa utca, one stop away on the 4-6 tram.
Alas, either we were too early in the day (it seems that the opening hours of antique shops do not conform to a regular pattern) or, in anticipation of the long weekend coinciding with All Souls’ Day (a public holiday in Hungary), the owners had decided to absent themselves. Whatever, as our American friend would have said, “What are you going to do?”
Answer, nothing, beyond enjoy the day. Which we did, wandering through some of the streets and squares we had not visited in some time, looking up as we went.
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| The Parliament, glimpsed through the trees. |
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| Vigadó tér with the recently restored concert hall. |
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| Once the headquarters of a shipping line, soon to become an hotel. |
One of the joys of Budapest is the proximity to the Danube which, rising in Germany, snakes its way through Hungary on its journey towards the Black Sea. The panorama, as part of a city landscape, is surely like no other and, particularly seen at night, can never be forgotten.
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| Looking up to the Liberty Statue and the Citadel positioned high above the Danube. |
A city by a river has always a particularly interesting layout and views, I think. And looking up is an advice I have been following myself for many years, often rewarded with amazing glimpses of detail one would never notice otherwise. Something I also do in terms of looking up - or down - or across:
ReplyDeleteWhen I am inside a building, say, a boring-looking office block where I have a meeting with a client, or the waiting room of my optician or dentist, or even something as banal as the toilet in a shopping mall, I make sure to look out of the window, usually to enjoy an unfamiliar perspective of a familiar street or square.
By the way, your Morning Room looks very inviting.
Darling Meike,
DeleteThank you for your comment.
We can certainly see from your own blog posts that you notice details in whatever direction, up, down or sideways, that they may be. It is, as you say, intriguing that even in the most surprising of places or situations one can discover elements wich add a magical element to the everyday.
Our Morning Room catches the morning light year round, so hence its name. In recent years it has become a gallery space with a baby grand piano for entertainment when we can persuade someone to play.
Dear Lance and Jane, I really like your answer to the question of what you will do: Nothing, except enjoy the day. It is a perfect answer.
ReplyDeleteYes, and you have to look up while you are there, because you can see wonders.
Thank you for sharing this answer with us, which is useful for everyone.
The view of Budapest during the days and at nights is beautiful. I have seen both, and it is good that you can see them while walking.
All the best. Éva from Sopron
Darling Éva,
DeleteThank you for your comment.
Budapest at night really is a magical place as you say. indeed, whenever we wonder why we live there we go out and look at the Danube panorama at night. With buildings lit, the river shimmer and the inky black sky, it is definitely a place of utmost beauty.
We are masters of the art of doing nothing which we like to couple with thinking a lot. We feel lucky to not work and have each day present itself as a blank page on which a new adventure can be written.
What a beautiful area! I would love to be able to explore it one day! I see postal workers are the same all over. Our postal workers here are some of the rudest people we encounter second only to Secretary of State workers. Thankful to be able to conduct most of my business with them online!
ReplyDeleteDear Jeanette,
DeleteThank you for your comment.
It was a big cultural difference coming to Budapest and experiencing the postal system. Like you, we were very much used to dealing with things online but, even buying a stamp here is a complicated business and requires a personal trip to the Post Office.
Long ago we gave up using the postal service and made sure that we told everyone we knew in the UK not to send items to us in the post as they regularly "disappeared".
However, at least the ticket system speeds things up and our local Post Office has some very kind workers.
How could anyone look DOWN in such a place of beauty and history, when there are such art and architecture and PEOPLENESSES to be met? The timeless forests of marble and stone wear their centuries like a shining cloak, with such grace and interest and welcoming vistas---oh, to imagine the former footsteps in all those halls and stairways!
ReplyDeleteI must say, my own only brush with anything through a legal lens was the recent morning when I was a bit reticent to go and do that pesky driver's license renewal---after "a certain age" we have to appear personally, and I so hoped they wouldn't have me proving myself in one of those parallel parking ordeals---I haven't ever had need of such a necessity, and my little ordained path through grocery, Post Office, a pick-up restaurant or two, and the big medical pavilion suffices for all our needs. But #12 in that huge room of chairs was the most gracious lady, smiling and deft and quite pleasant for the five minutes of reciprocal Look-Through-This and Here's my Card. Niceties all around. So go most of my adventures in my small, circumscribed itinerary to keep us in good health and humor.
Your denizenhood of such a wonderfully kept, beautifully laid-out city is something I'd ride three streetcars and a balky mule to simply STROLL and LOOK---such magnificence sends me backward into Dick and Jane territory with my eager grabs for more. And I like to think that these are almost exactly the wonders and sights seen by our Sweetpea---a high-school SENIOR and member of the Concert and Marching band, whose travels in Summer sent them on what our dear mutual friend ASD called "a lovely arc through Europe," as they were invited to perform at the Louvre and in London, Germany, Switzerland, and Prague. She was entirely rapt with the architecture, and with all the "streets with so many statues." What a lovely place you were born to, and how fabulous your choices of home.
Darling Rachel,
DeleteThank you so very much for your heartwarming comment.
We were delighted to think of Sweetpea travelling in an "arc through Europe" and venturing behind what we knew of as the 'Iron Curtain' and now we refer to as the 'Lace Curtain'. The architecture here and in Prague, a near neighbour, is truly remarkable and well worth a close look. So many fascinating details but often tantalisingly out of reach.
And, how wonderful to learn that Sweetpea is musical. We are fortunate to have a thriving musical life in Budapest with many concert halls and orchestras. No marching bands yet though!!
Yes, strolling and looking are favourite pastimes for us. How perfect it would be to do this arm in arm with you.