Hungary – Budapes
nd return later. Fearing those long staircases, I asked an attendant for directions to a lift. He said that there was indeed a lift, but that he would need to call for an escort. Why I asked? He told me, in English, that sometime in the past, the staff had hidden the lifts behind walls! I was somewhat surprised but had no time to ask why. I was escorted by yet another rather grim lady to the outside world. Hmm!
My Starting Point
(I’m starting in Budapest and working backwards to the Hook of Holland – to make sure that my budget allows me to see the many sights he describes, whilst listening to his books on audio.)
“Széchényi chain-bridge was built by two Scotsmen, the Brothers Clark. Apart from a few old streets and squares, the smart Dunapalota Hotel and the cheerful and pleasure-loving waterfront – especially the Patisserie Gerbaud, a dashing Gunters-like meeting place by the statue of the poet Vörösmarty – I liked Pest much less than my own side of the town, but I never tired of surveying it from the Fisher Bastion. This vantage point by the Coronation Church commanded steep descending layers plumed all the way down with trees, then a sweep of the Danube, crossed by half a dozen bridges. St Margaret’s Island expanded upstream and the Houses of Parliament loomed from the opposite shore.”
| Kalman Kubinyi’s “The Fisher Bastion, Budapest, Hungary” was published by the “Cleveland Print Makers” in 1934. This original aquatint engraving is signed and titled in pencil by Kalman Kubinyi along the lower margin. With its strong elements of both Art Deco design and surrealism, The Fisher Bastion is a fine, original example of the era and the techniques used by the American artist, Kalman Kubinyi. |
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