Hungarian National Museum, Great Market Hall, Memento Park

The National Museum is very good. And Hungary has a unique history among European countries. You might browse on the museum website but if recall the National Museum covers older history. If you want newer history consider to visit instead the Terror Museum which covers the fascist and soviet periods. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Terror or https://www.terrorhaza.hu/en

Thanks, Laurie Ann. I looked at the House of Terror and got the preliminary impression that it was heavy on instruments of torture. Could be wrong. Not our cup of tea. Also, the location does not fit with our itinerary time-wise and location-wise (there are other things we wish to see along the Andrassy arterial route). RS writes that Room 20 of the National Museum is where we can find items and exhibitions of Communist history. Thank you for the reply.

The House of Terror is in the old secret police headquarters building, so the old prison celĺs are there, and a few are standing room only. So sure, terror was physical, but the museum is mostly about cultural terror under fascist and Russian rule.

For how long it takes to get to Memento Park, google map it and add 5 min for the pickup time back to the city center. If you schedule a pickup on the City Taxi App, they are usually 5 min early.

Think about the Budapest Retro Museum and The Hospital in the Rock for other things you might enjoy. Or drop by my flat and I will show you the bullet holes around the 2nd floor windows.

AND!
https://www.budapestscenes.com/bunker-tour/ LET ME KNOW, ILL GO WITH YOU.

And ask around about the F4 Object.

This still goes on every few years. Sometimes in the river, sometimes in building basements https://english.news.cn/20220912/5d76c736771a4a03b6e0b35cb4aee0b1/c.html

And this. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.timesofisrael.com/hungarian-jewry-to-bury-holocaust-victims-remains-found-in-danube/amp/

Two books you have to read. One by father, one by daughter decades later.

https://www.amazon.com/Enemies-People-Familys-Journey-America-ebook/dp/B002QZPJ8K/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=2LSWM3VNKBI6N&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.QCf413npa6hQzBH5SuwEz9hPXvIWUsCcsQ4aNmdmv0zdHvFFgFx9u1hgGdkm_WWVT9yxOl3XkgKqRZ_08DHPfUcLvu_GRkdiSrkN5mYBYibTnRHtYcquppN7qvLYs79Pyx-rRD8QuU0JQ7NSiAeur3xa6VNpaQziBXtWMe66TxOYwD9N2SZUINW2ChS4aZnftKITViU9KUnbhruASmYQYw.P6rxIWIvCNZqL3LmHhcVybrcJwXaNlyG5pZMCV-hbHM&dib_tag=se&keywords=enemies+of+the+state+marton&qid=1721082501&s=books&sprefix=enemies+of+the+state+marton%2Caps%2C179&sr=1-1

And

https://www.amazon.com/Forbidden-Sky-Inside-Hungarian-Revolution/dp/B0006D0BOQ/ref=mp_s_a_1_fkmr0_1?crid=2ZXV02TCOMUJD&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.-OVQAfTqzj5LURy86zI4VGV_Jg_RSU0qOdctuaIEd1dy4Z9HYLWV6jE1uT5BjKWttGXdWsiLdxwMqEuhMtQp3_Wei_xW9l8xxVd3Q73JQPlR67zSwn87MO3A7I0gvgTo.TRGCPqMOcAwx9NehgK2YUULawpCoXEiHasEDhhi3n4I&dib_tag=se&keywords=endre+marton+author&qid=1721082554&sprefix=endre+marton+author%2Caps%2C197&sr=8-1-fkmr0

No better first hand accounts.

Thanks again, Mr. E. Your advice and recommendations are invaluable. I don't think we'll have time for the House of Terror. We plan to walk up Andrassy (taking our time) starting at about 200 pm, visit Heroes Square and City Park, and visit the castle in the park (and maybe one of the museums in the park) on that leg of the itinerary. My fellow travelers are not into the Communist era as much as I and I think anything more than Memento Park (a must see for the garish monstrosities there) and the National Museum (they can be in another part of the museum while I am in Room 20) might be too much for them. I'll definitely check out the books you recommended.

As to how you can do these 3 in only a few hours, the answer is I don’t think you can.

