Diplomacy & Trade 2020 June

Page 16

budapest Váci utca (Váci Street) is one of the main pedestrian thoroughfares and perhaps the most famous street in downtown Budapest. It features many restaurants and shops catering primarily to the tourist market.

OUR WORLD –WITHOUT US BY RÉKA A. FRANCISCK

Before the pandemic hit the world, I was admiring the works of those photographers who made their career out of shooting empty spaces, neglected and vacant buildings and deteriorating sites, such as Romain Veillon or Brian ‘Preciousdecay.’ I found beauty in those haunting images. I never imagined that one day I will witness my own city turning into a ghost town… As most of us were practicing social distancing during the past few months, our beloved meeting places, cafés and restaurants, along with practically all public spaces in the city, emptied. Again, I saw haunting images, this time capturing Budapest’s famous landmarks, totally deserted, in which I saw no beauty at all. It felt uncomfortable to stare at a completely empty Andrássy Avenue, to see Fisherman’s Bastion without tourists. These photos depicting the absence of people reminded me of postapocalyptic movies (without the bomb or the aliens) which I’ve never fancied watching. Our world, without us, is not nice. Reconstructed in 2015-16, Széll Kálmán Square (known as Moszkva tér or Moscow Square between 1951 and 2011) is one of the city's busiest transport interchanges on the Buda side of the capital.

photo by

DÁVID HARANGOZÓ

The outer section of Andrássy Avenue between Octogon and Heroes Square. Dating back to 1872, the road is lined with spectacular Neo-renaissance mansions and townhouses.

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