A Filming in Budapest

It’s funny how things come together when you travel. It’s always an adventure as to what you see and do everyday. Budapest was a little bit of a challenge for me (learning the transportation for the first time), but I enjoyed my stay in the city. Budapest really is a beautiful city, and it had a surprise in store for us while we were there. One thing I had wanted to while in Budapest was to ride the Funicular. When we finally made it there I wasn’t paying much attention to the Funicular, because I immediately went to the Chain Bridge, so I could take pictures of the bridge, and especially of the lions guarding the bridge.

As we were crossing the street towards the Funicular, I saw men in green uniforms mounted on horses in front of it. My initial thought was there was some sort of government demonstration or changing of the guard that was happening, so of course I started taking pictures, and then was told to stop a couple minutes later by a police officer. I was really disappointed when I found out the Funicular was going to be closed until Sunday, because we were already going to be in Prague by then.

Another officer told us we could walk up the hill to Buda Castle, instead of taking the funicular and I’m glad we did. It took us 15-20 minutes to walk it, because we stopped to take pictures and talk to the police on the way up. If you are standing in front of the Funicular (facing it),  the stairs are to the right of it, across the street, just beyond the tunnel opening. The path will split into two directions quickly. We went to the left (taking you to Buda Castle), the right will take you in the direction of Fisherman’s Bastion. It doesn’t really matter which path you take, once you are at the top you can get to both places. We stopped at the first landing to take pictures of the city.

We had a better view of the men on horses from this height, and there was no one to stop us from taking pictures. This is when I noticed groups of people with cameras above us. They would yell down to the people on the ground and begin filming. I was so excited that we just randomly happened upon this. We continued up the hill and stopped to talk with another guard and a couple who were asking questions about the filming. Was it a movie?  A series? Would it only show in Hungary or would it show worldwide. We finally got a name from the guard: Emerald City. It would be a tv series. The name tickled my brain, but I couldn’t think why it sounded familiar to me. We continued walking up the hill towards Budapest Castle with the couple. The male was googling the name and giving us all the facts on the show. The synopsis of the shows, actors and actresses names. Airing date. Then it came to me! NBC! I keep seeing commercials for this show on NBC website, when I watch my shows!

We grabbed a table at the outdoor café right above the filiming. I warmed up with a hot chocolate and watched the directors yelling at the actors and filming shots. The extras (who were dressed up in soldier uniforms) seemed to be quite bored while they waited!

Emerald City is going to be a television series based on The Land of Oz book series by L. Frank Baum. A “take on Oz as we’ve never seen before”. Here is the synopsis from nbc.com: Swept up into the eye of a tornado, 20-year-old Dorothy Gale (Adria Arjona) is transported to another world – a mystical land in great peril, where an all-powerful wizard has forbidden magic and rules over many kingdoms. This is the fabled Land of Oz in a way you’ve never seen it before, where lethal warriors roam, wicked witches plot in the shadows and a young girl from Kansas becomes a headstrong heroine who holds the fate of their world in her hands.

We were told that the show will be airing in the U.S in September, but it doesn’t look like NBC has released a date as of yet. I will definitely be keeping and eye out for this show . . . I would love to see how the filming turned out and point out where I was!