Being Tourists: The Citadella

Like all good tourists in Budapest, we headed for the Citadella (Citadel) and Castle Hill, but unlike most touists, we walked up instead of taking a tour bus. The hike up to the old fortress was beautiful, a winding path through lush woods. A group of school children was ahead of us, obviously on a field trip, looking just like American kids, only chattering away in Hungarian. The teacher kept her eye on them, and a handful of mothers trailed behind as chaperones. Eventually they took the right-hand path up to the fortress and we took the left. We walked among trees and foliage we tried to identify, wishing we had a field guide to Hungarian flora and fauna.


(Along the path up to the Citadella. I think I made this photo because through the leaves you could see faintly the Budapest skyline, but.....)

The Austo-Hungarian Emperor and Hungarian King, Franz Joseph, had the stronghold built in 1851 following the suppression of the 1848-49 War of Independence to keep the rebellious city under the control of his cannons. Today the complex is a tourist destination where one can find gift stalls, beer gardens, and many, many tour buses.





To the side of the fortress stands the statue of the young woman I saw as I climbed up from the subway on the day of our arrival , her heroic and graceful form bearing the palm leaf above her head. She has been referred to as the Liberation Monument.

I photographed her numerous times while we were in the city, from all sorts of angles and distances.





To her side is this figure, lifting his torch against the Hungarian sky.




Along the stone wall of the battlements is a gallery of large photographs depicting scenes from recent Hungarian history. While we studied the images, we heard children's voices and realized that the school kids had caught up with us. They clustered around one photo, laughing and pointing.



Well, no wonder! Look at those bicycles! I wondered, though, what their reaction would be to some of the images of WWII, the bodies laid out like cordwood in a Budpest square, for example.



Here is a better photo of what I came to think of as Our Lady of Peace and Liberation, on the virtualtourist site.


(Go to http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/p/m/14cc25/ for more information and photos)