Why is Budapest so cool?

The best public transport ever

 

     I'm sure each city has its own good sides and bad sides. And what I consider the biggest plus for Budapest is the city public transport - the best I've ever seen so far. To describe it in one sentence, I don't remember last time I used a timetable here. I did it perhaps like 2-3 times, but that was definitely in a place very far away from the center and probably very late (or very early) on a Sunday.
       Really, for traveling throughout the center (and not only there), you don't need it. I'm not even sure if there are any timetables in some places at all. Well, probably there are, but the reason for not needing them is that most of the means of transport run basically all the time. The only mean of transport on my mind for which you might want to use a timetable is a boat. Yes, in Budapest there is a river so there are also boats. Plenty of boats - both tourist, sightseeing ones as well as public transport ones. If you have a monthly public transport pass, or more likely you buy a one-day or three-day ticket, you can use it for any Budapest urban transportation, including the BKK regular boat lines (called Hájo) or suburban trains (HÉV). So take this as another tip of mine, if you want to see Budapest also from the Danube perspective, you don't have to pay for overpriced touristic boats. With the whole day (three-day) ticket you can have it for free and you can actually always get on/get off at any stop you want. Just check the schedule to know the exact route of the boat you are gonna take.

       Anyway, enough of boats, I'm sure you won't use them too much. Besides using the water transport, in Budapest you can also typically use the underground transport as well as the overground one. The city now has 4 metro lines and except for night hours, which are namely between approx. 12 am - 4 am., the subways run all the time. The longest time I've ever had to wait was I think 9 minutes, which has happened to me like twice, not more, and it was in a very late Saturday or Sunday evening. Normally, during the day metro goes roughly every two minutes, on the weekend maybe every 4-5 min. The Budapest metro is certainly a transportation for which you don't need a schedule.
     Nevertheless the most amazing part of the transportation is that even though the metro is closed during the night hours, probably much like in other cities, there are night buses passing through the center and going further to the suburban parts, covering most of the area of the city as well as the suburb, so you really don't have to be afraid of not getting home even at night.
      But mainly, there is one more thing you will never need to use a timetable for. The main tram lines (number 4 or 6) - whose routes cross the whole city center and actually connect Buda with Pest and Buda again, also run nonstop and you hardly ever have to wait 5 minutes for one. In fact these trams bear two numbers - 4 and 6, however, unless you live at the end stop of the line(s) it makes no difference for you as both routes differ only in the last stop. Considering, then, that trams 4 and 6 are the same line, imagine that during the day at any time you come to a stop a tram is already coming. Sometimes three in a row. If you are coming home in the middle of the night, you never have to wait more than 10 minutes, which is just awesome!
      One funny thing about using the Budapest transportation in conclusion. For whatever you are waiting in Budapest, you expect it, basically any time, to arrive soon and that's, as a matter of fact, the way you totally get spoiled. For some people living in a village, out of bigger cities, there is no chance they would wait for the next bus less than 15 minutes. Very often, people coming back home at night have difficulties, because sometimes there is just no connection at all. But here, you know, the "pissing off", bored feeling we - Budapest spoiled townsmen - get when we come to a subway station and on the clock see we have to wait 4-5 minutes for the next one...oh boy!
 

Budapest has several thermal baths

 

    Hungary is famous for its many thermal baths (fürdő), with the most popular ones Hevíz lake, Hajdúszoboszló or Harkány. Thanks to the hundreds of thermal springs that have been discovered through the country, Hungary is conclusively the land of medical and thermal water and certainly a great place for relaxation and rehabilitation. Imagine that the first spas were already built in the Roman and Turkish era.
     In Budapest, you can find 8 official thermal baths, plus some of the hotels sometimes have their own small spas, too. And there are tens of other springs as well, indeed.

   I've tried out almost all of them, I've only never been to the Király fürdő. I think all of them are cool, all of them have something to offer and therefore are worth visiting. In my opinion, two most popular, and at the same time the most expensive, baths of Budapest are Széchenyi and Gellért. Both are pretty big and can be a good experience, but I personally prefer Gellért, which is, unlike Széchenyi that looks a bit like a sanatorium to me, built and restored in a Turkish style, has many indoor pools of various temperature and a great outdoor place with a Finish sauna and thermal pool, from where you see the Erszébet bridge or the top of the citadel while enjoying a splash about in hot water. Both places are, of course, very touristy and you will hardly ever hear Hungarian there.

