October 23, 2010: Museum of Agriculture

October 23, 2010: David asked me to come visit him on Sunday and we agreed to cook some chicken paprika using my recipe. I warned him that I “Americanized” the recipe, but he is willing to try it out. We’ll be cooking at his place, so I had to go to the store to buy the ingredients that I agreed to bring, namely the chicken. So, after doing my laundry, I got on the bus to do my shopping. First stop was to get a map of the entire city of Budapest. The map I have now, although good for sightseeing the major sites of the city, did not display the entire city. I decided it was time to get one. I went to a gas station and purchased one. One purchase down, two more to go: I walked to the Ujpalota Vasarczarnok (city market) to buy the chicken; it was closed! I hadn’t realized that the market would close on Memorial Day. I walked on to Tesco – also closed! I returned home empty handed. Sure hope that something is open tomorrow, because it’s a bit difficult to make chicken paprika without the chicken!

Fortunately at home, I had some rolls, lunch meat, cheese, tomatoes, and lettuce on hand so I could make lunch. I ate lunch and got on the bus hoping to go to the Museum of Agriculture near Husok tere. I decided to try out a new route which required two buses. Between buses, I decided to walk down Thokoly utca, a rundown, but beautiful street with all sorts of estates that if fixed up, could make the area quite elegant.

House on Thokoly utca

I passed a beautiful church that is very prominent in the area.

Church on Thokoly utca

After a little exploration, I boarded a bus headed for Szechenyi Gyogrfordo, one of the most famous spas in Budapest situated near Husok tere. I guess a lot of other people had the same idea to visit this area because it was mobbed with people walking in the warm afternoon.

Szechenyi Gyogfordo (Szechenyi Spa)

Across the street from Szechenyi Guogfordo is an amusement park with some buildings with picturesque towers.

Amusement Park

A short walk from Szechenyi Guogfordo led me to the zoo and lake that I had visited back in August. In the distance I could see the rear of Husok tere with the tall statues silhouetted by the bright sky. 

Silouhetts of Husok tere

Nearby was the Museum of Agriculture housed in that beautiful castle that is a conglomeration of many styles of architecture.

Museum of Agriculture

Entrance ceiling of Museum of Agriculture

Rear view of Museum of Agriculture

Construction at rear of Museum of Agriculture

This time, unfortunately, my international teachers card did not gain me free entrance. I entered the museum and noted the beautiful décor of the inside of the building.

Second floor of Museum of Agriculture

Upstairs I could see the interesting roofline of the castle.

Roofline of Museum of Agriculture

The museum gave me an appreciation of the history of Hungary. Reading about the Trianon Treaty which gave 2/3 of Hungarian land to neighboring countries, I learned that many of the natural resources that made Hungary so prosperous were given to these countries resulting in Hungary changing from a country rich in mining to one that had to make do with focusing on agriculture only.

After visiting the museum, I decided to stroll through the immense park that lies behind the castle. The park was very busy with people strolling in the fresh air and sun, boys doing tricks on their bicycles, dog owners throwing balls for their dogs to retrieve, and people just sitting on benches reading.

I left the park and decided it was too early to return home so I took the subway to Vorosmarty ter where the Gerbeaud Coffee House is located. From there I took my normal walk hoping to catch the central market open. It wasn’t due to the holidays. So I returned home, ate dinner, and worked on making a test for my students for next week. Only one more week before our Fall break and I’m off to Venice!