Budapest

Before coming to Europe, I’m not even sure that I knew Budapest was in Hungary.  Besides being in the title of a Wes Anderson movie, my only knowledge of the place was an offhand comment my high school history teacher made regarding the fact that one half was Buda and the other was Pest.  But as soon as I was in Madrid, it seemed like everybody was raving about Budapest, from other auxiliaries to my Spanish co-workers.  It ended up being the final stop of my winter trip, as well as where I rang in 2015.

Just like my teacher said, Budapest is composed of two parts, divided in the middle by the Danube River.  Buda, on the west side of the river, is the older part and is home to the Fisherman’s Bastion, the Buda Castle, and the Royal Palace.  

It’s reminiscent of Prague with its cobblestone streets, short and colorful buildings, and impressive churches.  Pest, on the eastern side of the river, is the modern and thriving side of the Hungarian capital, and where you’ll spend the majority of your time, especially at night.

Budapest has a bit of a reputation as a party capital.  First of all, it’s relatively cheap.  The Hungarian forint was about 280:1 euro when I was there over the winter, and you can normally get a beer for like 3 €.  The club scene is huge, with the clubs tending to be multilevel with dozens of DJs playing a grab bag of styles in different rooms.  One I particularly enjoyed was Corvinteto, and I rang in the New Year at Morrison's 2. 

Budapest is most famous for its “ruin bars,” large sprawling multi-level party spaces built in what were once abandoned buildings, sometimes in formerly abandoned lots, scrap heap cars that are turned into seating areas, all kinds of refuse transformed into bricabrac chic.  

And if it sounds sketchy, it’s not.  The one I got the chance to visit was called Szimpla Kert and it’s hands down one of the coolest bars I’ve ever been to.  It has everything:  spaces for live music, spaces for DJs, beer bars, wine bars, food bars, cocktail bars, etc.  The other big ruin bar is Instant. 

Most of the ruin bars are located in the old Jewish area, which now seems to be the hip and happening place to be.  Another cool and more modern bar in the area is Kolor, with good local craft beer available and a bumping basement.  If you’re looking for good coffee, I had some of the best espresso I’ve had at Cirkusz.

Similarly, a lot of the hostels are “party hostels.”  The one I stayed at was called Red Fox Hostel and was just recently opened.  It was OK, but I don’t think it has the same clout as some of the more established party hostels in the city.  The good thing though is that there are events every night that a lot of the hostels go to, ranging from pub-crawls to boat parties on the Danube, so you won’t find yourself without anything to do or without people to do it with. 

photo taken from:  Visit Budapest

One of the biggest draws of Budapest is the plentiful thermal baths scattered around the city.  The most famous is the Széchenyi Baths, located in the City Park, a bit north of the city center, but accessible by metro.  I went to what can only be called a spa-rty the night before New Years Eve, which was essentially an enormous pool rave, with everybody swimming and drinking in the baths, despite the fact that the air temperature was way below freezing, while a DJ played music synched to a light show that combined spectacularly with the steam coming off of the water.  So whether you want to recover from a hangover or get a hangover, the baths are a good bet.

In terms of sights, the most spectacular is the Parliament, located on the east side of the river.  The red dome and spired building is certain to astonish, and whether up close or from across the Danube in Buda, the building is one of the most unique and architecturally impressive in Europe.  Besides that the Chain Bridge across the Danube is striking.  On a more historical note, along the west side of the Danube, just north of the Chain Bridge but before Parliament, you’ll see bronze pairs of shoes, right along the edge. 

Hungary came under the control of a fascist political party right towards the end of World War II, and in only a year and change managed to execute tens of thousands of Hungarian citizens, the vast majority of them being Jews along the edge of the Danube, where there dead bodies would then fall in and wash away down the river. I had no idea about that element of WWII history, and the memorial is simple but haunting. 

Food-wise, Budapest offers fairly typical central European fare, stewed meat and carbs, either in the form of potatoes or butter pasta.  Goulash is common, but Hungary is most famous for paprika.  I had some good chicken paprikash at a restaurant in Buda that was, ironically enough, named after the Catalan painter Joan Miró.  A lot of the beer I had was pretty average, but evidently Hungary is supposed to produce pretty good wine, which I didn’t expect. 

For being a wild card, Budapest was a wonderfully pleasant surprise.  It’s a beautiful city with a night life that’s among one of the most intense and unique that I’ve experienced.  Walk the city and take in the sights during the day, take a soak in the baths, and go hard at night.