Budapest

Ian@Wineknotmedia
Nov 7 · 10 min read

I have spent the last few years living and working on the beautiful Island of Lefkada, Greece. I sell wine for a living, not a bad profession, especially if you appreciate it truly, drink it madly and love it deeply. And I’ve been lucky to have sold some of the finest wine the country has to offer over the last couple of summers to amazing customers.

Lefkada being a holiday island, means that eventually the weather turns cooler, and, well, people stop going on holiday. So, at the end of October, pretty much everything shuts down. The Greeks themselves take a break, or manage their land and olive groves, some return to Athens to work, or spend time with family and those non Greeks, like me, find something else to do.

For me it’s generally involved going back to England to sell wine in London, but taking a slow route back to take in a bit of travel (though that didn’t quite go to plan last winter as I went straight to work in Chiswick!) . In the past I have always taken a slow amble through Italy, quaffing wine as I go and eating 4 times my body weight in pasta.

That was the plan this year as well, in fact I’d already fired off an email to the hotel I generally stay at in Bari, on the SE coast of Italy, to check for availability. Then, 3 days before I went I suddenly had a change of heart. It was a strange day. I had a few rather large sales of wine in quick succession, unusual for a sleepy weekday in mid October in Lefkada, and also managed to pick up a rotisserie chicken after 4pm at the local supermarket. My luck had been out with that for a while. The chicken wasn’t alive by the way, in case you thought we’d arranged to go out for a beer, or something.

It was during my dinner that evening, looking out on the the mountains, that I suddenly thought, I always go to Italy, why not find somewhere else? A quick look at the map and Budapest came to mind. I’d always wanted to go there and couldn’t quite understand why I’d not been before. The flight was 2 hours from Athens, so faster than you could say Goulash! I sorted out a trip, to Hungarys capital.

First things first, the city is split up into two parts separated by the river Danube, with Buda being the grander side and Pest a little more Shoreditch-y. The latter is probably where you’ll want to stay, since it’s home to the Jewish Quarter and all the eclectic ruin pubs (more on that later)

I arrived late evening and after picking up a taxi, headed to bed to get an early start. I do love a walking tour. It’s a great way to get your bearings early on and tick off most of the main sites in one go. I tend to ask around, the locals tend to know their way around, rather than go on one of those organised tours with someone holding up an umbrella, brella, brella.

Now I say I like a walking tour. About 15 minutes in, I saw these brilliant electric beach cruiser type bikes for hire with fat tyres. I thought I’d look pretty mean on one, so paid my Florints and took a map with me. Now on the subject of the local currency. It’s good to understand that you need to add a extra few zeroes of the Hungarian Forints, or HUF, to your calculations, especially, if like me, you’re going drinking and dancing all night in a ruin pub (more on that in a bit, I promise!). Work out the equivalent of a few amounts and don’t mix up your 1000 and 10,000 notes! As a rough guide £10 equals about 3,861.48 Florints!

I treated myself to a crash course in Hungarian history and it’s always great to have a bit of context whenever you’re looking at the architecture. Google helped me with random facts and tips on what to avoid and it’s a good chance to figure out what a destination is about and being on a bike mean’t I could travel out a bit to see the more creative, lesser-known areas.

The River Danube is the beating heart of this magnificent city. It’s actually the second longest river in Europe and though touristy, the walk either side of the river is amazing, with stunning squares, amazing architecture and levels of cleanliness that are probably the best in Europe,if not the world.

There are numerous bridges to ride or walk across and I alwasy find it amusing to guess what country people who are taken photos of themselves, friends,or family, are from. Number 1 in the hit parade (I am so old) has to be Russia. I don’t know why, but my idea of taking a photo, is to point, shoot, and move on. Except if you’re a girl from this country. It turns into a photo shoot, with various poses, legs in the air, fingers pointing to the mouth a bit like Austen Powers, the great detective. In fact I watched on one bridge-and waited- while one lady, took off her trainers, put on a pair of 4 inch stilletoes, had a number of pictures taken and then put on her trainers again, presumably to walk off somewhere else. I’m no expert, but if this process was being repeated each time, she would need to spend several months there, just to take a dozen images. (Okay I apologise for the generalisation of the Russian nation there , other countries are available). It’s just that when you’re on a bridge with other pedestrian colleagues trying to get across it’s not overly helpful to take an eternity to get the right shot. We are not at a Milan fashion show, after all. It’s fun to watch though.

What is the etiquette regarding the length of time a selfie/picture should be taken. If I can eat a Mars Bar during this exercise, it strikes me as too long.

The Chinese, as far as I can tell, seem to mainly favour an organised tour in orderly lines of two by two, minus Noah’s Ark. They are given a few seconds to take a picture before being ushered elsewhere. To be fair, you do learn a lot on these tours, so if you’re ever at a pub quiz and a round on Budapest comes up, then you’re on a roll.

