Budapest Budapest


An intoxicating blend of Europe and Asia Story and photos by Zareeda Awang


The Hungarian Parliament building is elaborately decorated with half a million precious stones and plenty of gold. B


uda and Pest. East meets West. Teir connec- tion across the Danube River is made easy by eight bridges of varying character and style. Tis unique city is a convergence of eastern and


western ways – the best of both worlds, I'd say. If you have a bucket list, add it. If you don't, start one. It’s important to know the past to un- derstand the present. Hungary’s rich his- tory of multiple conquests, occupation, and migrations from Central Asia, and eastern and western Europe influenced its culture. It’s a microcosm of European history moving from the absolute and con- stitutional monarchy of the Habsburgs in the Austro-Hungarian Empire to the stirrings of democracy in the late 19th to early 20th centuries. Te Magyars (ancestors of the current Hungarians) are


primarily considered to have established Budapest, which was born only in 1873 with the unification of Buda and


38 • Summer 2018 How to get there


Flights are available from Winnipeg to Budapest via Toronto on Air Canada.


Óbuda on the west bank of the Danube with Pest on the east bank. In the early 1940s, Hungary allied itself with Germany, then came under Communist rule following the Second World War. During the “Goulash commu- nist” regime of the 1960s, a degree of cultural and scientific freedom that was unknown in other eastern European countries came into be- ing. Tus, Budapest experienced a cultural resurrection which encouraged tourism. Hungary itself became an independent democracy in 1989 and a member of the European Union in 2004. To kickstart my week-long stay, a Bu-


dapest Card is the first thing I picked up at the airport. It includes unlimited public transportation, entry to some museums and the Buda Castle, guided walking tours and numer-


ous discounts. Te highlights of the card, for me anyway, were the Danube River cruise and the Széchenyi thermal bath.


The Hub


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