Budapest was originally two towns, Buda (left of the Danube) and Pest (right of the Danube). Buda is the more historical side with majority of the museums and sights located on Castle Hill overlooking the Danube River. Pest is the more commercial side. We opted for Pest and headed for the most populous hostel neighbourhood. We settled into an apartment hostel overlooking a busy street with a view of the stunning architecture this city has to offer.

Budapest is known for its beautiful buildings which we were constantly marvelling at and stopping to take photos on the street, at the risk of looking like a tourist. On the flipside of this, Hungary has a disturbing history, having survived two very extreme dictatorships in the 20th century - the Fascist and Communist Regimes.
We entered our first Synagogue, the largest in Europe which in the 1940s was situated in the Budapest Ghetto. This was where thousands of Hungarian Jews were made to live in squalid conditions. The legacy of this is now a mass Jewish graveyard and a Holocaust memorial garden with a Weeping Willow tribute statue. The leaves are engraved with the names of victims who lost their lives during the Fascist Regime.

The highlight of our trip, though perhaps considered not typical was the House of Terror Museum. This is a candid exhibition on the Fascist and Communist Regimes. Not knowing much about the history of Hungary really opened my eyes to what the people had been through in such recent times. The building is located on a beautiful tree lined street like something out of an old film. In reality this house was the headquarters of the Nazi and Communist executioners where everyday people were imprisoned and tortured in the basement cellars. This was our first exposure to the events of the Holocaust and Soviet Union oppression and was an emotional experience. At the end of the museum there are photos of members of the Secret Police and it was shocking to know that many are still alive and have never been brought to justice.

For not the first time since embarking on our adventures it really hits home how lucky we were to grow up in NZ, so isolated from war, dictatorships and living in freedom. Sometimes it is good to be a small island in the middle of nowhere.