A few notes on Budapest

A brief history for the non-historian like me (Eileen) to understand the country and their feelings:
Hungary is in the middle of Europe making it a very wanted country. It had been fought over from many sides, many, many times. Once it broke free from the Austrian-empire, it looked for another ally. It requested help from Germany many times but was ignored, until Hitler. Hitler took on Hungary as an ally, and Hungary ultimately became responsible for the encampment or death of many Jews. This included many from the Jewish quarter on the Pest side as well as many from the farming areas outside of Budapest. This is something they outrightly know they have to take responsibility for. Once people started realizing what Hitler was up to, they jumped ship and started fighting against him. At this time there was a group totally dedicated to Hitler called the Arrow Cross Party who started getting rid of Jews in Budapest. The Russians were invading so the Arrow Cross moved quickly killing many of the Jews (shooting them at the river) in a three month time before they were overtaken.

Hungary was grateful for the Russians for driving out the Nazis and Stalin said you're welcome and then started and took control of the country making it communist. A different kind of fear took over, people afraid to talk or have an opinion. The Hungarians had an uprising in 1956. Eventually, it became a"soft" communism where for the right price over could get things into the country. Finally in 1989, Hungary was freed from communism and have been independent for only 37 years!

Transportation:

Getting around Europe in general, but in the countries we have been in specifically, was so easy. Public transportation - trains, Metro, buses, and trams run so frequently. A lot of them have gone to tap and pay making it very easy. And though Budapest had tap and pay on the Metro , it did not on the bus or take. We bought a one, multiple use bus pass that you scan on the outside of the bus. The problem is that there was barely enough time to scan twice before the first closed. The first time we only scanned once and luckily didn't get checked. The second time we got two scanned and Jeff barely made it on the bus. When the lady checked our tickets she told us that people over age 65 ride free! After that we just said seniors or showed our ID and ride rode stress free! If we had only known!

The city grew on us. The Pest side is grittier, more business-like but offers a lot to do. Buda is hilly, cleaner, and quieter. There is still a rivalry between the two. Our tour guide, Endre, was from Buda and he would never consider moving to Pest, even though housing is generally cheaper. He even used it as screening criteria in the dating app he used to meet his wife.Read more