Just Ice and Whiskey: 2015

December 27th

Today we took Jim and Sherrie and Ta to hike Vesuvius.

We passed this sign along the way. I thought of you, Nick.

Once we got to the parking area, we found out they moved the location of the ticket office to 200 meters back down the road. Dan and I went so Jim and Sherrie didn't have to. They waited with Ta.

Ta was very useful for helping to pull Sherrie, and me, up the volcano.

Vesuvius was clear, but down below was not. That is a mix of clouds and ick.

We caught a glimpse of the mountains behind Vesuvius.

More views obscured by clouds and ick.

And there's the crater. It's dirt! Sooooo exciting!

It kind of looks like we're hiking about the abyss.

Striped mountains and....I think Pompeii is where that greenish space is in the middle left.

If you squint, you can see the people along the edge. We started over there.

Blurred (because of ick, not camera or user error) sun reflection on the sea.

Ta was not very useful for getting us down the volcano.

This concludes our adventures for today. It's also our last adventure with Jim and Sherrie for this trip. They left the next day and had no problems getting out of Europe this time; however, they got stuck in Chicago, but eventually made it home.

December 22nd

We weren't really sure what to do with our last day in Budapest, so I made everyone pile into an Uber so we could ride 15 minutes outside of the city to go to Momento Park (officially "A Sentence about Tyranny" Park). It is a park dedicated to the statues and monuments of Hungary's Communist period (1949-1989).

This is a Trabant also known as "the people's car". You had to pay half of the cost upfront and then wait six to eight years to receive it. It has a two-stroke engine, takes 21 seconds to go 0 to 100 kph (62 mph), and has a top speed of 120 kph (70 mph).

With the fog, the park looks particularly gloomy.

Maybe it's just atmosphere to make it more Communist-like.

This made me think of the YMCA and then I was trying to figure out if we could use them to spell USSR. It didn't work. It's actually "Soviet Heroic Memorial" from 1965.

Free the birds! I don't know why you were keeping them in a tablecloth anyway.

AKA "Soviet-Hungarian Friendship" from 1975.

Being frozen in carbonite before Han Solo made it cool.

AKA the Béla Kun, Jenő Landler, and Tibor Szamuely memorial from 1967.

Jim recreating a statue of Lenin from 1958.

Jim giving his opinion of Lenin.

Artsy photo of Communist remnants.

Apparently whatever they're fighting is "over there...somewhere."

Belá Kun Memorial from 1986.

And now - artistic red berries with dew drop reflections.

I'm not sure if he's a mad scientist or just a grumpy old man.

"Árpád Szakasits" from 1988.

The hands are made out metal, but are hollow. The interior is filled with some sort of foam. I wanted to poke it, but Dan wouldn't let me. This is probably for the best.

This is the "Workers' Movement Memorial" from 1976.

Hurray! School's out!

"Republic of Councils Monument" from 1969.

And then I made Dan try to recreate it.

You can tell his heart isn't in it, but at least he took off his scarf and tried.

This is a mural carved out of stone. "The Heroes of the Peoples' Power Memorial" from 1983.

I don't understand what this is a memorial for.

Having seen enough Communism, we decided to head out of the park.

Outside of the park, but I guess still part of it, is Witness square. It has a random concrete structure that is reminiscent of a raised stage and two low wooden buildings. The buildings hold rotating exhibits. The concrete structure has giant metal boots on top - replica's of Stalin's boots (you can see them in the center in the photo above).

And it has this crazy thing. There was no plaque, and it's hidden behind all the concrete.

I'm not even sure I was supposed to be back here.

On one of the wooden buildings were these poems....musings.....I'm not really sure what they are or what their purpose was, but here they are for you to experience:

After our adventure in Communism, we headed up to the citadel to see what we could see.

We were up here the other night, but it was so foggy you couldn't really see anything.

That is Buda castle on the left, the Chain Bridge in the middle, and a bit of Parliament on the right.

Here you can see St. Stephen's Basilica and the Budapest Eye. Down on the right you can make out the unknown two towers of old and modern from the bus ride yesterday. Turns out it's some sort of Orthodox church that had it's southern tower bombed in 1945 and it has yet to be repaired.

Now you know.

I'm not sure what kind of shrubbery this is but its berries look like popcorn.
I did not eat one, or make Dan eat one, to see if they tasted like popcorn.

Proof I was there.

There was a small market here.

I'm not sure it counts as a Christmas Market; I think it's mostly a tourist market.

We were all amused by the picked veggies that say "I ♥ Budapest".

Elizabeth Bridge, Orthodox Church, Budapest Eye, and St. Stephen's.

This is the Liberty Statue (Szabadság-szobor). It commemorates those that gave their lives for the independence, freedom, and prosperity of Hungary.

It was first erected in 1947 in remembrance of the Soviet liberation of Hungary from Nazi Germany during WWII. Originally the inscription read "To the memory of the liberating Soviet heroes erected by the grateful people of Hungary". As Communism fell out of favor and finally fell, in 1989 the inscription was changed to "To the memory of those all who gave their lives for the independence, freedom, and prosperity of Hungary."