| Budapest - 10 Things to See and Do |
House of Terror
In spite of its somewhat lurid name, House of Terror is actually a museum dedicated to chronicling, in sober fashion, the two regimes that dominated Hungary in the 20th century: the Nazis and the Communists. It occupies an elegant town house at 60 Andrassy St., considered Budapest's Champs-Elysées. This building was the headquarters of Hungary's Nazi party in 1944 and '45 and then that of the Communist secret police after World War II. It is said that hundreds of people died in torture chambers in the basement.
The museum’s opening, in February 2002, was not without controversy.
Hungarian Jews believed that the Nazi terror was underemphasized. In particular, they objected to the fact that the regime of the home-grown, fascist Arrow Cross party – faithful in politics and brutality to the German Nazis – receives only the most cursory attention, while that of the Communists is subject to triumphal expansive scrutiny.
Nonetheless, the museum won a special commendation in this year's European Museum Forum awards. Its displays are immensely and technologically: sinister spotlighting is everywhere; the sound of a tap dripping plays endlessly in an empty cell; a Soviet tank rears above you at the entrance, mounted on a great, shiny, black plinth.
Castle Hill
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| Fishermen's Bastion |
A mile long plateau, its sides thickly planted with trees,
Castle Hill (Várhegy) dominates Budapest. You can take any number of city buses or winding stone steps to the top, but the Siklo funicular railway is the most fun. Its cars are enclosed and tiered, so everyone has a view on the ascent.
At the top you’ll be able to wander around the ancient cobbled streets of the Castle District. The streets still follow their medieval courses, with the Gothic arches and stone carvings half-concealed in the courtyards and passages of 18th century Baroque houses, their facades embellished with fancy iron grillworks. Here you’ll find the Buda Castle complex (which houses the National Gallery, the Museum of Contemporary Art and the History Museum), Matthias Church and the turreted vantage point of Fisherman's Bastion. Though originally built in the 13th century, Buda Castle is a post-war reconstruction of structure as it existed in the 18th century under the Hapsburgs, while the church and the bastion are 19th century neo-Gothic confections. If you’re seeking refreshments at any point in your sightseeing, try the warm, flaky pastry and rich, milky tejeskave (coffee with milk) at the 168 year old Ruszwurm cafe.
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