Getting to Know Budapest, 5/17/25

The kids are settling into their rooms after a relatively relaxed day spent getting acquainted with Budapest. In honor of Shabbat, we slept in. Everyone appreciated a chance to "catch up" and came down to breakfast in good spirits. We enjoyed a delicious spread and made our way to our first activity of the day: Escape Rooms. 

I confess that I was a bit skeptical about how the Escape Room would "land" but was pleasantly surprised. Kids emerged from their variously themed rooms with smiles and good energy. That energy carried us through our first shopping experience in Budapest and then on to lunch. 

After lunch we visited "Heroes Square" where we got a conscice overview of Hungarian history that included an important detail-- the fact that Hungary has been on the losing end of all but one of their military/ geopolitical conflicts. 

From Heroes Square we walked a museum dedicated to Hungarian Musical Culture. We toured a unique and inspiring exhibit that focused on world music. After that we took a short bus ride to enjoy some beautiful views of the Danube and check out the Hungarian Parliament. Our guides provided a brief overivew of some of the complexities that Hungary has faced since the fall of the Berlin Wall. From there we stopped by the hotel and made our way to our Ferris Wheel ride, Havdalah service, and eventually dinner at a leisurely pace and enjoyed the bustling Karavan Market in the Jewish Quarter. When we returned to the hotel we let the kids visit the mini market across the street, a decision that was greeted with great enthusiasm. 

While our day was spent zigzagging across Budapest participating in what can only be described as an eclectic itinerary, there was an overarching theme. That theme: Budapest is a city of contradictions. Here are just a few...  the Danube River is beautiful, but it is also stained with the blood of thousands of Jews who were shot there in 1944-1945. The Hungarian Parliament is a magnificent structure ostensibly dedicated to democracy even as hundreds of thousands of Hungarians believe that their current leader is an antidemocratic and authoritarian leader. There are dozens of monuments scattered around Budapest that present contradictory versions of history, some praising the Soviets some condeming, some suggesting that the Hungarians were blameless during the Holocaust and others laying much guilt at their feet and so on. The contradictions make Budapest a challenging place to understand even if it is an easy place to enjoy. Tomorrow we will learn more about the Jewish story, past and present. More than likely the contradictions, tensions, and complexities will only increase.