November has been a very exciting month from a travel perspective. Mrs C and I took the opportunity to take a family holiday in the South Yorkshire town of Sheffield, so that we may visit our son and daughter who are both at University in the Uk, as well as to use this central location to bring family together for a great weekend.
Following Sheffield, Mrs. C and I became tourists and flew off to the wonderful European capital of Budapest. It was so exciting to visit a new country for the fist time, to visit a capital city so full of history and culture and to have no schedule other than to take full advantage of what this wonderful city had to offer.
In addition to all the above, yours truly was looking forward to a photo-fest. However, we were traveling light and so the weapon of choice for this trip was the wonderful Fuji X100T. The question was, could I cope without my trusty Xpro2 and a myriad of lenses?
Flying in to Manchester we had about an hours drive across the Pennines. The wonderful Emirates Airline limo service and our cheery driver made for a very pleasant and relaxing journey.Indeed, coming from the sands of Dubai it was a complete juxtaposition. Autumn was in full flow, the hills and forests were alive with colour and at last we had some real weather!
Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire and its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Sheffield has an industrial background and was famed for its steel industry and even today Sheffield United, one of the two local football clubs, sports a nickname of "The Blades".
Sheffield has now moved away from a its industrial past and has been transformed in to a modern, diverse city and can be said to have a truly eclectic range of architecture, ranging from:
The classic city centre but with some very traditional English features: note the traditional phone box and post boxes along with the last remaining police box in Sheffield. Shades of Dr. Who!
Modern:
Futuristic:
The centre of Sheffield has a very trendy quarter, is full of busy restaurants, bars and coffee shops and of course, this wonderful futuristic architecture.Above all, Sheffield provided me with an opportunity to undertake some street photography as living in the Middle East, one is constantly aware of the cultural sensitivities of being photographed without permission.
In the UK this is not such an issue but even so, my style is not to shove a camera in to someone's face, which is something to which I would object. Instead, I seek to try and descreetly observe, document and tell a story from our everyday environment. Indeed, in many cases these are scenes which local residents simply take for granted.In that respect I found Sheffield to be a mine of interesting subjects, as well as edgy street art, and I really look forward to a return visit in the new year, now that I am more familiar with the city, for another photo walkabout.
Having had a great time with family, consumed many calories, sampled the local beverages to excess and given the Fuji a good work out, we boarded Jet Air for the short flight to Budapest.Without a word of Hungarian between us but armed with some local currency, the Hungarian HUF (Florints), a determination to see all the sights (thanks to Mrs C planning a sight seeing tour with what can only be described as military precision), and my determination to give the Fuji another thorough workout, we were greeted at Budapest International Airport by a smiling driver with a shiny Mercedes, all provided by the lovely people at the Marriott Budapest.
After an hour or so driving through rush hour traffic we arrived at the Marriott, located in the very centre of Budapest on the Banks of the Danube. Now, they say that the terrace of the Executive Club is the best place to take a photo of Budapest, primarily because the Marriott is not the prettiest building in town and is by definition, not in your photo!
Arriving at our Hotel at 8 p.m. we decided to immediately take a stroll along the Danube to try and get a feel for our surroundings. This was an opportunity for me to up the ISO on the Fuji and see how it coped with a bit of night photography. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with how well the Fuji performed.
The following morning, after a delicious breakfast, I walked out on to the the terrace of the Marriott at 8 a.m. and found the view quite breathtaking.
Then once again it was off along the banks of the Danube and across the famous Szechenyi Chain Bridge to our destination, Budapest Castle.
Now a walk up to Budapest Castle is not for the faint hearted and given the usual funicular railway was out of commission, I was feeling both faint and did not have the heart! Fortunately, Mrs C was already prepared and had located a "free" escalator situated some five minutes walk from the railway that nobody ever seems to advertise!
Built between 1749 and 1769 Budapest Castle and ts surrounding complex is a combination of the castle itself, museums and Galleries, the presidential residence (Sandor Palace), the beautiful Matthias Church and Fisherman's Bastien and a wonderful "Old Town" Area.
The light was fantastic, the weather beautiful and it was just a perfect environment to take in the history and beautiful surroundings. Indeed, Buda Castle reminded me very much of the Old town in Geneva. There was a bustling community in amongst all this history and of course it is a mecca for photo enthusiasts.
We were lucky; an early start meant that there were relatively few people but I can only imagine that during the height of Summer it is mayhem and full of tourists.
After a couple of hours of walking it was time to find a quiet hotel and to sit outside for a cold beer and a few rays. Can you believe that this is mid-November in Hungary!
From the Fisherman's Bastien and the castle walls the view of "Pest" and the beautiful Danube is truly amazing:Trust me, the walk back to the Danube is a long way down and just as hard as the walk up although, the vista is equally wonderful as can be seen in the following image with the Parliament Building in the background.
Now one recommendation I must give to any potential visitor to Budapest is to make sure you have a comfortable pair of walking shoes. Yes, this is a modern city and there are trams, taxis and buses but if you want to really see this town you have to walk. During our first day Mrs. C clocked up 28,000 steps!
Our next destination was to head back across the Chain Bridge and walk towards the famous Heroes Square. Along the way the light was so good it allowed me to switch out of tourist mode and take a couple of arty shots of Mrs. C, who was clearly enjoying herself as she doesn't normally like to have her picture taken!
