Magyars

This excerpt from Rick Steves sums up well the feeling one gets in Budapest. It just doesn’t feel like any of the four Slavic places I’ve visited on this trip. But I will say that it is also the most touristy, I think even more than Prague! And I hear English and Spanish (why Spanish?) as much as I hear what I think is Hungarian.

Hungary is an island of Asian-descended Magyars in a sea of Slavs. Even though the Hungarians have thoroughly integrated with their Slavic and German neighbors in the millennium-plus since they arrived, there’s still something about the place that’s distinctly Magyar (MUD-jar). Here in quirky, idiosyncratic Hungary, everything’s a little different from the rest of Europe in terms of history, language, culture, customs, and cuisine—but it’s hard to put your finger on exactly how.

Rick Steves

I’m staying on the Pest side of the river, in the inner town area, where the majority of the sites and nightlife are. I have seen very beautiful and terribly ugly both, juxtaposed. I didn’t at first, but now I rather like it. It doesn’t feel unsafe, just sometimes unkempt. Here’s Rick again:

Pest’s Belváros (“Inner Town”) is its gritty urban heart—simultaneously its most beautiful and ugliest district. You’ll see fancy facades, some of Pest’s best views from the Danube embankment, richly decorated old coffeehouses that offer a whiff of the city’s Golden Age, and a cavernous, colorful market hall filled with Hungarian goodies. But you’ll also experience crowds, grime, and pungent smells like nowhere else in Budapest. Atmospherically shot through with the crumbling elegance of former greatness, Budapest is a place where creaky old buildings and sleek modern ones feel equally at home. Remember: This is a city in transition. Enjoy the rough edges while you can. They’re being sanded off at a remarkable pace

Rick Steves

I met a couple from Ohio one afternoon (the wife grew up in NC!), and the husband had visited Budapest multiple times before, starting in 1990, just after the fall of communism. They couldn’t believe how quickly things were changing and how many new buildings and renovations there were. I’ve noticed cranes all over.

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Hungarians say “hello”, literally! But, as a twist they also use it for goodbye! Like ciao. It’s funny to hear someone say hello as they walk away.

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The Budapest metro takes ticket enforcement very seriously, and I’m almost always asked to show my 7-day pass and have it scanned when I enter a station. I’ve never seen this degree of enforcement before in other cities. Maybe they find that the return on investment is worthwhile.

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Going back in time, while in Bratislava I enjoyed another Thai massage, but this time I limited it to back and feet. It was awesome. I wish I could get that every day. The sign in the massage room (below) gave me a chuckle:

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Also back in Bratislava, on my final night I was walking through town in the dark, and a lady came up to me asking for help. She worked at a plant store, and she was the only one working at that time, and there was this really heavy planter she needed help moving. So I helped her, and she said, “let me give you something for your trouble.” I said no, it was fine, but she clipped off this little collection of dried flowers and gave it to me. Honestly, I was really touched.

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Today’s limerick:

Buda and Pest, each once its own town
Buda is up, while Pest is low down
Each has sites to see
Too many for me
But for the most sites, Pest takes the crown. 

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Today’s dad joke: What is that annoying insect buzzing around the South Asian spiritual leader?

The Buddha-pest!

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Today’s travel quote:

Once the travel bug bites, there is no known antidote, and I know that I shall be happily infected until the end of my life.

Michael Palin