One Week in Budapest [antikvár]

Foreword To be a guest in a city for one week may be just enough to get acquainted. The purpose of this book is to lend a helping hand in this process. Readers need not follow all our suggestions, albeit we hope they may find the information it provides helpful. But should the reader decide to follow our itinerary, he or she, we trust, will not be disappointed. With limited time at our disposal we will still be able to take in the most important sights, and a perusal of this book will provide information which, although not always essential, could none the less kindle further interest. The scope of this book cannot possibly claim to provide the reader with a profound knowledge of the capital no matter how conscientiously he delves into its pages. Consider the following: Budapest's busiest thoroughfare, the Great Boulevard, starts from Margaret Bridge named after a medieval nun, and its first segment bears the name of Hungary's first Christian king, St Stephen. St Stephen Boulevard leads to Marx Square after which it continues as Lenin Boulevard, then carries on under the names of Joseph and Francis respectively, both of them kings of the Habsburg dinasty, whose members cared little about Hungarian national sentiments throughout their reign. And can you guess after whom the bridge is named at the point where the Great Boulevard comes to an end? After Sándor Petőfi, that passionate poet of Hungary's freedom who lost his life fighting for his country's independence, while on the enemy side the war was being conducted by a Habsburg monarch. Will it be possible to learn to understand and appreciate a city such as this one? It is possible, but it will not be easy. And to learn to love it? In just such a hope the author, himself a passionate lover of his native town, welcomes you to Budapest!