Budapest, Hungary - Day 3

We started today heading to the Central Market. This market is two stories with mostly fresh fruits and vegetables, meats and cheeses, and sweets on the first floor, and a food vendors and local crafts on the second floor. After a brief walk around we ate sausage and fries from a vendor. In the basement of the market is an Aldi's. The hall was built in 1897 in an effort to improve food safety and public health.

From there we walked on Andrassey Ave to the Liberty Bridge, another bridge that connects the Pest and Buda sides. Walking across it we noticed something carved into the hillside. Looking it up we found that it was the Cave Church. Cave Church started as a church with the alter in the carved out part and the people sitting outside. Needing more space, they carved out more rock to make a larger church. In there 1920s the Pauline Monks moved in and modernized the church. There were tunnels that run through the rock that the monks used some going down to the river. During WW2, it was used as a field hospital for German soldiers. The church was banned and the monks sent away during the the communist era. The monks returned in 1989 and the church is a functioning church today.

In the afternoon we went to the House of Terrors. This museum documents the punishments that people suffered at the hands of the Nazis and then communists as well as the stress they lived under. Interestingly, the building that the museum is in was also the headquarters for the Arrow Cross Party which was associated with the Nazis and the communists state security services (AVH) . The Hungarians have a history of being afraid to speak in public, not knowing who is listening, who would report them, who was friend or foe. Even people who were higher up and did the punishing became the person to be punished. Punishments ranged from exile to encampments, torturous interrogations, prison under stressful conditions, and death. The day we went, the museum was free so there was a long line. We waited 1.5 hrs in the rain (the first rain that they have had in a long time). Because of the crowds we were just ushered in and did not realize that there was an audio guide. There was enough in English to get the gist of what was happening but an audio guide would have been better. There was a couple who had a private tour in English and we eavesdropped a few times. The guy's father and two uncles were members in the Nazi army and one spent six years in a Russian prison camp.

We continued walking on Andrassy Ave and came to Liszt plaza, named after Franz Liszt, music composer. The place was very nice with many eateries and a walking garden area. At the end was the Hungarian school of music and concert hall. We ended up eating dinner at an Irish bar in the plaza.

Walking back to our apartment, we stopped in a bakery to get dessert to take back. A man who called himself Joel, the talking Jew of Budapest, started s conversation with us that ended up lasting a half an hour. He had many stories to tell which initially sounded legit but the more he talked the more we became suspicious of how much to believe. Supposedly he was an lawyer for Diana Ross, Lionel Richie, and the Jackson 5. In either case, his goal now is to spread kindness and offer wisdom to those in need. We must have looked liked we needed some wisdom!Read more