     I usually choose the golden mean, though. My favorite spa is Lukács fürdő and can absolutely recommend it. I find it really nice, it offers everything you need, but you still pay much less than in case of visiting the two baths mentioned above. Except for usual indoor thermal pools with cold, warm and hot water, Lukács spa also offers one outdoor wellness and two outdoor swimming pools, different kinds of sauna and a newly renovated sauna world. 
      Dandár baths can be a good option for a relaxing afternoon/evening. Personally I'm not a big fan of this one. Comparing the others it's pretty small and mostly popular by elder and retired people, but if you go there after 5pm, you get a ticket only for 1100 HUF, which is a good deal if you just feel like bathing for a couple of hours.
      Perhaps if you don't feel like splashing around a whole day in any of the bigger spas, you can get a three-hour ticket to a sort of secret and less known, small Turkish baths called Veli Bej - Csazár fürdő (Caesar baths). The interesting thing about this one is that it is located in the underground and it's the oldest Budapest spa, built by Ottomans already in the 16th century. The Veli Bej baths has been fully renovated, however, it still keeps the "Turkish era spirit".

       Even though the Lukács baths is my favorite relaxing spot, I have to say that the Gellért baths is still the best Budapest spa. It's quite expensive and it's crowded mostly by tourists, but if you are just visiting Budapest for a while and don't want to miss the spa experience, I say go for this one :-)

Always something going on

 

    Budapest is a city that is always alive. It hardly ever sleeps. Perhaps the winter time is a bit more quiet and less crowded, with fewer tourists. The rest of the year and especially then summer is really busy, with lots of people everywhere and many things happening.
    During the warm months Budapest turns into a big festival place. Certainly the most known summer festival that hosts nearly 500,000 visitors every year is Sziget festival, ranking among the biggest European festivals. The Sziget festival is held every year in August on Óbudai-sziget (Old Buda island) and for one whole week becomes the Hungarian cultural and musical center with almost 1,000 performers. In past events you could see here, among others, artists such as David Guetta, Armin van Buuren, Lilly Allen, Calvin Harris, Placebo, Fatboy Slim, The prodigy, Eric Prydz, Chemical Brothers and many many other famous or less famous artists. Please don't stone me now, but I confess that I never visited the festival O:-)
     Speaking about summer festivals, you can also visit events happening out of Budapest - no less famous Balaton Sound or B.My Lake, both held at Balaton lake, or VOLT festival in Sopron.
     Budapest is certainly not only a place of music festivals, but also "culturally gastronomic" events. Yes, as you notice quickly when you come to Budapest, Hungarians love food and they do love beer. And they love Czech beer hehe. I mean, seriously, Czech beer is very popular here. A couple of times within a year, there are Czech/Belgian beer festivals and kind of an October fest in Autumn.
     Hungary is also "famous" for high consumption of sausages and similar meat products. Believe it or not, even a Pig slaughter and sausage festival has its own place here, if you keen on something....harder ;-). Other regular food & drink festival events are Mangalica, Fish and indeed a couple of wine and Pálinka festivals. In winter, throughout whole December and usually part of November, you can get in the Christmas spirit at the Budapest Christmas markets in Vörösmarty square.
   Being the capital city, Budapest is indeed also a great sport place. Besides watching common sports like football or basketball, Hungary are masters in water polo so you can come to see the top national matches to Margit Sziget. After the last successful qualification for the Ice Hockey WC, also ice hockey has recently become quite popular. There are many running events throughout the year. You can participate in marathons, half-marathons or other runs to exercise your bones. Every year in summer, you can watch in Budapest the world's best pilots at the famous Red Bull Air Race World Championship, or world's best drivers at Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring situated just outside the city.
    If you wanna experience something untypical, go sparty! Yes, it's not a typo. You know there are baths in Budapest, but do you also know you can go party in the spa? So called Szecska parties - Spa parties take place at the Széchenyi thermal bath during the summer nights. I can't tell you my personal experience, because somehow I never managed to go there (perhaps I didn't even feel like it), but from what I've heard it sounds like a cool experience which you don't want to repeat again, however. You pay 50€ for a ticket, then spend tens of euros for overpriced drinks to party through the night in dirty water with other hundreds of drunk people. But once in a life, you know....
   Of course, there are also many museums of various types in Budapest. If you are into history, visit the House of Terror (Teror háza) and I can personally recommend the Hospital in the Rock, which is a Nuclear Bunker Museum (Sziklakórház Atombunker Múzeum) representing a hospital created under the Buda castle in the 1930s. I really liked this one. You can read more here
     Last but not least, Budapest isn't alive only by day, this city doesn't fall asleep even at night. All around Budapest, well rather Pest than Buda, there are tens of pubs, clubs and beer gardens that particularly in summer burst at the seams, sometimes even on weekdays. To get into the places like Szimpla, FogásHáz, Instant or Dobosz, you sometimes have to wait in the line.
   In Budapest, you'll never get bored, I can guarantee that you will always find something interesting for you.

