The 1896 M1 Line

It's a busy Tuesday, further exploring the city then working remotely in the mid-afternoon into evening.

We take the street car to the Octagon stop then walk across the street and downstairs to the M1 subway, known locally as the underground.  This is the first subway line built in Hungary, and has been in constant operation since 1896.  The train cars seem to be the originals but they have been maintained and updated through the years.

We get out at Hero's Square.  The Fine Arts Museum remains closed to the general public, but there is an invitation only event occurring - perhaps in advance of the general reopening anticipated for November.  Unfortunately we cannot sneak through the security checkpoints.  Could it be William's Hawaiian shirt and my jungle print running jacket?

Our next stop is just north of Hero's Square at the Agriculture Museum.  There at least a hundred in line awaiting admittance, 70% below the age of 10.  Nope. Not for us today.  We have a nice coffee in the patio restaurant on the pond and plot our next steps.

The Hall of Art is a contemporary art museum opposite the Fine Arts Museum on Hero's Square.  Let's try that.  The neoclassical structure was built in 1896 for the millennium celebrations (not the ones that any of us would remember, the thousandth anniversary of the arrival of the Magyars).  It is somewhat humorous when the ticket agent explains that it is contemporary art and asks us two times if that is okay with us.  Perhaps she can see into our souls, revealing that we often struggle to fully appreciate contemporary art.  We gladly pay the admission fee and proceed to the exhibits.  There are 12 galleries, most with a few interesting pieces.  Two galleries contain masks,  many ghoulish; appropriate for Halloween, though that was not their original intent.

​We return to the apartment and I setup for some hours at my consulting gig.  Ah - the flexibility brought by the internet and remote work.  :-)