Budapest. A non touristic walk.

A famous landmark across the Danube, it is one of the bridges that links Buda with Pest. That's it for touristic stuff.

So a walk from the mooring to see what I was told would be a half decent graveyard. So let us walk and take in the Budapest Ghetto area of the city, steeped in history.

Random Stuff

Budapest in days before WW2 was home to nearly a quarter million jews living and working in the 7th District as it was known. Persecuted during the early years of the war, by their own Hungarian leaders, simply to protect their own necks from the Nazi regime.

The ghetto was created in 1944 once the city was occupied by German forces. encircling and cutting of the community from the outside world, many were sent off to concentration camps, many who were left died on the streets, disease, starvation, hypothermia the killers.

56 days just 56 days after the occupation just under half a million jews were deported from Hungary to the death camps.

In addition, in Budapest alone 10,000 jews were murdered by the Hungarian right wing militia, the Arrow Cross party many were shot by the banks of the Danube river so they fell and were washed away.

Post WW2 left a scar was left on the district it fell into disrepair and many homes were abandoned, it was only in the early 2000s that the landscape of the neighbourhood changed.

Cheap rent, and cheap beer turned around the fortunes of the district making it a party place bringing in youths from far and wide. It also brought in gentrifying of the streets.

Now the area is a blend of old and new, from what I saw mostly old facades, which is great, maybe they hide the new?

"Nosztalgia Régiségek, Ritkaságok boltja" (Nostalgia Antiques, Rarities shop)

The Hallo Bar, what more could any man want? A striptease bar next to a pizza hut. "striptease bar" how very quaint and 70's (£44 for a private dance.....so I am informed)

A family run business in existence since 1987.

Busy since the year 2000

This small statue depicting a diver sitting on a bollard. It is one of the many "Little Statues of Budapest" created by Mihály Kolodko. They are scattered around the city and often placed in unexpected locations, so unexpected that I didn't find another one.

Simple gorgeousness of mural
At first my heart skipped a beat, well several probably, believing I had stumbled across a host of Soviet inspired murals, but these pre date WW2, when Hungary was actually aligned with Germany.
Whatever, still full of gorgeousness.

Created by Hungarian sculptor Tibor Vilt in 1938, it is located on the wall of the National Institute of Oncology (formerly the Radium Department of the State Hospital).

It depicts the application of radium therapy, a medical treatment used in the early 20th century for cancer treatment

Just up the road, a magnificent set of stone reliefs on the walls of the offices of the Budapest Workers Insurance Fund,

They depict various hazards to workers' health, serving as a visual reminder of health and safety.

A touching scene of grief surrounding the death of a miner.

Vintage neon sign, welcoming ladies to the hairdressers and cosmetic shop

Carl Lutz Memorial a bronze sculpture, created in 1991, commemorates Carl Lutz, a Swiss diplomat who served in Budapest during World War II.

He is credited with saving many thousands of Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust risking his own life by issuing "protective documents" and placing buildings under Swiss diplomatic protection.

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"Whoever saves a life is considered to have saved an entire world,"