fine wines and some edible food. Buda's Castle district is stunningly beautiful, while Pest is now a vibrant, bustling modern European city, with cafe culture, roller blading arseholes and even a troop of Hare Krishnas who jangled through there every lunchtime.
The contrast between the place now and the first time I visited it in 1992 simply couldn't be more stark. What capitalism hath wrought there is pretty damn marvellous.
With that in mind, I would strongly recommend a visit to the House of Terror, which is the old secret police HQ and one of the best museums I've ever been to. Takes you on a tour from the top of the building right down to the basement, where all the cells are, complete with padded walls to prevent suicide, a nice little punishment cell so small no-one could move in it, a gallows room and drains in the middle for sluicing the blood, piss and vomit away.
It's bloody grim (wife was in tears at the end), but would serve as an object lesson for every tosser who thinks waving communist banners about is a clever idea. I came out of there both massively impressed by the museum and utterly, utterly furious.
Reply With Quote