Today we set out to return to the Buda castle area, after being distracted with our suburban ramblings yesterday. First we visited the “Hospital in the Rock”, which runs beneath the castle wall in a limestone cave network. It was used to treat civilian and military war casualties during World War 2 and had two functioning operating tables. Although its capacity was supposedly 240 patients it generally had up to 700 patients at a time. Dead bodies would be removed at night for burial in bomb craters, however there were frequent shootings of the burial party by German troops. It was again used extensively to treat victims of the Hungarian uprising in 1956 when protestors, mainly students, were set upon by the Communist occupying troops. From 1962 it was classified as secret by the Communist regime, and set up as a nuclear survival bunker. It has been restored exactly as it would have been in the 1940’s through to the 1960’s, including much of the original equipment, and contains 70 wax figures and the original medical equipment throughout a labyrinth of wards, theatres, kitchens, boiler rooms and rooms full of communications and surveillance equipment. As a point of interest, the original anaesthetic machine, from 1944, was used in the Madonna film Evita. It was a fascinating experience to walk through this important remnant of modern Hungarian history. We were even given heavy woolen capes to wear as it was very cold down there, however we were told that when the hospital was in use it was generally about 34 degrees due to the overcrowding and poor ventilation.
We then walked to the Royal Palace, within the Buda Castle complex. The palace has been razed and rebuilt about half a dozen times over the past seven centuries and now contains the Hungarian National Museum, where we spent time savouring the vast collection of artefacts from the eleventh century onwards. After lunch and with the usual aching feet , we made our way to Gellért Hill, a 235 metre high rocky hill overlooking Budapest in the castle district. Here stands Budapest’s Liberty Monument, erected in 1947 in tribute to the Soviet soldiers who died liberating Budapest from the Germans in 1945.
A visit to Budapest would not be complete without a visit to a thermal pool and spa, so we dragged our weary bodies to the Gellért Spa Baths, which are fed by the medicinal springs that were already famous in the thirteenth century. Here we soaked in the 36 degree waters of the Roman-style indoor spa pools and swam in the enormous outdoor pool, complete with wave machine that sprang into action every thirty minutes - you could body surf from one end of the pool to the other. Refreshed, we then walked across the Liberty Bridge to the Central Markets, set within a magnificent 100-year-old building. We inspected the vast array of Hungarian merchandise before heading back to our apartment with two calorie-laden Hungarian cakes, to enjoy after dinner with our Hungarian wine – it all helps to ease the pain in our over-walked feet.
Tomorrow – Parliament House (at last) and wherever else our curiosity takes us.
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