Hello, friends, travelers, and community! We spent about a week in Budapest and explored many sights without a prepared itinerary. Some of you may have seen my previous posts. As usual, we took our time to discover various attractions, and we saw many different statues around every corner, in parks, or at squares. but during our visit to the agriculture museum, we noticed a tiny statue, a miniature of Dracula. When I asked my husband about it, he explained that one of Hungary's most prominent street artists, Mihály Kolodko, has created small miniature statues that are hidden throughout the streets of Budapest. This piqued my interest, but since it was evening, we decided it would be best to go on a hunt the next day. Thus, we started our search for Kolodko's miniature statues.
Ukrainian artist Kolodko moved to Hungary and started making these miniature, meaningful statues, and around 40 of these are located around Budapest. They preserve some memories. Old cartoons, historical and political figures, and old brands representing Hungerian culture.
But before going for those small miniatures, just glimpse at a few big statues
Budari Modonna.
In the Mattias church, there are more than 100 nice statues placed all around. I liked the Virgin Mary.
Saint Stephen I, the first King of Hungary
Peace statue at Heroes' Square.
The Statue of Harry Hill Bandholtz in front of Liberty Square.
a prominent Hungarian statesman, Count, and two-time Prime Minister.
During our many explorations of Budapest, we often came across this small Kópé minuature, he was an iconic advertising figure for the old Skála store. This statue is situated on a small seating wall outside Skála Metro station, near Nyugati Square. On the other side of Budapest, the Skálá Stores were famously advertised on national TV by a cheeky boy named Kópé from “Coop,” who sang catchy jingles.
We also discovered a statue of Dracula sitting reading a book on a stone wall located on the rear side of Vajdahunyad Castle, which is now home to the Hungarian Agricultural Museum. After finding these two brilliant statues by chance, we decided to take on the challenge of actively searching for more.
We began our exploration with the "Diver with Key" sculpture, which was very close to our hotel. After circling around, we discovered it on a stone fire hydrant at one of the intersections, near the famous New York Café. Here, you’ll find the “key” to the café resting in the hands of a diver.
According to legend, the Hungarian author Ferenc Molnár was so fond of patronizing the café that he threw the key into the river to ensure that it would never close! But this diver managed to find the key.
Next, we searched for a Wind-up Trabant. We looked all around the streets near Margaret Island, but due to the extreme flood in the Danube, it wasn’t easy to locate. The car was almost submerged in the river, making it challenging to find. also it was the same color as the stone wall on which it was mounted. This retro vehicle was quite popular in Eastern Europe during the second half of the 20th century.
The next three miniatures were among the easiest to find. because they were located not too far from each other on the stone wall along the Danube
The Sad Tank
Sad Tank, the original concept is not known, but they believe that it symbolizes the Hungarian revolution.
The Rubik’s Cube
The Rubik’s Cube is a 3D logic game invented by Erno Rubik in the 1970s. Located at Batthyany Ter, I have tried to solve this famous puzzle cube, but I never knew it was invented in Hungary; now I know.
On the Bem wharf is the mini statue of Főkucac, just a few meters from the tram stop, on the stone wall. Főkucac is the faithful assistant of the Great Ho-ho-fisherman, a Hungarian popular old cartoon show. the big ho-ho-ho angler with whom they went fishing in the popular Hungarian cartoon. Depending on the weather, sometimes she is dressed in a scarf, hat, or warm dress
Dead squirrel
Wandering down tree-lined Falk Miksa Street next to the Columbo statue, we discovered the dead squirrel with its body outlined by chalk and its hand clutching a gun. nearby at the trash container.
We don’t exactly know what happened to him, but the famous American TV Detective Columbo, (who is played by the actor Peter Falk) is nearby with his dog, presumably gathering evidence!
Then, we walked to Liberty Square and the surrounding area where we found 3 miniature statues
Frog Breki (Kermit Frog)
Nestled next to the fence overlooking the square's café, you'll find this beloved Muppet statue, Kermit the Frog. We encountered difficulty locating it based on the map provided because the statue had been moved to a different spot during some renovation work. We ended up wandering around the park several times trying to find it, and eventually discovered it well hidden under some bushes.
AXE
Liberty Square has long served as an ideological battleground, featuring controversial monuments from various political eras in Hungary's history.
Lunar Rover Hungarian-born Ferenc Pavlics came up with the lightweight but resilient wheels needed to traverse the Moon on the Lunar Rover. He was presented with the NASA Award for his achievements. Appropriately, this one can be found on Hold (Moon in English) street on its own moon-shaped bollard on the corner of nearby Liberty Square, but it was not easy to see from a distance
Vizsla Hungarian dog. previously, they had a dog market. It is a fun way to remind the culture, there are many dog figures in town, but we found this one close to the Sun Tower on the Buda side.
Many times we have passed these impressive statues located at the underground station. And our Budapest trip ended with a fun adventure. After a long day of walking around to find miniature statues, we were tired and needed to prepare for the next day's early morning flight back home.
Thank you very much for reading my experience. See you soon. Take care.:)