On Wednesday, we walked the Danube to a memorial, “Shoes on the Danube”.\u00a0 This was a memorial to the Budapest Jews who were shot by The Nazis between 1944 & 1945.\u00a0 The victims were lined up and shot into the Danube River.\u00a0 They had to take their shoes off, since shoes were valuable belongings at the time.\u00a0 This memorial was truly touching and very powerful .\u00a0 .\u00a0 .\u00a0 especially the children’s shoes.\u00a0 Once again, sometimes there are not words to describe this experience-this is another one of them.\u00a0 The memorial really must be seen to appreciate the impact it has on you.
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We then hiked up a long somewhat steep hill on the Buda side of the Danube to the Gellert Hill and Budapest’s “Statue of Liberty”.\u00a0 The Liberty Statue can be seen from all parts of the city.\u00a0 She was erected during the Communist era, commemorating the liberation from Nazi rule.\u00a0 (Also, at the top of the hill is the Citadel, a fortress built by the Habsburgs after defeating Hungary’s War of Independence in 1849.)\u00a0 Gellert Hill also became a strategic military position in the WW II when Soviet tanks bombarded the city from here.\u00a0 The Liberty Statue was originally constructed by the Soviets with a sentence underneath the statue reading: ” To commemorate the liberating Soviet heroes erected by the grateful Hungarian people in 1945″.
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\nOne of our tour guides told us the story behind this imposing statue.\u00a0 After the fall of communism in 1989, the Hungarians wanted to remove all symbols of the Soviet rule. (This included the large red star on the top of the Parliment dome which we saw on our Parliament tour).\u00a0 Obviously, the Hungarians felt the need to remove the “Liberation” statue that overlooks all of Budapest.\u00a0 The “lady” was immediately covered while the new government figured out what to do with it.\u00a0 Since the Liberty Statue didn’t have any symbols of communism on it (red star, hammer & sickle, Russian soldier, etc.), the government removed the covering and “repurposed” the statue.\u00a0 You certainly don’t want to put a good memorial to waste!\u00a0 We viewed the new inscription carved at the base of the statue which read:\u00a0 “those who sacrificed their lived for the independence, freedom and prosperity of Hungary”.\u00a0 The previous Soviet inscription had been erased by the Hungarians.\u00a0 The views from this memorial are dazzling.\u00a0 It is clearly the best viewing point in the city.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, we are off on a 3-hour train ride to Vienna.\u00a0 Budapest is a beautiful, dynamic city; and we had a very enjoyable time viewing the many impressive historic sites.\u00a0 We did not expect to see so many classic, gorgeous buildings within the city that still exist today. On Wednesday, we walked the Danube to a memorial, “Shoes on the Danube”.\u00a0 This was a memorial to the Budapest Jews who were shot by The Nazis between 1944 & 1945.\u00a0 The victims were lined up and shot into the Danube River.\u00a0 They had to take their shoes off, since shoes were valuable belongings at … Continue reading Shoes & Liberty Climbing<\/span>
\n\u001f<\/p>\n![\"Sculpture](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dltwt.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/P5184096.jpg\")
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