June 24, 2014
Donau is rather green than blue. Crossing upon the river from Pest, in my head the tune ‘An der schönen blauen Donau op. 314’ is ringing. Built in 1849, linking the modern Pest and Old Buda, Chain Bridge carries buses, cars, passengers and bikers to Old Buda.
Donau is rather green than blue. Crossing upon the river from Pest, in my head the tune ‘An der schönen blauen Donau op. 314’ is ringing. Built in 1849, linking the modern Pest and Old Buda, Chain Bridge carries buses, cars, passengers and bikers to Old Buda.
Buda Castle Quarter is built on the hills. Travelers
can take gellért (trolley, costs 1100
huf=3,70e for adult ticket) to the top, and visit around Castle District, where
is full of Medieval, Baroque, and 19th-century houses, churches, and public
buildings. Since it’s about to rain, we take some tourist pictures at the plaza
and then first check Hungarian National Gallery (Magyar Nemzeti Galéria).
Museums in Budapest usually do not allow
to have photo shoots, sadly, since each room is a lot more magnificent than
dozens of modernized fine art spaces in Europe (Musée d’Orsay Paris, National
Gallery Slovenia, or Rijks Museum Amsterdam).
Due to Hungary had been going through
the kingdoms from the Huns, the Ottomans, and Astro-Hungarian Empire, the
exhibitions in MNG show more horseback battle paintings rather than merely baby
Jesus or Virgin Maria. I personally like collection of Baroque Art and the 19th
century paintings; Hungarian painter Lotz Károly’s soft touches on colours are
reminding me of Pierre Auguste Renoir’s bright hues. Still, since I am super
fan of Gothic arts, I don’t get bored watching those Mothers, babies and three
wise men at all. On the contrary, it’s more interesting to study the bible
stories from those panel paintings and wood carvings than from the Book.
Before another Buda adventure, at MNG museum shop, I
bought ‘Gothic Panel Paintings and Wood Carvings’ by Gyöngyi Török, in order to
study more related art history, I also pick a bookmark with József Rippl-Rónai’s
painting ‘Woman with a Birdcage’, and a miniature picture book ‘SZENT ISTVÁN
KIRÁLY’, illustrated by Schmal Róza. I have a habit of
collecting local fashion magazine for true souvenir (not from those shabby made
in china t-shirt or snowball at cheapo souvenir shops), unfortunately I couldn’t
find any perfect one this time, a cute children’s book is as well very lovely
to own.
Our experience on travelling is that signifiers in museums usually overload our brains, so after museum tour it’s always good to have either food or alternative adventure. A travel blog recommends this worth visiting underground labyrinth in Castle District, though the entrance is extraordinary unnoticeable. Following Lovas utca, the mark ‘Labirintus’ leads us to this chilly, dark, yet unknown space. With Budapest card, the admission fee has 25% discount (original price is 2000 huf=6,60e). Underground labyrinth is around 350,000 years old and 10 to 15 meters below ground level. On a 1200-metre stretch, there are gothic and renaissance stone monuments and Turkish tombstones. Though after 18:00 there is oil lamp tour, but it’s good to visit around 16:00 since we are the only visitors at the moment.
The labyrinth is bleak and deep. It was functioned as food/wine storage, later served as refuge during the war times; most of cave cellars are constructed, but they are in fact of natural origin. I found playing soprano opera as background music in a rather darker underground extremely creepy, plus those mannequins wearing Casanova gowns with white smoke just evoke my goose bumps non-stop. A few black wells and sealed doors force me wonder what’s actually behind, sometimes a chopped head would appear in sight. We continue this one-way narrow tunnel, at that moment I grab my hubby’s arm and realise that, without light, everything around is simply pure black. Darkness first blinds a person, then isolates an individual, creats the fear, and finally devours the whole body. In my head, Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Cask of Amontillado’ suddenly repeats again and again….until at the tail of the tunnel, we found the tombstone of DRACULA! At that moment my dread is gone but replaced with piercing ecstasy!!
From the reading, we know that Dracula was captured
by King Matthias, with his wife to Buda Castle Hill where he was held prisoner.
Though the exact length of Vlad III Țepeș’ period of captivity in Buda is open to some debates, and the location of Vlad’s
bury is still in mystery. Nevertheless, it is highly exciting, because no matter
how misleading the information is, for the centuries, the carved name on the
stone inspiring numerous creations on music, movies and literature.
We don’t suck blood, but we need some good food. Taking the bus downward, we saw Gastland Bristol showing huge black poster as: All You Can Eat, 1190 Huf! We peek inside of the store and then 5 minutes later, we enjoy BBQ, salad, pasta, pizza and Hungarian beef soup for pleasure. I especially like this white broccoli wrapped with deep fried bread crumbs, and wonder how Hungarian vegetables can grow so enormously. After the buffet, we go by metro and take a look of Hungarian Parliament Building. Completed in 1904 with neo-Gothic style, Hungarian Parliament Building ranks as the second biggest parliament hall in Europe, and still stands the tallest architecture in Hungary. Luckily, hubby and I just pick the right time at the right place to witness the changing of guard, which is, yet another unexpected bonus surprise of the happy day.
MNG Museum
Labirintus
1014 Budapest Lovas út. 4/a.
No comments
Post a Comment