Mesmerising City on the Danube:Budapest

Budapest radiates the magnetic beauty of love, attraction and friendliness. Peaceful yet bustling, a big metropolis and yet friendly, it treasures the old and embraces the new. Here the historic blends with the modern, this is Budapest

By Chitra Ramaswamy

TThis city on the Danube mesmerises us with its authentic beauty, and a unique culture that has been crafted as a result of hundreds of years of invasion, liberation, rehabilitation, rebirth and renaissance. Music, particularly gypsy music is everywhere in the city, on its streets, in restaurants – no less than in the grand theatre or opera houses.  This Hungarian capital may best be described as a bustling city that has both life and soul, is alive at all times, no matter day or night. The magnificent amalgam of the old and the new at once charms a first-time visitor to the region that boasts a wide variety of architectural styles that blend elements of Classical, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Art Nouveau in a single building. We immediately warm to the city that is visitor-friendly with a variety of transport modalities and an excellent metro system with three underground lines, a suburban railway line and several trolleybuses, trams and regular buses plying every corner of the city. We also observe that it has a wellstructured inter-Europe railway network that makes for an extremely comfortable intra-Europe travel. Coaches, hydrofoils and ferries make commuting between Budapest and some European destinations easy and convenient.
History Speaks Talking about historical facts, unlike many of its European neighbours Budapest was fortunate to have escaped the ravages caused by the two World Wars.  Pre-Second World War, Budapest had a robust entertainment culture with casinos ruling the roost which is presumably yet evident in several areas of the city. The twin cities of Pest and Buda combined to form the great city of Budapest which straddles a bend in the azure waters of the great Danube. Even for the first time traveller to the region, it is at once palpable that perhaps no other city along Europe’s longest river embraces it as much as Budapest, with nine bridges linking the two sides. A major promenade along the river offers sweeping and pulsating views of Pest and Buda. Incidentally, history records reveal that Budapest was called Pest-Buda when it was first created as an amalgam in 1873. The two regions today compliment and contrast each other: the one is hilly, residential and scenic while the latter is flat and industrial. More...

Travel
In galion mein woh baste the Ahmedabad that was!

"Ahmedabad houses two cities, one lined with malls and skyscrapers and another with interesting houses and chowks. Natrani Sengupta crosses over into the Walled City from the new one and finds herself in another era                    

Planning to visit Ahmedabad? Then you ought to find time to explore both the 'cities' it houses. The one lined with malls and skyscrapers, or the one with closely packed houses with carved balconies and narrow by lanes with interesting chowks. Interestingly, both these 'cities' are separated by Sabarmati River and connected by seven bridges named after the freedom fighters. Having lived in 'new' Ahmedabad for over two decades, I was tempted to explore the mysterious by lanes and pols (societies) of the Walled City. Everyone suggested that I take the Heritage Walk to understand the city well. This innovative programme started in 1989 by
CRUTA Foundation (Foundation for Conservation and Research of Urban Traditional Architecture) has helped many residents and travellers understand the history of this city.

Balance Between Two Communities

So like many others, there I was at 7.30 a m at Kalupur Swaminarayan Mandir to know more about the city, which was founded in 1411 AD. I was joined by a group of Americans and Europeans, who were on a month-long trip to India to understand Gandhi. So, Ahmedabad was an obvious stop and they wanted to see the city of the yesteryear. We were all ears as our guide Nirav started the slide show explaining the Ahmedabad that was. The beating of the gong and bells at Kalupur Mandir lent music to the talk show.
After 15 minutes, we walked down the staircase and Nirav explained that the walk also touched upon communal harmony, which was the basis of the city, which had seen many calamities like earthquakes and floods. The walk started from this temple to end at Jumma Masjid. So, it's not just today, but even during the 15th century, this city had struck a good balance between the Hindus and Muslims. There may have been riots, but there is no house where siblings don't fight, and that holds true for Ahmedabad too. More...