Yesterday’s weather called for rain all day so I decided to tour indoor museums.

Weeks before I had purchased an English speaking tour of the Hungarian Parliament. The tour started at 9:45 a.m. so I made sure I got there in plenty of time. The visitor center was packed with many different groups of people speaking different languages. I saw a tour group of French speaking people leaving to take a tour. It came close to time for me to go and I went up to some people standing in line and noticed the books they were reading guides in English. I asked them if they were with the English speaking tour and they said yes in a very British accent. I’m always intrigued about British nationals because I like the way they speak however I noticed on these people’s passports that they were actually Danish. It happens a lot in Europe any English you here is actually British English since it’s the closest native speaking English country.

The tour began and we went through x-ray machines. There was far less security that you would find compared to touring the US Capitol. I guess the Hungarian Parliament is just not a high level target.

The Hungarian Parliament is really old and has gone through many different government of Hungary. There was one particular area which we were not allowed to take photos. It was where the crown jewels were. There were ceremonial guards standing beside the crown jewels. It is at this point that I should probably say that the crown jewels weren’t really julies, rather mostly just a crown and a sword. But this is really important to the Hungarian people.

We went to the chambers of parliament and was told that there was a certain amount of seats and the amount of legislators was greater than the amount of seats. I didn’t catch how they sat if they switched out of seats. In the lobby area the tour guide point it out to the cigar holders which were left over when politicians were allowed to smoke cigars in the lobby. At some point in the tour I really wanted to ask the tour guide of her experiences in 1989 when the change in government from communism to democracy occurred. I figured the tour guide might have been a little younger than myself in the way she looked. But I never got a chance to ask her and I’m not sure if asking tour guides personal information was appropriate.

After touring Parliament I decided to try to squeeze in a tour of the house of terror. It is an exhibit of the atrocities that the Nazis and Soviets engaged upon the Hungarian people. It is actually in the same building that d political prisoners were held at. There was a long line of people wanting to go into the House of terror to buy tickets. There was a man greeting us at the door and putting our with umbrellas in plastic bags so as to keep the inside building dry. After I bought my tickets I had to check my bags. Also no photography was allowed so I just left my camera in my bag as I checked it. The first exhibit you see is a large tank I believe a Nazi German Panzer which was used to subdue hungry during World War II. Leading up in the atrium part are pictures of the victims of both regimes. It was a sobering reminder about how many lives were affected by these periods of terror. I found myself using the Rick Steves book in the exhibit area. I opted out of the English audio tour guide as Rick Steves said it was confusing. All of the exhibits were in Hungarian but they did provide some English translations in papers off to the side. In one room there was the carpeted map of all of the gulags in the Soviet Union which Hungarian citizens were sent to. In another area we got to the basement and saw some of the torture chambers that the students are victimized by. One area had a chamber just tall enough for someone to only stand but not sit down. Another one had a chamber you would have to bend down in order to get into therefore you could never stand up completely in that chamber. We so the area where they hanged people. It was a very sobering look.

I ate lunch at a Subway restaurant in the area. I then proceeded to the Opera just a few blocks away. My tour was to begin at 1 p.m. and I showed up about an hour early. I sat down and rested in a bench nearby. I paid extra to be able to photograph inside the building. The first stop was the auditorium itself. The tour guide pointed out that when the opera was built during the Austrian Hungarian time line it was stipulated that the Opera House had to be smaller than the Vienna Opera House. Although it was smaller it was more elaborate as there was a lot of gold leafing around. Also the tour guide pointed out that it was important to mostly use Hungarian building material to construct the Opera House. When the Opera House opened the Emperor was invited but according to legend he did not stay the entire time and left before the opera was over with. Legend states that he was upset that the Hungarian opera was more elaborate than the Vienna Opera. The Emperor was of Austrian descent so this upset him. He never returned the Opera. But his wife did return on several occasions but never sat in the Emperor’s box. Instead she sat in the box off to the side mostly to be seen. Throughout the tour the guide talked about the different entrances for the class system in Hungary at the time. The Emperor had his own entrance while common people had to go through another door.

After the opera tour I opted to go to Budapest bath for a nice relaxing swim time in the evening. I took my towel from my hotel because I as understand it they will charge you extra to use their towel. I got lost on my way back to the Hotel. But was able to find my way back eventually. I ate a Pizza Forte which had a much different taste to it. Today I am going to Bratislava it is supposed to rain in Budapest but not as much in Bratislava.