8-13-19 - Fighting sleep, Clan Explores Buda Not Pest.

Day 58. Leanne here.

Summary: A honest taxi driver sets the stage for our first impressions of this gorgeous city.

After a long journey across the globe at 32,000 through Dubai, we arrive in the crowded but surprising small Budapest International Airport (code aptly named BUD).... tired and ready to crash as soon as humanly possible. We split into two taxis as the max was four. This figuration allows me an opportunity to chat up the driver with only horrifying half the teens, not all of them.

Budapest was originally two cities -- Buda and Pest, which is divided by the Danube River, one of the most important waterways in the land-locked country. I sprint into rapid-fire question mode as I quickly assess that our 30-something driver is old enough to have some context and experience but young enough not to be jaded.

I was wrong.

He was jaded. In fact, quite. He was born in 1988, right before Hungary opened up to the West. Disappointedly, he shared that the government does not plan or operate well under democratic rule. State owned companies were privatized yet not to the public benefit. You see when the Berlin Wall fell, so did Communism in Hungary. However, he shared that now - after a nearly 30 years of trying out democracy - most of the people in the country felt they were better off under Communism because guaranteed jobs were replaced by poverty and homelessness. From his perspective, many people could not sustain themselves. While this is just one perspective, he did intrigue me to explore further on my own (Note to Self: Pick up The Economist). And that said, jaded 30-something taxi driver did manage to get us safely to the airbnb.

At the end of the day, the safe arrival is the goal. Any extra local flavor we get on the place is just an added plus! I was pretty sure Kyle would have had an equally exciting and informative cab drive over, but his driver Tomas proved to be less willing to open up his political leanings.

Despite exhaustion, we pushed through to salvage the afternoon with a trip over to the Castle District, where we caught beautiful views over the Danube River, ran into a few horse guards in traditional Hungarian military uniform, gorgeous statues, buildings, churches and prestigious fountains near the National Gallery. You can just tell there is a certain greatness to this city. The weather was so perfect after three weeks of winter Down Under, you'd think we ordered it up - light breeze, sunny, and perfect 65 degrees.

We caught a tour of the Hospital In the Rocks, an underground WW2 built in caves that have existed since the Ice Age. During the Cold War, the facility was converted into an atomic bomb bunker. Life-like wax figures of patients and health professionals expressed both the horrible impact of war and the health practices of the mid-1940s. Much of the original artifacts from surgical scissors to the oxygen machine to its electric generator was incredibly well preserved -- thanks mostly to a housekeeping family that lived in this underground hospital for 30 years and took great care of keeping the place in pristine condition. So add family home to another role it served!

The final part of the museum focused its role as a nuclear bunker. Specifically it featured Hiroshima, its aftermath and even the paper cranes displayed at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial and Museum we just visited last month. We were reminded of the horrific human suffering resulting from dropping that atomic bomb. One exhibit called WW2 a "mindless bloodshed".

After the hospital, we hit four flights of stairs up the rocks towards Fishermen's Bastion - an open air wharf with incredible views of Danube. And you'll never guess what amazing rare artifact we found up there. A Starbucks. Yes, they are everywhere we go.

Probably Kyle's favorite part of the day was the Pizza place just near the airbnb we caught up at 8 pm. It played American music like Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole. Even heard Fly Me To The Moon, a song from John's Japan/Korea tour (another link back to that part of the trek). Even though John and I fell asleep on the restaurant table, we woke to the smell of yummy $4 pizzas and $1.70 beers (for me, not John). It was wonderful to be back where the dollar was strong and appreciated -- even though that Democracy thing might not be working out so well here.

Note: To prepare, we've really like the Geography Now series of short-yet-high-impact History videos of several countries on YouTube. Highly suggest.