Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
CITY PARK STATUES & MONUMENTS
City Park boasts a number of notable statues and monuments. Americans (and col-
lectors of greenbacks) might be surprised to see a familiar face in the park south of
the lake. Thesttattue o
e Wasshiingttonon XIV Washington Győrgy sétány was fun-
ded by Hungarian-Americans and erected in 1906.
The statue of the hooded figure opposite Vajdahunyad Castle is that ofAnonymouus,
the unknown chronicler at the court of King Béla III who wrote a history of the early
Magyars. Note the pen with the shiny tip in his hand; writers (both real and aspirant)
stroke it for inspiration.
TheTiimewwheeel(Időkerék) in XIV Felvonulási tér (Procession Sq), on the park's
western edge and directly behind the Palace of Art, is the world's largest hourglass,
standing 8m high and weighing in at 60 tonnes. Unfortunately, it no longer functions;
when it did the 'sand' (actually glass granules) flowed from the upper to the lower
chamber for one year, finishing exactly at midnight on New Year's Eve, when the wheel
was reset to begin its annual flow. Unveiled on 1 May 2004 to commemorate Hun-
gary's entry into the EU, it provocatively stands a short distance from the parade
grounds of Dózsa György út, where Communist honchos once stood to watch May
Day processions and where the 25m-tall statue of Joseph Stalin was pulled down by
demonstrators on the first night of the 1956 Uprising. This spot has now been filled by
the1956 R
ue of G
f Georrge W
n Monuumentt, a monolithic assembly of rusting (and controversial)
steel columns erected in 2006 to mark the 50th anniversary of the abortive uprising.
956 Revolut
olutiion Mo
DRINKING & NIGHTLIFE
BAR, CLUB
PÁNTLIKA
11.30am-midnight Sun-Thu, to 2am
Fri & Sat; 1, 1A, 72, 74)
For a place housed in a Communist-era kiosk dating back to the 1970s with a bizarre fly-
away roof, this DJ bar and cafe is very hip and has a great terrace. Food - soups, stews and
hamburgers from 950Ft - emerges from a tiny kitchen, and the selection of
pálinka
(fruit
brandy) is extensive. It's opposite XIV Hermina út 47.
BAR, CLUB
KERTEM
11am-4am;
M1 Hősök
tere)