However, you could visit the National Museum (or House of Terror) and get a decent visit in a couple of hours (although you might wish for more time). Then catch a taxi to Memento Park. Both close at 6:00pm. Personally I would put both of these ahead of the Great Market Hall if your primary interests are history. And in August, you would be inside during the mid-afternoon and outside when it hopefully cools off just a tiny bit. But that is just my thought.

Thanks again, TexasTravelMom. I suspected as much time-wise. I was looking to jettison one of the stops (we do have an "Andrassy afternoon" on another day and I think I remember reading about a market on that arterial route (something like Hyundai)) and you have given me an option. The other option perhaps would be to jettison (which I am reluctant to do because we have a gentleman's agreement) the 10-2 Buda tour (or perhaps shorten it) so was can start earlier in the day for my preliminary plan. I don't know the stops yet on where the guide plans to take us, but perhaps it may work better if she puts us (at the end of the Buda tour) in comparative proximity to Memento Park. I think I'll ask to see what (if any) Buda itinerary she has in mind to see if I can incorporate both. If we can get there (Memento Park) by 430 pm, it would seem to be more doable. Great advice again. Thank you.

Or if it’s a private tour, perhaps you could move it earlier by a half an hour. The Great Market Hall is interesting (and beautiful architecture) but it doesn’t take me long to be satisfied, unless I am shopping for souvenirs (ok, truthfully, not even then - I don’t really shop).

Garish monstrosities? If the purpose of art is to elicit emotion, then Socialist Realism (it even has a name) among the most successful forms of art every developed. Like the Christian Church told the stories of the bible in the stained glass and mosaics of the church the Communists put the lessons and stories of their religion into public art. Being purely visual the “lesson” portrayed in the art was driven home with just a look, no need for words. This constant visual indoctrination and reinforcement of the ideology of the communist movement helped the movement to be as successful and last as long as it did (has?). Quite brilliant.

From the Hungarian National Museum I would give myself 90 minutes for Memento Park. That will give you 40 to 50 minutes at the park and it’s not huge so that sould suffice. Then as you walk around town you will notice a lot more Socialist Realism still on buildings. Not being part of the movement the message will not be obvious, which is probably why it still remains. That, and its good stuff.

As for your four-hour problem. If you have a private tour Buda, first, it’s a bit long if its just an outside walking tour. Especially now with all of the construction going on up there. Hopefully it incudes something interior. Possibly it begins and ends in Pest?

Museum or Great Market Hall. Tough one. If your group has museum hounds in it, then the museum. When climbing that massive entry stair you will be where a lot of Hungarian politics has begun. It was on those steps that the war for independence in 1848 began and those steps played a role in 1956 and 1990 and most any year there is an election or a political discussion in Hungary.

As for the Great (Central) Market Hall (Nagyvásárcsarnok). I tend to like it a lot more than TTM. But I travel as much for people as for “things” and I love the way market describes the life in Budapest. I think TTM might be more of a dance on the bar type. Sure, a lot of tourists are in the hall these days, but as many local people do their grocery shopping there as well. I grocery shop there at times. Some of the tourist stuff on the first floor (our second floor) is of pretty good quality and hard to find elsewhere (needle work stuff and sometimes the occasional russian gas mask).

Substituting the Hunyadi tér market …. Well, not really the same in scope. But if you are walking by it’s worth looking in. Especially on a weekend morning when the farmers are set up inside and outside the market. I shop there too :-) If you do make it to the Great Market Hall, figure 30 minutes to see, maybe an hour if people want to shop upstairs.

But you are staying at the Ritz, so you are not far from the Great Market Hall. You simply go out the door of the hotel, down the stairs to the metro and walk through the Deak Ferenc metro following the signs to the Kiraly utca exit, then to the exit marked 47/49 tram. Hop on the tram and you are at the market in 5 minutes.

The market is also on the 2-Tram line, and you have to do the 2-Tram line while in town. It runs the river from beyond the Parliament to the Market Hall and then beyond. There is so much visual on that line that it’s a must.

