Things I Wouldn’t Want on My Tombstone #2
Budapest, Hungary
2011

I don’t know what message the artist intended with this statue, but the symbolic possibilities (none of them pleasant as far as I could come up with) are mind-boggling.

Things I Wouldn’t Want on My Tombstone
Budapest, Hungary
2011

I like touring old cemeteries to view the statuary and reflect on the history they represent. The Kerepesi Cemetery in Budapest was one of the most unusual cemeteries I’ve been to in the sense that it contains some really unusual tombstones. The title of this image is really theoretical in my case since I’m headed to the crematorium when I go. But really, I don’t see how statues like this could be comforting to anyone at a time of mourning. Of course I suppose comfort probably wasn’t the point.

Don’t Look at Me
Budapest, Hungary
2011

Candid street shots are only truly candid if the subject doesn’t notice you. This guy happened to turn and look at me sitting on the next bench just as I was taking the photo of him (and his wife window shopping in the background). When this happens I’m always afraid someone is going to take offense, but this he seemed more bemused than anything. In fact, although not truly candid since he noticed me, I think his curious look makes the photo more interesting than if he had not looked over at me.

Paparazzi
Budapest, Hungary
2011

A gaggle of tourists photographing the altar at Hungary’s largest church.

Eggs
Eger, Hungary
2011

In Hungary, like lots of European countries, the eggs are predominately brown rather than white as they are in the U.S. I’ve always wondered if an egg connoisseur could tell the difference in taste between a brown and a white egg. Maybe they could if the eggs were boiled but with fried eggs I’m sure the taste of the oil or grease they were cooked in would dominate over any subtle difference in the eggs themselves. I think the larger eggs in this photo may be duck or goose eggs. Surely there’s more of a taste difference there.

Weights and Measures
Eger, Hungary
2011

A produce vendor weighing out a customer’s purchase at the market hall in Eger.

The Hall of the Mountain King #6
Budapest, Hungary
2011

The old stone structures I dubbed the Hall of the Mountain King ended with this fence railing, about 1/2 mile from where the first of this series of photos was taken. The crow with the ring in it’s beak is the symbol of King Matthias Corvinus, the crow king. So I guess he’s also the king of the mountain to whom I’ve been referring.

The lighting in this photo was from car headlights–I had to wait for cars to go by on the road to take the photo because otherwise it was too dark. The crow in the background (at the left end of the railing) looks like the shadow of the foreground crow cast on the rock wall.  But it is actually a second sculpted metal crow. Even though I took the photo and know better, every time I glance at it my mind says it’s a shadow.

The Hall of the Mountain King #5
Budapest, Hungary
2011

This photo shows perhaps the best view of how close the stone structures were to the cliffs on the Buda Hills. It also shows how dimly lit much of the structure is–which lends to it’s mysterious quality in spite of being bordered by a busy road. It was that mysterious quality that lead me to imagine a castle within the rock. In fact, while not containing an actual castle as far a I know, these hills are riddled with both man-made tunnels and  natural caverns. Besides the Church in the Rock I mentioned a few days ago, there is also a complete hospital that was used during World War II.

Of the several different songs about the Hall of the Mountain King out there, I thought the lyrics from the version by a group called Savatage were most closely matched to my imagination. I found their music grating however, so I’ll just post the lyrics below.

Hall of the Mountain King
(Jon Oliva, Paul, O’Neill)

Far away
In a land caught between
Time and space
Where the books of life lay
We fear
This castle of stone
The mountain king roams
All alone in here
But he’s not the only one
Lost inside
Forever hidden from the sun
Madness reigns
In the Hall of the Mountain King
Oh yeah

His deep
Dark eyes
Keep watch on his kingdom
And the mysteries that sleeps safe inside
His hall
His towers of stone
Shall not be overthrown
For eternity
It is guarded by the king
Insanity and the power that it brings

Madness reigns
In the Hall of the Mountain King
Oh yeah
In the Hall of the Mountain King
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Come with me
Stay close by my side
As the darkness of night closes in
Don’t fear
In the thunder, it roars
When the Mountain King calls all his children home
To where I hid him we must run
Refuge here but I was forever on the run

Madness reigns
(my friends)
In the Hall of the Mountain King
Oh yeah
In the Hall of the Mountain King
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

The Hall of the Mountain King #4
Budapest, Hungary
2011

I was surprised by the relative lack of gothic architecture in Budapest compared to other places I’ve been in Europe. But this particular small gateway kind of structure is a classic, something that would make Bela Lugosi (who just happened to be Hungarian) feel right at home.

The Hall of the Mountain King #3
Budapest, Hungary
2011

Forty plus years is a long time for a song lyric fragment to be bouncing around in my head. That’s plenty of time for it to morph into something else.  It turns out the song lyric I was remembering mentioned neither a hall or a mountain; it was actually In the Court of the Crimson King recorded by King Crimson in 1969. I recognized it immediately as the tune I was thinking of when I listened to it. No surprise that I got it twisted around. What is surprising is that my friend Orion took the sketchy information I provided and found the correct tune in a very short time. Something Google couldn’t do–I’m impressed!

In the Court of the Crimson King was never one of my favorite songs or I’d post a video of it, but you can see it here if you’d like.