Dent, Bob: Budapest for Children - Our Budapest (Budapest, 1992)
8. Intor the Past - Museums
70 INTO THE PAST terested. The displays, exhibited in what are basically a series of corridors, cover the development of the electricity network in Hungary and its associated equipment. Points of interest include a model of part of the electric “iron curtain” which used to mark Hungary’s western border. When touched, bells and alarms ring and guard dogs start to bark! There is also a test for children on a computer which asks questions in English. To get the most out of a visit, ring in advance and arrange for an English-speaking guide and a short video film in English (122-0427). Very brief material about the displays is available in English, though an interesting booklet on the protection of white storks (which tend to nest on top of poles carrying electricity in villages) can also be obtained. Open Tuesday-Saturday 11-17. No admission charge. Wheelchair access is impossible, the displays being on a second and third floor reached only by a relatively narrow staircase. The building itself was constructed in 1934 as a transformer station and the style, as can be seen from the interior stairway, is representative of interwar modernism. At the north end of Kazinczy u., where it joins Király u., there is a small but tidy playground with wooden castle, two slides, swings and some seats. There is also a bigger one nearby in Klauzál tér (5). Aquincum This was the name of the Roman civilian town. If any children have a particular interest in Roman history, this is the place to go, although the surviving ruins and accompanying exhibition are not large. Situated on Szentendrei út, to the north of Óbuda, the HÉV railway takes you right there. By the “Aquincum” station, which is across the road, there are the remains of a small amphitheatre. There was a much larger amphitheatre, however, to the south (its arena was larger than Rome’s Colosseum) and the remains of this can be seen at the junction of Pacsirtamező u. and Nagyszombat u. about 1 km south of Flórián tér (bus no. 84 or 86). In the passageways under the large Flórián tér interchange there are lots of display cabinets and relics from the