But for the market, you gotta like this stuff:

https://www.discoverwalks.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/grand_market_hall_pickled_vegetables_2013_budapest_418_13227548004.jpg
&
https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/food-market-budapest-hungary-central-fresh-vegetables-display-healthy-eating-127961960.jpg
&
https://www.flyingfourchette.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Great-Market-Hall-Pigs.jpg
&
https://live.staticflickr.com/956/40171392410_b35db93875_b.jpg

and of course: https://kuanju.wordpress.com/wp-c

Thanks again, TexasTravelMom and Mr. E. Appreciate all there time and effort both of you have put into my inquiry. Some really great information (and links - my mouth was watering looking at the Market pics) here. It looks like we will need approximately 4.5 hours for all three locales (not including travel time). If I have to get rid of anything, I'll get rid of the Market as both of you have advised. I do have the famous #2 tram line along the Danube on the agenda based on my reading on this forum. We have a separate Pest tour on the preceding day.

The Pest tour will take you to the market. And if you ride the 2 Tram you will almost bump into the market so you might find a few minutes to run in. Before you go too far, why dont you ask the guides where you are going in Buda and in Pest. It might change things.

Oh, and if any in your group is not interested in the National Museum, then right across the street are some wonderful old book shops with books, antique prints, old maps, posters and prints from the 50's, 60's 70's and 80's and a little art. It that peeks anyones interest I can send addreses. ANd for you Harwood, if you can escape the rest, I know an antique shop (okay, junk shop) full of (last time I looked about 2 years ago) all sorts of communist era nick nacks. Lenin Busts, Medals and communist award ribbons, that sort of stuff.

Thanks, Mr. E. I think you have already sent me the link about the shop that has vintage Communist era kitsch. Looks interesting, if we have time. I just found your reply. This is it, correct? https://www.google.com/maps/place/Antik-Baz%C3%A1r/@47.4969018,19.0656238,17z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x4741dc677808a2a1:0xbe326a198f01b7b7!8m2!3d47.496891!4d19.0682309!16s%2Fg%2F1tfll697?entry=ttu or is it the gift shop of the Retro Museum https://bpretro.com/en only a five minute walk from our hotel.

Yes, thats it (the link).

We often do lunch at the stalls of the Great Market Hall. It's fun to browse - upstairs is Hungariana, main floor food, basement seafood. Memento Park is a hoot - we were there in 2011. Probably got more stuff today - 13 years of harvesting rural Hungary for statues of Uncle Joe and Father Vladimir. We didn't do the Hungarian Natl Museum - did do 2 art museums and the Hungarian Agricultural Museum - which I recommend - more of a ethnographic museum about rural Hungary - fascinating.

Thanks, Paul of the Frozen North. Very good info that we will be able to use. Much appreciated.

Mr. E, I read the Kati Marton book when it first came out. I'll see if our library has her father's book. And I remember Walter Cronkite on our black and white console TV reporting on the 1956 Hungarian Uprising, the tanks rolling down the streets. I would have been 7. Always for some reason been interested in Hungary. Have you read George Soro's memoir which includes his years as a teenager in Budapest in Nazi times? I have been to Budapest before but only 3 nights, about 10 years ago. Looking forward to returning, but I only have a week...never can stay long.

Kati Marton is an amazing writer. I dont think she has written a book that didnt interest me. Curious that her father was a rather prolific writer too, but he seemed to be more selective in writting for the money. But the book on his last days in Hungary was pretty amazing. Kait Marton also has a book "The Great Escape" about 9 Hungarian Jews that made it to the US before the war got to Hungary. This is where I first learned about "Martians".

Among the Hungarian Jews who made their way to England and America as Hitler rose to power were four scientists, two filmmakers, two photographers, and a writer. These men, products of the same few Gymnasien and cafes, delivered the Manhattan Project, game theory, and "Casablanca." Marton, who fled Hungary as a child in 1957, illuminates Budapest's vertiginous Golden Age and the darkness that followed (a darkness that some of her subjects, notably Arthur Koestler, never shook). Seeing how abruptly the world could change, the Hungarians didn't doubt that they could change it. They also stuck together; even Leo Szilard, who crusaded against the bombs that he made possible, and Edward Teller, who sold Reagan on missile defense, stayed friends. By looking at these nine lives - salvaged, and crucial - Marton provides a moving measure of how much was lost. THE NEW YORKER

Tizzette, a week is good. My plan was for 3 nights ................... now look at me. Safe travels. (and thanks for reminding me about the books ... i will add them to my notes)