Cosmopolitan city full of foreigners

 

    As majority of you know, when you come to Hungary, due to the language uniqueness, you probably won't understand a single word, so you may also wonder how it really feels to be a foreigner in such a country. Well, to tell the truth, if you don't speak the language, to a certain extent you will indeed be limited, but since the city is very cosmopolitan, with plenty of foreigners, it won't be such a big issue, though.
     But even if you don't speak the language, you don't have to worry about getting bored. Thanks to many expats living or studying in Budapest, you can hear English around you everyday. There are lots of events and meetings organized in English happening all the time, where both foreigners and locals gather in order to speak and practice English (or other language), meet people, make fiends or make trips together, for instance. You can use various websites or Facebook groups. You can also simply meet someone at work or just randomly visit one of the plenty bars and easily socialize there.
     I came to Hungary just by myself. Well, together with my luggage. I didn't know anyone and first days was pretty much all alone. This a bit weird and lonely state lasted basically just for a few days and very soon I didn't feel like I was lost in the city. Personally, I found quickly people to hang out thanks to the Couchsurfing website. I checked out the events, a couple of times joined people for a drink, trip or caving, for example, and eventually stayed in touch with some of them.
     I have to tell you that I don't really have many Hungarian friends, there are only very few with whom I'm in a closer touch. I do have non-Hungarian friends, though. I have a feeling that it may sound strange to you, doesn't it? I've lived in Hungary but don't have many Hungarian friends? Well, I think this is pretty similar for most of expats. The thing is that as an expat you live a different life from the life locals usually live. You move in to the city to experience something new, to meet and get to know new people, gain new experiences and just enjoy your life. Therefore, you get more excited about the city, discovering new places and trying new things and tend to meet people similarly minded. You go to similar places, you gather in similar events and make friends with international friends of your international friends :-)
      You my disagree with me, but I think being a local feels a bit different. What I've noticed is that as a local you usually sort of have your own life, you have lived in the city for a couple of years so there is not much new for you, you have your own long-term friends, hobbies, job, goals and a routine. It definitely doesn't mean that you don't do it, you just don't tend to meet foreigners so much, or so often.
     The second reason for having many more foreign friends, and I surely don't mean to insult anyone, I don't find Hungarians the easiest people to make friends with....
     I don't want to judge whether it's good or not, not to have many local friends. Locals can certainly help you to explore the city deeper and from a different angle, can give you many useful tips on places, food, events or habits. And they are also very useful when it comes to the language barrier. However, there is for sure also one bad aspect. If you are in the same situation as me, meaning you know rather foreigners than locals, you might be forced to constantly look for new friends as lots of people just come and leave. Budapest is a cool place, but for most of such people it's just a stopover. As soon as they know the city so well that there is nothing new, get stuck or finish the project they came to work on, they leave for another destination. Even though it's nowadays a bit easier to stay in touch and see thanks to the Internet, cheap flights and other possibilities we have, saying goodbye, ehm...saying see you around the world to someone who has just become your good friend is not easy....

The weather

 

      Although Hungary is not located too far from my country - the Czech Republic - and, much like whole Europe, lies in the temperate zone, I wouldn't expect a big difference in the climate between both countries. The true is that there isn't a too big difference, but there still is some.

