Budapest: Memento Park

Since my last post was mostly about a weird park worth visiting I figured I'd keep the trend going with a little bit about a park I went to in Hungary. I arrived in Budapest in the middle of the day. Usually after traveling you're fairly tired and not in the mood to do much. I figured before I dove into everything Budapest, which by the way is totally gorgeous and lovely, I would check out this park I'd heard about on the outskirts of the city. Outskirts was kind of an understatement in the end, but given the choice I'd go again. So that's saying something.

The Liberating Soviet Soldier Memorial

First, a note about how to get there if you're flying solo and carless, cuz it ain't straightforward.  To ride the subway, tram, or bus in Budapest you'll want to buy tickets in advance from either a vendor in the Metro or one of there little machines (also in the Metro). Buy a bunch because each ticket is worth one ride. For example, if you take the Metro to a stop and then switch to a bus, you will need 2 tickets. When you get on a bus or tram there will be little boxes on board where you validate your ticket. On the subway the validation box is at the entrance to the platform. Make sure you validate your ticket and keep it on you. Hungary was pretty much the only place where they checked for fare evaders. And I got checked at least 3 times. Tickets are cheap so just follow the rules.

You'll want to take the Metro to the last stop, Kelenfold, on the No. 4 line. It's also the green line. From there you go out to the exit indicated for buses 101B, 101E, and 150. There are a ton of exits at this station so just pay attention. I feel like it might have been Exit C, but I can't remember. Buses come fairly frequently, so pay attention and hop on one of those three buses. When you get on you can ask the driver, who may not speak English, to let you know when you get to Memento Park/ Memorial Park. From there it's about 20 minutes of driving through the country to get there. When you see signs for Fitoland (a garden center at the same stop as the park) you are close. People were very helpful and told me where to get off the bus. Take notice of the 2 bus stops that go back to the city. One is across the road from the entrance to the park and the other is a minute away on another street. 

Ok, now that that's out of the way let's talk about the park/ open-air museum. To sum it up in one sentence, it's a series of statues from the Communist Era in Hungary that were removed from the city when the Communist regime fell. Normally, in cases of regimes collapsing we see people knocking over statues that they see as symbols of oppression. The fact that these statues were preserved before they could be ruined is huge as not many of them still exist. 

Out of context, these Communist propaganda statues make everything feel surreal.

It's a bit of an eerie feeling walking around the park. First, when I went I was one of three people there. Not many locals go here. In fact, the guy who sold me my entrance ticket said most of their visitors are Americans. Unless you're there during some rush hour or bus tour, it's you and a bunch of creepy propaganda. Luckily, the symbols of Communism lose their oppressive menace when they're all put together in a field. As you walk around, you see Stalin and Lenin as well as statues of workers and soliders. Under Communism, art could only exist if it represented glory or support for the cause of Communism. Even though you are seeing them out of context, it's still pretty easy to imagine what life was like under such a controlling ideology.

If you go the park is open Monday-Sunday, 10 am until sundown.