Our First Week in Budapest

John:  We arrived at the Budapest train station in the early afternoon with temperatures feeling like 6 degrees fahrenheit. After taking the subway we exited our train at the Kalvin Square substation and walked up the flight of stairs to a pedestrian square busy with people. At the top of the stairs I saw tall ornate buildings and shiny modern glass buildings surrounding an expansive pedestrian area busy with people. We walked by several restaurants, bars, retail shops and tall buildings to a building with a placard “Vamhaz 15 at the corner so we proceeded looking for number 11.

Our building (yellow)

Our landlord, Judit, a woman in her early 30’s with red hair, hurriedly came from a car double parked, arrived within a couple of minutes. She welcomed us to Budapest and quickly swiped a fob from her key chain next to the keypad by the door and a buzzing sounded immediately. She pushed open the tall heavy door allowing us to enter a short hallway looking into a courtyard. She walked quickly down the hallway and went up two stairs on the right. We met her in front of an open elevator reminiscent of the communist era one we used in Romania. The red metal door opened to two café doors that snapped open when pushed. We all were able to fit in the small elevator and slowly made our way to the 2nd floor. The elevator opened to a small enclosed landing area looking out to the courtyard below. We exited the landing and walked past one door to our apartment and Judit opened it.

The apartment is a 1-bedroom, 1-bath with a kitchen. It was neat and clean. We found some tourist brochures, a map under the sink, a laminated card with the wifi and contact information with house rules. The last rule was to “Enjoy the bottle of local wine on the table as Judit’s way of saying, thank you.” There was no bottle of wine in the apartment and thats probably why she hid the info sheet under the sink. There is no laundry detergent so I am going to buy a box of 22 Tide pods. Since we will have a bunch left over I am going to flavor my tea with them leading up to my Tide Pod Tasting on the last day here.

We familiarized ourselves with the apartment, accessed wifi and set up the bathroom and clothes and excited to venture outside to several places we saw coming in. Barb read about a craft brewery, Monyo Taproom, toward Kelvin Square so we went there. Except for Ireland and a rare occurrence, I had not had much fortune to drink anything but pilsners while on this adventure and satisfied my beer selection to Carling, Carlsburg, Tuborg or any other local brew. The taste difference was incremental and it wasn’t worth the additional cost or disappointment.

Budapest streets

It was a three minute walk to Monyo. It was small place serving their craft beer, wine and mixed drinks. We perused the beer list and I opted for the “Dead Rabbit” IPA, 9.6 ABV, and Barb selected the “Invisible Bikini”, a 5.6 ABV Porter. I typically avoid the higher alcohol content beers because they tend to have an odd flavor resembling a liqueur or brandy but this one got rave reviews. The corner bar was four feet by eight feet constructed of 16 inch diameter posts at ends and corner with a beam on top. The bar stools were tree swings! While it was interesting and cool looking I would be hesitant to sit in one after a couple of 9.6 ABV beers.
The bartender was a guy in his late twenties. I greeted him “Ha(t)-low”. I said I would like a Dead Rabbit and an Invisible Bikini. The two .41 liters glasses of beer were on the counter and he handed me a ticket for 2,100 forints, roughly $6.30. I paid him and received my change with a “cos-zo-nom”-Thank you. He smiled with a similar response.

Barb was talking to a coupe of people and petting their dog “Muffin” and we went to one of the only remaining vacant tables. The patio was enclosed with plastic walls but was a little chilly for us. The beers were delicious so we had another round but I opted for the “Flying Rabbit” IPA, 5.6 ABV.

We left Monyo and headed across the street to “Tao” for some Chinese food. It was cafeteria style and we looked at the half dozen types of chicken, lo mein noodles, rice and vegetables. We both ordered the same things, lo mein, rice and vegetables. We sat at a back table and enjoyed a delicious meal. We packed our left overs in a plastic container and headed back to our apartment. It felt very cold on our short walk back but we were inside our warm apartment in minutes.

We both talked about the good beer, delicious food and exciting atmosphere of the city and the great location of our apartment. We talked for awhile and I asked Barb, “Did you ever think…?”. Her face lit up with her great smile saying, “Nope, not in a million years.

Just having a cup of coffee

Barb:  The Zoo Cafe. When I read about it I really wanted to go. Knowing my love of animals, John was agreeable to it also. We started off with a very colorful lizard type who actually was quite active if not slow. I think he was my favorite.
Then came another lizard that did not really move at all.
The third was a python. Oh dear God. But you know what? He really wasn’t very scary, he was so smooth and soft. He wrapped himself around my wrist which John took as a sign of affection. I’m not quite sure.
Then we had a very cute little guinea pig who was only interested in eating his carrot.
The last was a rabbit. Soft and sweet.

Our new friend

They also had very large cats roaming the cafe as well as birds and other snakes and lizards in glass aquariums. We both agreed that was a very unique experience and we really enjoyed it.

John:  We’ve been in Budapest for six days and understand Anthony Bourdain’s comment on its architecture, "If there was such a thing as architecture porn, it would be this". We rode the “most scenic tram route in the world”, number two and saw the magnificent Parliament building, a landmark of Hungary, a popular tourist destination of Budapest and largest and tallest building in Budapest. It was built in 1896 and is 96 meters tall. We plan on visiting the Parliament building to see it lit up at night. But while there are other grand buildings it’s the buildings used as businesses and apartments that give Budapest a beauty. The old buildings have been restored beautifully and newer construction melds seamlessly. As I walk through the city I enjoy looking down each street to see the blending of the muted colors of the different building or an ornately decorated dome peering over one of them. Some of the streets are old cobbles stone and there are small pedestrian town squares dotting the city. Many of the buildings have ornate sculptures as part of their façade. But the bank building over the sub station of the metro is all glass and metal and the canopies over the stairs connecting the subway are metal and glass. All of the architecture blends to give it a very pleasing feel.

