Postcard from Budapest

Last year I had a milestone birthday (60) and as a special treat my wife took me on a short trip to Budapest.  Yes, I know - but I'm worth it.  Haha.  Budapest was a city I had always wanted to visit, ever since I found out about the trip my uncle made to the city in the late 1930s (documented here, in case you've forgotten).   It didn't disappoint, although we only had two full days to explore, so it was a quick in-and-out.  The best part?  - we could fly direct from Belfast, which made the journey so much easier.  Well, except for the fact that we had to get up almost before we went to bed in order to make our early morning flight home. We went in October, which was probably a good time to go, since I'd imagine it gets very busy in the main tourist season.  The downside was the weather wasn't great - the first day was very dull and overcast, with some rain, so not much good for photography.  The second day was a bit brighter.  To be honest, although I had plans to shoot lots of film, in the end I only shot one roll. I think because it was the first big trip away for my wife and I without our daughter - we kind of focussed on enjoying the trip together and although I carried a camera I didn't much feel like breaking away on my own to do a bit of snapping.  So I came home with a few postcard shots and that was about it.  Still, a good excuse to return one day - and maybe for a bit longer next time.

The Danube, as it flows through Budapest.
Old Pentax, 28mm, HP5+ on Foma 133.  Thiourea toned.
The retro style of the paper suits this scene quite well, I think.

We stayed some way from the main drag and that ended up being a good move, since we got to see parts of the city that looked like they hadn't changed much since the days of the Soviet bloc, of which Hungary was very much a part.  Amazingly, it was only in 1991 that the last Soviet troops left the country.  I guess that went a large way to explain why everyone we saw over the age of about 50 looked liked they'd lived several lives, with a definite sense of world-weariness.  There was some serious poverty in evidence too - both men and women sitting (living?) on street corners with a cup for money and clothes that you and I would have thrown out a long time ago.  Of course down near the Danube, which was full to bust with large river cruisers like the one in the shot above, it was a different story - fancy hotels (Ritz-Carlton, for example) and plenty of designer shops.  I'm glad we got to see the other side of the city, although riding on the subway was, shall we say, interesting.  Not that we ever felt unsafe, but the subway stations look unchanged from those Soviet days.