10-Mar-2023
The Danube divides Buda from Pest.
We arrived by train in Pest; our accommodation is in Pest; and so we decided we were going to do all our sightseeing on the Pest side. Buda will be for next time.
Two days ago, we walked north along the Pest bank (from which, of course, you get plenty of fine views of the Buda side -- but that's all right, you're not IN Buda, so you're not cheating).
Today we headed to the top of Margaret Island (in the middle of the Danube), and walked south to get home:
The bridge we crossed
A beaver! Highlight of the day. He seemed to collide with something in the river, and when he came out of the water, he kind of patted himself down, in a "where are my keys?" type of action. He must have reckoned everything was OK, though, as he got back in, and swam off, his thick, powerful tail very visible
Once off the island again, you're not very far from the big, impressive monuments on the Pest side. Parliament, for example:
Poet Attila Jozsef (1905-37). The lines beneath the figure read: "As if my own heart had opened its gate: The Danube was turbulent, wise and great" (trans. John Szekely)
Just a little way further on, there's another very poignant monument. Sixty pairs of iron shoes commemorate the Budapest Jews who were rounded up by the Hungarian Arrow Cross Party between 1944 and 1945, told to remove their shoes, and then shot, their bodies carried away by the river:
And then, the route home:
It's our last day here in Budapest.
We're going to miss the blackbird; if it's light, this guy is singing...
And it's farewell to our local lamplighter, too