September 2 2009

On Sunday I went to Gődőllő palace, which is outside the city. It was very beautiful, but still being renovated. I guess under the socialist system they were housing retired people there (fitting, I guess, if you are a communist) and so they wrecked a lot of it. One wing has been made into a very nice theater, but the other is still in shambles. The Hungarians like the palace because it was frequented by Queen Elizabeth, who learned Hungarian and took an interest in their culture, unlike most of the Habsburg rulers. There are many statues of her around Budapest. In any case, the Palace also has some gorgeous furniture and an awesome arms collection. Unfortunately there is no photography allowed in most of the palace.

Found another really cool photostore called Soósfoto (link, although it's all in Hungarian) between Deák Ferenc Tér and St. Stephen's Bascilica. Lots of used cameras and equipment. I saw a Leica M3 (I think it was 50,000 forints, or about $265, but that seems very cheap?). Also a Mamiya RB67...Holy crap those things are big. They had lots of film, photo paper, cases for lots of cameras, all sorts of stuff. I didn't see if anyone there spoke English. I know my Hungarian isn't good enough, and I definately don't know photography terms. That place was like a dream though.

Lots of second hand shops have neat old film cameras. The soviet makes are quite common (Lubitel, Zenit, etc.) but I've seen Kodak, Voigtlander, and others.

There's a very cool old Zeiss Contaflex II(?) for 14,000 forints (about $75) I am very tempted by. It seems to work perfectly.

Anyway, I spend several hours walking around the Pest side today (and you should all know that Budapest is really two cites. Buda is on the flat east bank of the Danube, and Pest is on the hilly west bank). I climbed up to the citadel, which has lots of cool paths and good views of the city, and also up to Buda castle, which is where the Hungarian national gallery and library are. Very cool.

I am going to have to buy more film soon! Oh well, that seems like a good thing to spend money on, rather than most of the touristy stuff. I may need to get a Budapest tankard, though. They had some really nice ones for sale on the Citadel. Not sure I would be able to get it back safely.