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And as memph said, it's an urban core. It can't be very core-like if it's spread out with lots of greenery — or parking or lots of road. I imagine getting around by foot is very convenient.
Compared to a lot of American downtowns, it looks less alienating and much more friendly.
After crossing the inner ring boulevard, Vaci Street gets a bit more busy. This is a street off Vaci Street. I haven't been down to the Hungarian Shopping Market though...
Vaci Street.
A+ frontage on Vaci Street.
Near Vorosmaty Square (post #2) we left Vaci Street to check out some other streets.
I thought this was pretty good way of having both car and pedestrian traffic on a narrow street. One lane, one way with bollards, you could easily cross whenever you wanted without any worries.
A small square.
Another square with a large department store.
Don't remember why there was a tunnel here, but otherwise a nice streetscape.
Standing in the middle of a street (non-pedestrian). The sidewalks were a bit narrow and there was basically no traffic.
1896 was the 1000th anniversary of Hungary. That year, Hungary held the millenial exhibition in Budapest, finished the parliament and built the first line of their subway (second oldest in the world). The millenial exhibition was held at City Park, apparently the oldest of it's kind in Europe, also built in 1896. This is where the first subway line (and Andrassy Avenue which the subway went under) ended, and the entrance to City Park was Heroes Square, where the founders and important Kings of Hungary are commemorated. At the foot of the column is Arpad, who founded Hungary, and his generals/lieutenants. The important kings are displayed in a semi circle behind.
On either side are two museums. This is a modern art museum.
This is Vajdahunyad Castle in City Park. It's a partial replica of a Hungarian castle in Transylvania, but also has a wide mix of architecture inside. So it didn't house any kings, they just built it because it looked nice. Initially it was out of cardboard and wood since it was supposed to be temporary for the exhibition, but it was very popular and rebuilt out of brick and stone.
This is Szechenyi Thermal Spa. Budapest had thermal spas since the time of the Romans.
The ceiling of the lobby is very nice too.
This is Obuda, it used to be a small village until it became part of Budapest. Most other old villages in the region (and maybe all of Hungary?) look like this - single storey attached homes with no front setback. The next post will have pictures of such a village.
We also went up Gellert Hill for the view of the city.
Pest, where most of the midrise fabric is.
The Buda side has a few midrise areas like this one though. The bigger, newer buildings are part of a university and beyond, across the greenery (an island), there are the commie-block neighbourhoods on the outskirts.
That's all for Budapest, we also went to a couple small towns and the countryside (next post).
We went to Visegrad, which is known for its Castle that was used to control a strategic location where the Danube River winds between some small mountains. One part of the castle is at the bottom of a hill (largely destroyed by Ottomans), and the other part is on top of a mountain. Many kings stayed here and it was also used for coronations.
This is a nice courtyard in the lower castle's royal residence. The fountain is a replica but I think the rest is original.
View from the upper castle. Mountains are pretty much the only places in Hungary with forests, everything else is agricultural and urban.
This is Szentendre, a small town along the Danube, popular among artists.
The main square.
There's a few of these public passageways, I think they're mostly just used as shortcuts.
Really stunning urban eye candy that gives me goosebumps. Keep them coming! Paris has nothing on the fine cities of Eastern Europe. The architecture of Budapest in a word, would be heavenly. Look at that bridge, and that fountain, the statues, those grand plazas, and that church...my god. I'm not very religious, but I am speechless. And those scenic views of the countryside? Just as impressive. I think that's the beauty and one of the great little side benefits, and blessings, of great urban planning - preservation of greenery, farmland and rural landscapes. What more could you want? That to me seems to be the best of both worlds.
I just realized I left out a few areas of Budapest since I took many pictures with another camera which I haven't downloaded to this computer. Anyways, I took more than 1000 pictures during my trip, so if there are certain things you'd like me to focus on, let me know.
I'll start with Berlin though, we stayed in East Berlin in a neighbourhood rebuilt in the Soviet style. This is their grand boulevard, Karl Marx Allee. I think it's a bit too wide (8 laner, not that much traffic), but at least the sidewalks are wide too.
It's a little different from typical tower in the park architecture, and there was grade retail along Karl Marx Alee with no setback. Elsewhere, the buildings looked similar but with little to no grade retail and surrounded by greenspace.
The hub of this part of Berlin is Alexanderplatz. Alexanderplatz is where several S-Bahn, U-Bahn and tram lines meet. Berlin's rail transit network is extremely expansive for it's size, although only East Berlin kept its tram network. http://www.tundria.com/trams/DEU/Berlin-2011.shtml
At Alexanderplatz, they also have the Rothes Rathaus (City Hall)
A couple squares, this one with break-dancers and the bottom of the Telecom tower (Fernsehturm) in the background.
Then we started heading towards the old city. On the way there was this big arcade off the main road.
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