Thursday Doors Budapest 1

Budapest in November isn’t as cold and grey as England. A mini-break in the city only proved that you need more than three days to see this wonderful city. The River Danube bisects the city into Buda (west) and Pest (east). Much of the city was destroyed in the winter of 1944-45 at the end of World War 2, when the Russian army laid siege. But the glorious fin de siecle architecture has been reconstructed.

Flying Bird Tea House, next to a green, graffiti-decorated door

I love the decorative iron-work on this fine pair of doors. It reminds me of Charles Rennie-Mackintosh’s designs (as shown in my blog on Northampton).

A makeshift pair of doors in front of a more elegant set of doors. I like the carved bulls above.

This door has seen better days. The lock must have been rather stiff, hence the scuff marks where a kick-plate should have been mounted. The sign on the left is advertising Dreher beer, brewed locally in a classic European pale lager-style.

Home Therapy – well, if you live in a glorious old apartment block, you need to have matching accoutrements, such as fancy chandeliers.

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The stone around the doors is often just concrete, made to resemble stone. When it starts the crumble, it looks scruffy. Car parking is at a premium in the city. I wonder if drivers routinely carry a can opener in order to extract their vehicles from tight spots.

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More doors

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Fancy ironwork and glass doors

Real estate shop. Wonderful street light and a tree growing in a wooden box.

Cycling is a very green activity, of course. But I didn’t see many cyclists – drivers in Budapest can be reckless at times.

I love these massive gates with a door inset, leading to a cobbled courtyard. This is a municipal building, judging by the coat of arms above the magnificent door. It was election time, hence the poster. Politicians look the same everywhere.

To be continued next week and into 2020. I have a LOT of door pictures.

Thursday Doors in Kensington

I went to the Wildlife Photographer of the year event at the Natural History Museum in Kensington. It was fantastic, much better than previous years. You can see some of the images here. I wandered up Exhibition Road and saw the Royal Geographical Society building, which has a door.

More doors further afield

There are some posh shops, too.

Bibendum

I was not the only person taking photographs of doors

Toadstools and a silver skull, with model wearing her shopping trainers

Bakery – autumn loaves around the door?

Thursday Doors in Chelsea

I wandered around the posh Sloane Square neighbourhood of Chelsea in London in October and found some beautiful doors.

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Halloween decorations

Thursday Doors in the V&A

The Great Exhibition was held over six months in Hyde Park, London in 1851. It made a profit, so Prince Albert bought some land in South Kensington. Following his death, the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum were constructed on this site. I visited the V&A on the 1st November and photographed some doors.

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This is a Gothic Revival Cabinet designed by Augustus Pugin, who did the interior design of the Palace of Westminster following the fire of 1834.

Charming reconstruction of a drawing room from 18th Century

Wardrobe by Thomas Hopper

A cupboard door decorated with bas relief images

Portrait of Lady Anne Hamilton above a cabinet for storing collection of coins and medals. The cabinet doors are superb. And I really like the lamp standard next to it, too.

Another beautiful cabinet with gorgeous doors. The marquetry is superb.

More cabinet doors.

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That’s enough cabinet doors…