It was our last night in Budapest before flying home. Once again, Christiane stayed in the hotel while I meandered along both sides of the river. This time I went at night. And it was sensational.
Night photography is tricky and really requires a tripod, and mine was not working. Yet I wanted to photograph some of the beautiful buildings at night. I would have to rely on luck and the monitor at the back of the camera to give me a rough idea how things would look. Using brains was out of the question.
Right across the river from our hotel we had a lovely view of Buda Castle or the Royal castle which I had photographed during the day. It is a magnificent structure.
The Chain Bridge is also beautiful at night as it as during the day. In fact, it is more beautiful. Our hotel was very close to it. Here I crossed to the Buda side of the Danube from the Pest side where our hotel was located.
Budapest’s Chain Bridge is one of its most iconic features. Linking one side of the city to the other and spanning the Danube, the bridge opened in 1849 and is the oldest permanent bridge on the Danube River in Hungary. Stone lions guard the bridge, and you can see it walking or driving. I saw it a number of times walking and twice driving across it. Everyone should see this bridge during the day and again at night.
I got one last look at Mattias Church from near the Chain Bridge. I thought it looked spectacular at night. Especially on a night when the clouds looked ominous. After that I continued on the Buda side of the river towards the Parliament buildings.
I enjoyed the evening walk immensely. I had no fear of thugs. Thug should fear me! There are thugs in Hungary, but the scariest kind wear business suits and enjoy praise and worship from American conservatives.
I marvelled at the Parliament buildings at night. I just wished the parliament was as good as its building. Unfortunately, Hungary’s democratic Parliament was increasingly tolerating a leader, Viktor Orbán, who has been showing strong autocratic tendencies during his second term in office.
Orbán, like Hitler he was democratically elected. Also, like Trump of course. But ever since Orbán was elected the second time, he has been undercutting the democratic process for his own personal benefit. Again, like Trump. Some like Bill Maher Trump will use his power to secure for himself and unconstitutional 3rd term. This is certainly not impossible.
Those of us who live in democratic societies and who enjoy the protections and benefits it offers must be alert to the challenges democracy faces, particularly in the current state of the world, have to be alert to those challenges and must protect it. Or we will lose it. It really is that simple.
In recent years, Viktor Orbán has become the political darling of the American right, much to my complete surprise. Why has that happened? How could this happen in a country like Hungary which had been under the control of an autocratic communist regime for so long after the Second World War? How could the people now acquiesce to losing democratic rights so soon? This question has bothered me throughout our trip through the Balkans. This night it puzzled me as I walked along the beautiful Danube River and photographed Hungary’s beautiful Parliament that sadly was not protecting its democracy?
Then, secondly, how could so many Americans, and to a lesser extent Canadians, fall under the sway of autocratic leaders like Orbán? Conservatives always claim to be strong defenders of democracy, at least until the last few years. To me it was incomprehensible that they would lose interest in democracy, but that seems widespread. Why has this happened? I still wanted to explore this question. After all, if it happened in Hungary it could happen in the United States or Canada? It is a sad fact that many young people have lost faith in democracy. Perhaps this is because the older generation, has for too long been using the levers of political power to benefit themselves at the expense of the younger generation who is getting screwed. I believe this. Many of my friends are not convinced by my arguments but I think evidence is everywhere. Why else is education so much more expensive than it was in my day? Why do tax laws favor the old so much?
This is a view of Parliament from the chain bridge.
I thought about crazy things like that as I was walking down the Danube shoreline that beautiful last night in Budapest, and frankly for quite a while after returning home. It is still bothering me.
Budapest was both good and bad, but it sure was great to see and learn from. I would love to go back for a longer stay.
When I got back to the hotel, Christiane and I set our alarm clocks for 5:30 am. This would not even leave us enough time for breakfast in the morning. Ouch. We were flying home. Flying is the worst part of travel. And this flight back home was no exception to that rule.
When I got back to the hotel, Christiane and I set our alarm clocks for 5:30 am. This would not even leave us enough time for breakfast in the morning. Ouch. We were flying home. Flying is the worst part of travel. And this flight back home was no exception to that rule.