N. Kósa Judit - Szablyár Péter: Underground Pest - Our Budapest (Budapest, 2002)
Roaming the mysterious tunnels of the Parliament building
ues necessitated the abridgement of the tunnels, the missing bits being replaced with wells covered with iron grids. On a hot summer day these come in handy, as with ice packed at their bottom, these wells flood the Parliament building with pleasant, cool air. No wonder that the cooling system is an object of admiration to this day. Gravity can work wonders: the air conducted via a system of beautiful vaulted corridors to the mixing chambers flows down these underground passageways at a speed that makes visitors' hair float. This can sometimes play jokes on the people working in the building. On one occasion it happened that a No. 2 tram, waiting at its Jászai Mari tér terminus, was filled with unpleasant air escaping from a main sewage pipe nearby, which malodorous fumes left the tram car at the nearest stop to sneak into the ventilation system, eventually ending up in the debating chamber. (A happier occurrence is when the odour of newly mown grass on the square hangs over the sessions.) ■ Remains o{ the air-raid centre 11