My cycle tour was excellent though and I really felt like a Hungarian Hells Angel. The city is really eco frendly and as a pedestrain it’s a work of art trying not to get run over by a silent scooter, cycle, car, or even skateboard.

As I mentioned earlier, I planned a night of dancing in a club, having spent most of the summer suppressing the desire to Dad dance among people probably over half my age. (I’ve always been a secret raver since the days of Acid House and never grown up) . I’d heard so much about the ruin pubs of Budapest prior to visiting.

The reason behind these quirky establishments is that many buildings in the Jewish Quarter had been left abandoned during the war, so locals took them over and adorned them with random furnishings. The result is a bit of an eclectic, slightly studenty vibe that feels authentic. Most of the action takes place in courtyards and across several labrinth-like rooms. You can pop to most during the day for a bite to eat and later on they completely transform into well lit, well frequented, and really imaginitive clubs. I went to Doboz, one of the more well known ruin bars in Budapest. This place is awesome, with a massive wooden Gorilla attached to a tree in the main courtyard area of the club. Resident DJ’s pump out a mix of dancy vibes, with soulfully reworked classics and madly hypnotic trance music. I was in a zone and was amazed how quickly time passed and that a man of my tender years stayed awake! It was such a good night, primarily because there are none of the UK issues (weather, getting home, crazy prices) and I found that everyone’s in a chatty sort of mood. Doboz was excellent, with its colourful courtyards and reasonably-priced drinks.

As I watched the sun rise by the Danube, I remembed nights in London when I was younger and also nights in Lefkada, when I wasn’t younger.

Hungover after your night at the ruin pubs? I went to the thermal baths. Budapest is home to plenty of bathhouses, boasting ornate features and pools of various temperatures. I chose the beautiful Szechenyi Baths, situated in parkland by the Danube. It is one of the biggest natural hot spring spa baths in Europe. I went in the early morning (well I had been clubbing the night before) and this is probably the best time to go as I imagine it’s like a massive game of water polo at peak times. I slowly shrivelled up while trying to recall the strangely coloured cocktail I’d had overnight. It was the perfect cure though.

If you want to explore further, then entrance prices to some of the cities amazing architecture are pretty reasonable. It costs about £1.50 to visit the tower at St Stephen’s Basilica and about £2.30 if you want to visit the upper levels of Fisherman’s Bastion. Get there early if you want to make the most of the fairytale-worthy location though!

Hungary is famous for a number of classic dishes, so you can’t come here with sampling some of the local fare. I had Goulash a few times, which was lovely, in fact I over ordered the first time and had to be stretchered out of the restaurant. Effectively Goulash is a stew or soup of meat and vegetables usually seasoned with paprika and other spices and is very filling indeed!

The most Hungarian meal,however, that I ate, was at a wonderful restaurant called Cupàkos. The simple food served on metal trays reminded me of school dinners, but this was much better! Traditional meats are served with potatoes and cabbage. Really wholesome and tasty and if you’re hungry (not hungary) then you are in for a treat! And no lumpy custard or baked beans like small stones.

I had several meals with a lovely traditional Hungarian red wine called Eger Bulls Blood. The name originates from the town and region where the wine has been produced since the 16th century. Rumour has it that it was originally mixed with Bulls blood to give the countries soldiers additional strength during conflict. I found no evidence of this in any of my glasses though, but i did increase my press up count during my stay there….

Budapest is easy to walk around and you don’t really need a map, but if you fancy getting a bus back after a long day then you can buy books of tickets to use. The tram system is brilliant and especially pretty with routes along the Danube and around the parliament buildings.

I didn’t actually buy one, but the ‘Budapest Card’ is worth getting if you want do lots of attractions. It includes transport, museum entry, discounts and free luggage storage at certain venues around and about.

Especially moving is the sight of single pairs of shoes near the parliament buiding that honour the Jews who were killed by militiamen during WW2. They were ordered to take off their shoes, and were shot at the edge of the water so that their bodies fell into the river and were carried away. It represents their shoes left behind on the bank.

I fell in love with Budapest, I’m still mystified as to why I’ve never been there. It’s a very romantic city as well and lots of couples wandered hand in hand along it’s impressive streets and promenades. I was blessed with hot sunny days and there are few better cities in the world to have fun with the one that you love.

So come on, every guy, grab a girl
Everywhere around the world. They’ll be dancing, dancing in the street. There’s a song there somewhere…

The transport infrastructure is probably one of the best I’ve seen, buses seem to run on time, no one seems to strike and the bike paths stretch across the city in a way that suggests that someone is intent on abolishing the car.

As for me I’m still trying to run off the Goulash. I may have had the odd cake as well. Wish me luck.

Ian Erridge
Wineknot Media

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