Margit-sziget

This was our last day in Budapest, and as a result, we had to fit in as much as we could before saying goodbye. This meant a quite early wake-up and walk toward the Margerat bridge and on to Margaret Island. This is a beautiful walking, running, and cycling track, recreational area, and a social hub through the many bars, spas, and gardens on the island. Not to mention the small zoo, ancient ruins, and plethora of sporting fields. Something for everyone. Unfortunately, it would be far less busy due to the winter season containing far fewer tourists. As such, it didn't have the atmosphere I expect it normally would. This, plus being the morning, meant it was quite quiet other than for those exercising. I would love to come back during spring and see the park come to live with colour as well as people. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the stroll through the garden and peacefulness that it came with. Eventually, though, we turned around to head back to the city, this time following the river. This was particularly interesting as the river is very full and has flooded the roads right along the river. This meant that, although the track was safe from flooding, we could see the first-hand effects of the large amount of water in the river. After the hour or so walk, we arrived at a museum I was incredibly keen to see, in a very macabre way. It was the museum of terror that showed the communist / fascist influence on Hungary and the impact it had on its population. It was a very eye-opening and scary museum that did a good job at painting a picture of life under the soviet union. Although it did talk about the impact that the Nazis had on Hungary during WW2 and the influence it had on the political stability of the nation, I mentioned this during one of my earlier logs and so I will move onto the soviet period. The Soviet Union ruled and occupied Hungary all the way until their dissolution in 1991 through the Hungarian people republic politcal party. Making Hungary a one party socialist state. The soviets rule was brutal and massively exploitative. The soviets treated the Hungarians horribly, censoring their free speech, beating and harassing the people with the secret police (AVH), forced work in labour camps (600,000 hungarians), indiscriminate killings, torture, and much else. The museum walked us through the heart-wrenching stories of some survivors who did everything in their power to try and fight for their country and what they believed was right. The lucky ones would end up in jail, which was little less than torture, while the rest enduring weeks, if not months of actual torture, or worse yet, were killed. Those who went into jail experienced the array or torment that the Soviets were capable of. All cells were the size of an office cubicle, some specifically designed to ensure that the individual can never stand (the roof bring about 4 foot tall), they could never sit or lie down (being barely enough space for a human to stand), or could never remain dry (maintained a few inches of water in the floor of the cell). Meanwhile, every inmate would have zero idea about the date, time of day, season, or any detail about the outside world. It was a horrific experience to have been through. Only after a revolution in 1991, and with incredible international pressure from the UN and other countries, did the Soviet Union agree to leave Hungary. Bringing an end to a 45-year occupation that saw a million Hungarians killed and millions more incarcerated, tortured, beaten, and harassed. The soviet union completely disbanded just a few months later. The scars of their occupation are rife through the country and many, many families today have relatives that suffered under their rule. Sadly, the museum didn't allow photos, likely due to the graphic and confronting nature, so I didn't get many photos from the days. It was just the T54 Russian tank that was first used during the first revolution by the Hungarians. In the background is a photo of all the victims of the terror inflicted by the Nazis during WW1 and the soviets post-WW2. It was quite difficult to eat after this experience, but we wandered briefly before finding a good Hungarian restaurant for some proper Goulash. It was my first time having the dish. After this, we headed to the shopping centre to try and catch some sales. Although we bought a few things, the crowds were a bit crazy so we decided to just head home and relax before a travel day tomorrow.Read more