Budapest A Photographers Dream City

August 12th, 2008

Article By IPA Member: Leonard Rapoport
International Press Assoc.

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Prague Palace - Budapest © 2008 - International Press Assoc.

June 7, 2008 - Article and Photos by Len Rapoport



Winning a trip to Prague for two at the Czech Tourism's Christmas party was a great gift and an opportunity for me and my wife to visit the "Magic Triangle" of Eastern Europe, Prague, Budapest and Vienna.



I knew going into this trip, that it was going to be a work assignment and also a wonderful opportunity to write about a part of the world I haven't already seen. Of course being experienced world travelers, both my wife and I have been to many exotic and interesting places including South Africa, the Amazon, Thailand, China, many countries in Europe as well as most states in the United States, but have not had the opportunity to visit Eastern Europe until now.

A view of Pest from the Buda Side - © 2008 - International Press Assoc.

Our trip began in Budapest where we attempted to withdraw some Hungarian currency at the Budapest Airport. Unfortunately, their ATM card was seized and this became the start of a 3 hour ordeal. You can read the entire story at his blog now.



Without much cash, we still managed to spend our 10 days and see all the important sights through the support of many public relations personnel at museums, attractions and events during their stay.

Rear View of Schoenbrunn Palace - Vienna - © 2008 - IPA

"We were able to make it with our credit cards, a bit of cash in our pocket and the complimentary admissions to every museum, attraction and event in the three countries." said Len. "I always take plenty of business cards with me, my press identification card and a portfolio of my work and pages printed directly from our web site. I have a nice portfolio and once I showed it to the proper personnel and explained I was doing an article for our site, all doors opened for us. We were grateful to all the wonderful people we had the opportunity to meet on this trip and wish to thank them for their generosity and kindness."

Drawing By Israel Rappoport © 2008 - International Press Assoc.

Especially poignant was a drawing they saw in the Prague Jewish Quarter Josefov, in a display in the Jewish Museum. It was made by a young jewish child, Israel Rappoport, in 1943. The drawing shows the many things the child remembered in a shop window.



During the war, some of the children from the ghetto, were put into a special area by the Nazi's. They were not allowed to attend school, their parents and family were taken away and they were starving. To calm the world the Nazi's used these children for propaganda purposes. Just viewing this picture and seeing my family name, brought me to tears. It makes the horrible reality of what occurred during the war to a more personal level.



Read Part 1 - Budapest and view our slide show now...

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