Barb: “Ruin Bars”. In city known for “architecture porn”, its ironic that these bars are one of the main tourist attractions. In the late 90’s, many of Budapest’s buildings were in disrepair. Predatory developers were buying up the city’s decaying historic buildings, razing them, and replacing them with cheap and unsightly alternatives. Local activists, campaigning to save the country’s architectural heritage, succeeded in securing protected status for the Jewish District, one of the worst affected areas. Still without the funds necessary to actually revitalise these buildings, a creative solution was hit upon. The first ruin bar, Szimpla Kert opened in the an old factory. From then on, ruin bars popped up all over the district. Using the old buildings, flea market finds for decorations, they have become one of the most popular tourist attractions in Budapest.

We actually just stumbled upon Szimpla Kert by accident. We were walking down a street, saw the opening (not the sign) and went in. When I saw the name inside, I recognized it as the famous ruin bar. It was crazy cool inside! A main “hallway” off of which were many rooms with bars. The hallway led out to a courtyard. There is a second story also filled with rooms that looked down on the first floor. Our plans are to visit several other ruin bars during our stay.

John: The city is vibrant with people but the excellent mass transit, trams, buses, subway and taxis, seem to move many of the people making the streets lest congested and easy to cross. The people appreciate my polite attempt at their language but most of them speak English making communication easy. There are many restaurants, bars, cafes, grocery store, shops and other businesses common to all main roads. We have thoroughly enjoyed each of our meals since arriving here and don’t think we will be able to try all or even most of the restaurants we are interested in. We’ve eaten Hungarian goulash a couple of times and twice at a Hungarian restaurant. The food was delicious and goulash is advertised in many restaurants and I have noticed several Hungarian food places we haven’t been to. It seems the local foods are as desirable as the other ethnic foods. While all big cities can boast of ample variety and good quality ethnic restaurants only in Budapest does the local foods stand on equal footing. We came to Budapest from Romania and we thought being spoiled by the very inexpensive cost of living there would take some adjustment. While Romania cost of living was about 50% of that in the States my research indicates Budapest is 30% less expensive than Chattanooga, TN. Since arriving I have found that to be true. Another benefit is the beer culture in Budapest. We are a short walk from “Monyo Café” which is actually a taproom. Breweries here are not visited by customers so it is necessary to find them at bars, restaurants, and taprooms. Monyo has excellent IPA’s and a delicious porter for about $4 for true pint. The local version of Bud cost about $2 for a 13 ounce can.

Barb: One of the city squares have street lights that are made to look like plant leaves.

The For Sale Pub

We had lunch at The For Sale Pub. The interior is covered with notes from customers. Each table comes with a box of peanuts which you throw the shells on the wooden floors which also has hay on them. There are lit candles on each table. This all seems like a fire hazard but we made it out alive and the food was great!

The smells of the city are fantastic! Down almost every street you can smell the food coming from several different restaurants. Every ethnic cuisine seems to blend with the other. We’ve tried goulash from 3 different restaurants and although we have a favorite, they we all really good. We plan on serving a lot of goulash to our friends back home! John has been bringing home street food after his morning walks. We have had pasta from “Pasta”. It comes in oyster boxes and they serve only 4 different types of pasta and it is all take away only. Across the street from our apartment is a soup cafe. They also only have take away and 4 types of soups. We love “Tao” for chinese and “Istanbul” for middle eastern cuisine.

The Market hall

John: One morning I went to Great Market Hall  just a few doors down from our apartment. The temperature on my app indicated it was 38 degrees F so it would be more comfortable today than the first time we were there since there is no heat. My objective was to find hot Hungarian paprika that would fit in our luggage with minimal risk of opening and making a mess of our clothes.

The market has three levels, the basement contains an ALDI grocery store and fish merchants, the top floor has souvenirs and prepared foods and the main floor has chocolates, baked goods, charcuterie, meats, cheeses, produce and Hungarian paprika.

The first time we saw the market it was about 25 degrees so by the time we made it to the prepared foods on the upper level I was too cold to sit at one of the open tables to enjoy it. We did, however, stop at each booth to see there displays. There was goulash, potatoes, cucumber salads, pork knuckle, blood sausages, rice, couscous, and a dozen other foods I would love to have eaten. The forecast indicates temperatures are going up to around 50 so we hope to try some of that food this weekend.

Hungarian specialties

I identified five vendors selling Hungarian paprika. From what I could discern from the internet, any paprika purchased in Hungary is far superior to anything we could get in the States. There are main types, sweet (minimal flavor basically used for color or garnish), smoked and hot. At the Hungarian restaurant across the street we had stuffed cabbage rolls on a bed of sauerkraut seasoned or made with hot Hungarian paprika and we had a bowl of delicious Hungarian goulash with just the perfect amount of heat, we assumed paprika was used. Since we both enjoy eating food with spice or heat we’ve decided to make Hungarian hot paprika one of the spices we will try when we return home. The paprika comes in decorative metal tins, decorative material bags with tiny scoops and plastic bags of different sizes.

Barb: So that was pretty much our first week. Most of what we did was right in the neighborhood we are staying in. It’s wonderful! We have over 3 weeks left and we plan on a night time boat tour on the Danube river. We want to go back and see the Parliament building, visit more ruin bars, eat more great Hungarian food and sample more local craft brews. There are so many sights to see in Budapest that I am sure we won’t see everything but so far this has been one of our favorite cities on this journey!

To see more photos of The Zoo Cafe, just click HERE

To see more photos of the Szimpla Kert ruin bar , just click HERE

Cheers!
Barb and John