What I love about Budapest are the large grand streets / avenues and everything seems to be laid out in a grid pattern, so if you are lost just keep turning left!The grandest of all these avenues was Andrassy Avenue.
It must have taken us 45 minutes to reach the end but when we did we arrived at the magnificent Heroes Square.
By this stage we had been on the go for almost four and a half hours and yours truly was ready for a well earned rest and a good lunch. As it happens and much by chance, a stones throw from Heroes Square we found the delightful Varosliget Cafe. This was full of as many locals as tourists which is always a good sign.We had a lunch of braised beef with vegetables (they like their meat and two veg in Hungary) and a starter of broth with dumplings, the broth being made with the juices in which our main course was cooked. Absolute Heaven. Washed down with a couple of glasses of the local beer and all was very well in my world. Service was brisk and friendly and at Euros 15 per head it was great value for money.
At this point my feeling of well-being was rudely interrupted by the thought of a 45 minute walk back along Andrassy Avenue. Fortunately Mrs. C had already spotted my look of desperation and dragged me towards the entrance to the Metro. With not a word of Hungarian and only armed with a handful of HUFS this was apparently the no-stress option!Once again Mrs. C steamed in, negotiated 2 tickets to I am not sure where and we clambered on board; only to then be told to get off and then be told to get back on. This happened about three or four times over a ten minute period but all the locals seemed quite calm about it and so we just shrugged and complied as only the British do.
Now the Budapest Metro is the oldest electrified underground railway system in Europe. At times during our journey it felt like it but we arrived safely at our destination, my feet were saved and all was once again well in my world.
Next stop on our whirlwind tour of Budapest was St, Stephens Bascilica, named after Stephen, the first King of Hungary.
Just to prove it they have the remnants of his hand inside which can be viewed for a small fee! Although we passed on that one we did make a donation towards the up-keep of the building.The Basilica is magnificent, it is the largest church in Budapest and can hold up to 8,500 people. As we arrived we took a seat at a pavement table of a coffee shop directly facing the Basilica. This is definitely how you drink a macchiato! Once inside, the serenity of the Bascilica and the detail of the decoration was quite breathtaking and well worth a visit.
Next on our list was the Hungarian Houses of Parliament. Due to security you cannot enter without being part of an organised tour.
The Orszaghaz (which literally means house of the country) is the seat of the National Assembly of Hungary. It seems to have been modelled on the U.K. Houses of Parliament in London and inside the decor is truly magnificent.
Following the tour of Parliament, we took lunch at the delightful Mak Bistro, located in Vigyazo Ferenc Street. What a find!
We had reserved online and as we walked through the door we were warmly greeted by young and enthusiastic staff and were then treated to superb food, attentive service, in a really relaxing environment.A starter of local fish with crunchy pumpkin and a poppy seed twirl (Mak means poppy) followed by a deep-fried ravioli of ox-cheek accompanied by a very robust Hungarian red wine and ending with a quince desert and glass of the famous sweet Tokaji, rounded off with an expresso, all for Euros 15 per head. When can I return please!
Our daughter had visited Budapest earlier in the year and had told us that we must visit the ruin bars in the Jewish quarter. Being of an age, Mrs C and I decided we would pop in for an afternoon coffee rather than a late night rave.These bars are apparently the ultimate in trendy drinking and are basically makeshift bars located inside dilapidated pre-war buildings and furnished with all manner of quirky furniture. They are über cool so Mrs. C and I fitted in perfectly.....NOT! We decided to visit the most famous known as Szimpla Kert, located on Kazinczy Street, allegedly the most iconic of the bars.
Our final destination was the Great Market Hall, the oldest indoor market in Budapest.Inside this vibrant market, it is full of what Hungarians like best, meat and vegetables.
Let us say that the Hungarian cuisine is what one might call a protein rich environment. Indeed this chirpy butcher was very happy for me to take his picture as he tried to sell me the bits of a cow that I mistakenly thought were consigned to the waste bin! Apparently they make a good stew.
So what is my tale of two cities? Well, they are complete opposites in terms of layout and architecture but share a common theme in that they are both vibrant and interesting places to visit, so long as you are prepared to put on a pair of walking shoes and make the effort.My real Tale of Two Cities is depicted by the following two images:These two images tell a very real and sombre story. The entire visit was undertaken across the Armistice weekend and indeed we attended a very moving service in the centre of Sheffield on 11th November.The first image is of an ex-serviceman selling poppies on a Sheffield street corner. He appreciated the donation we made and we proudly wore our poppies in memory of those who have given their lives to ensure that others remain safe and secure.
The second image is located on the banks of the Danube. It is a sculpture conceived by film director Can Tolgay and created on the east bank of the Danube River by the sculptor Gyula Pauer, in memory of those individuals who were killed by the fascist Arrow Cross militiamen in Budapest during World War II. It was a very moving tribute and one that I desperately tried to capture in as sensitive a manner as possible.
So my final message is very simple. To all those who seek to create change through civil unrest, dividing and ruling and causing harm to others, let us not repeat the mistakes of the past and let us try and create more harmony between nations and their populations, so that all this hateful effort and wasteful energy can be put to a more productive and beneficial use.Time is a great healer but memories are often short, so let us not forget the sacrifices made by previous generations.