The first surprise is the pine. You expect the river and the way the sun climbs up Parliament, moving across the chilled water to Buda, to the hills, the gallery, the castle. But if you take the ninety minute morning walk like I do, and on the round trip cross Parliament from the front, you will be surprised by the amount of pine along the edges where the tourists line up for tours and how now, in mid-November, the berries are bloomed red.
The following pictures show the whole trip as I see it, as it happens. I didn’t edit out bad from good, but tried to capture what morning looks like in Budapest (at least the 9kms from district XIII across the Lánchid and back home). The cold blue of the Danube, traffic along the waterway, hurried pedestrians and cyclists, crowded streetcars, small trucks unloading food at small stores, someone watering flowers or sweeping the stairs, statues, dog parks, graffiti, cafés, scattered leaves and trash.
Recently I’ve been afraid that I have been presenting too many rosies and not enough average everyday stuff. So here it is. This way, you don’t have to imagine it.
From District XIII across the Lánchid Bridge to Clark Adam ter:
Back home around Parliament through small neighborhood streets:
b u d a j e s t 
What a great experience and perspective. We didn’t do ourselves any favors in the USA by abandoning our cities, big and small. Think about how much we have missed by isolating ourselves in autos. Maybe that will have to change when the Big Three in Detroit go belly up.
You know my favorite picture is the first one with the dogs looking in. Soooo cute! Then the second one is the picture of the shoes! What is the significance? I love it. These are great pictures. If you are walking 9km first thing in the a.m., I’m sure it wakes you up ready for the day. I loved it.
When you abandon the city, you abandon the real heart of the people. I never knew it would be that way, especially because in the suburbs everything is the distillation, or the reproduction, of the city. And I think you’re right. If the Big Three do go belly up, people will have to move back to the cities– and maybe even if they don’t– and it won’t be a bad thing for America.
And Mary– I knew the dog picture would be your favorite, which is why I put it on the top!! Stay tuned about the shoes, which I’m going to write about tomorrow!!
I too loved the picture of the dogs. I can’t image Samson sitting there so patiently. Although now that he’s middle aged, he has turned into a lazy, lazy beagle who likes to sleep the day away.
I would love to live in a city where I had could walk and eveything would be available. Could you image how healthy people would become?
The pictures were great-keep up the good work.
Susan