Making the most of my last hours in Budapest- July 3

Sadly, today was my last day in Budapest which means I have to go back to Warsaw tonight to be ready for work in the morning (when you work in Poland they don’t seem to recognize July 4 as a national holiday anymore…). But I think I managed to get a lot done on my last day in town! For some reason I was up by 8am so I had plenty of time in the morning to cook breakfast, pack and plan some logistics for my UK trip before heading out to start my day. I made my first stop the Great Synagogue (Dohány Street Synagogue) for a tour. 

Great Synagogue with atypical architecture but beautiful inside and out

• The synagogue is 157 years old, built between 1854-59
• There was incorporation of both Jewish and non-Jewish elements due to the fact the lead architects included one Jew and one non-Jew and it was popular at the time to have some assimilation to Christianity. For instance there is a giant organ, the shape of the synagogue is rectangular, and the seating and placement of the bema is much more similar to a basilica than a traditional Jewish synagogue. 
• The synagogue is for the Neolog congregation which is much closer to Orthodox than to Reform views. However, due to the organ, seating structure, and bema placement, Orthodox Jews won’t come here and pray. According to our guide, the only music that is officially accepted by Orthodox Jews in a service is the shofar because that instrument dates back to the beginning. While in the neolog congregation also separates men and women during prayer, it is not in the way accepted by Orthodox Jews. 
• The synagogue is 75m long and has ~3,000 seats. When the synagogue is full-during high holy days mainly- women sit on the second level and men sit on the main floor. During all other services, men sit in the middle of the main floor and women have the seats on the side columns of the main floor. 
• The synagogue is the largest in Europe and one of the largest working ones in the world (one in Jerusalem and two in NYC are larger by capacity).
• Currently there are ~120,000 jews in Hungary and most of them live in Budapest. This is actually less than the ~170,000 Jews in Hungary immediately following the WWII.  
• Around 600,000 Hungarian Jews alone died from the work camps and Holocaust
• Jews place stones next to graves instead of flowers because a stone is permanent and will always be there, never dying. 

So obviously I visited the synagogue on a Sunday and when I was in the synagogue they were actually decorating the huppa for a wedding that afternoon. I’m lucky I went in the morning as this afternoon the synagogue would have been closed for tourism for the wedding. Anyways, what it made me realize is that now I am seriously distraught - Rabbi Cohen, should I try to be married in the Dohány Street Synagogue (Budapest) or The Spanish Synagogue (Prague)? They are both so beautiful! hahaha 

The light fixtures are new, but almost everything else is original condition as it managed to remain intact throughout Nazi occupation. The Germans even used the synagogue as a meeting point and orchestrated plans for the final solution within these walls. 

Full bema view

Beautiful huppa (in progress of being decorated) in front of the ark

Memorial for the Holocaust - stones overflowing next to known victims. 

Weeping Willow Statue in the Memorial Gardens of the Great Synagogue- the names of Hungarian victims are engraved on each of the leaves. Supposedly the willow is also an upside-down menorah, but I don't see it. 

Following the visit to the synagogue I made my way to the Hungarian Parliament because I’ve only actually seen the building from the river at night and not up close yet. I was recommended to go on the Parliament tour, so I was eager to do so. However by midday when I got the ticket office in the Parliament they were completely sold out of English tours for the rest of the dat. So note to anyone else going to Budapest who thinks they may want to do this--> plan ahead and book online. I’ve heard its a good tour and beautiful, but English tours sell out for sure. 

After walking around the parliament building and being impressed by the architecture and the views to the Buda side, I took the yellow metro line (M1) which is the oldest metro line in continental Europe (2nd oldest if you say Europe and are including London). The line is now a world heritage site and protected landmark in which the stations have been kept in their original condition to preserve what it looked like when it was first constructed, a sort of vortex back in time. I took the line to Heroes' Square and then walked around the Vajdahunyad Castle. Since I had so much of my day left I decided to take the advice of friends and walk the half hour or so back to my hostel taking Andrássy Avenue because this road is famous for having beautiful buildings. 

Metro Line 1 Entrance 

Beautiful tiles at each station

Heroes' square

Vajdahunyad Castle 

Luckily I still had plenty of time in my afternoon before I had to go to the airport, so I had time to take a shower at the hostel; something I’m sure my fellow public transit companions and flight members appreciated! ;) I even had time to decide what I wanted to do with my last unplanned weekend of my summer internship in Europe. I will be in Riga, Latvia. I’m excited to see another Eastern Europe city. This will be the farthest East in Europe that I’ve gone, but I’ve very excited! Like how I met up with IAESTE people in Budapest, I have been connected with the local committee in Riga and friends of IAESTE people, so I’ve made tentative plans to meet them too and sightsee together that weekend :) 

The flight I had back to Warsaw was basically empty! No joke, there was probably 10-15 non-crew members aboard the plane. So I guess I got a really good deal on an almost private jet experience! haha it was wonderful to have two seats to myself and nice leg room. I could totally get used to this! :)  

Sunset from the runway - until next time Budapest.