     Hungary is a landlocked country without access to the sea, has a continental climate, but is situated rather south of Europe and, unlike the Czech Republic, doesn't have high mountains, which may be one of the reasons (I'm not a climatologist) why this country is actually warmer.
     Of course, it depends on the season, but summers are usually pretty warm and winters pretty mild with very little or no snow. I personally don't like winter and I'm then a bigger fan of summer and warm weather. I like winter snow in the mountains, perhaps also for a while on Christmas days, which actually makes Christmas feel like Christmas, but other than that I prefer winter temperatures when I don't have to take on a beanie and huge winter shoes. On the other hand, although I love summers, I don't need to have them with extreme heat as it happened last year*
    Anyway, generally speaking Hungarian weather is a golden mean. You can have sometimes some snow in the Buda hills but in the city there is hardly any. Summers are usually hot but, as it's typical in these parts of Europe, don't last too long. Even though autumn is quite rainy, I would say in general it doesn't rain so much in Hungary (definitely less than in my country and incomparably less than in Belgium or the Netherlands, hehe :-)), which is a great thing and particularly in spring you can enjoy a nice weather.

*a small update - that was in 2013, summer in 2015 was probably even worse. One of the many, really hot, summer days I was at the swimming pool and the thermometer outside was showing 41°C (in the shade). It was 6pm. Yes, 6 in the evening. There were nights when the temprature didn't drop below 25°C.

Markets with lots of fresh fruits and stuff

 

   Although the quality of Hungarian food (I wrote a whole post about Hungarian food in the post ...), not to mention Hungarian cuisine, is pretty bad (apologies to all Hungarians, but it really is :-P ),  there is still one good thing, too. All over the city, there are plenty of markets, whether bigger or smaller, where you can get a lot of fresh stuff. Except for the famous Nagy Vásárcsarnok, being one of the touristic sights to be found in every guide, where everybody has been or will be at least once for sure, you can also find many other non-touristy places. There are a few other official big markets in Budapest, but it's not necessary to go to them.
    The one I know about, like and prefer to the touristy one, is Lehel Csarnok at the Lehel square. Well, you find hardly any souvenirs here, but then there is a variety of stuff you actually go for, such as all possible kinds of fruits, vegetables, a couple of butchers, milkmen, bakers and stalls with other miscellaneous homemade products. Another one is near Újbuda-központ, behind the Alee shopping mall.

      You don't always have to go for fresh fruit and vegetables to the big traditional markets, however. Besides these, there are many farmers having their small stalls around Budapest.
      Anyway, getting back to the point, the nicest thing about fruits and vegetables in Hungary is the vast variety of fruits in summer. Obviously it's not as good in winter, of course, because some fruits simply don't grow on this land, but thanks to the quite warm weather and good natural and agricultural land conditions, as soon as the early summer comes the selection of fresh fruits is pretty big here. Typically you can get fresh apricots, peaches, plums, whatever kinds of berries, apples, pears, melons and lots more.

Lots of nice parks and green areas

 

     Living in a big city full of people, cars and the accompanying pollution is, without a doubt, not the healthiest way of life and it's not always easy to find a piece of nature among the concrete jungle. I think in Budapest they don't completely forget about the importance of having green areas to keep the city at least a bit cleaner, to have a place to relax, or possibly do some sport.
    Above all, I would like to tell you that if you kind of get tired of the city and all the dust, traffic and rush around, and start feeling like getting out to nature to refresh your mind, Budapest has a great place for everyone to do so. Basically the whole west - Buda - side of the city is pretty green, mainly thanks to the Buda hills covering most of this area. There are many nice places you can visit in the Buda hills and surroundings, such as the most popular Normafa, János Hegy with the Elizabeth lookout tower (Erzsébet-kilátó), Hármashatárhegy or other lookout towers. You can get more inspiration for hikes at "A few tips for potential visitors".
     Coming back to parks as such, the biggest and at the same time the most popular one, you can find right in between Buda and Pest, which means on the Danube. Yes, right there you can find the biggest Budapest island - Margit sziget (Margaret island), which presents one huge park, in fact. Margit sziget is also the most popular running place and sport & relax center in general, with a swimming pool, football pitch, water polo pool, play fountain, a club and even a mini Zoo. You can read more about Margit sziget here.
     Looking apart from the island, officially the biggest Budapest park is Város liget (city park) close to the Hero's square (Hősök tere). The place I like very much and can absolutely recommend is called Kopászi gát (Bald dam), which is apparently an artificial dam. Having written about these places under post "A few tips for potential visitors", hereby I would like to encourage you to check it and read more there.
     A bit out of the center, but nearby my apartment, right behind the Hungarian Natural History Museum, there is a bit smaller but very lovely Orczy park. Also here you can see a lot of people from the neighborhood (sometimes even me) jogging. In the middle of the park, there is a big meadow, a perfect spot for relaxing on warm days or performing various types of games. You can walk around, sit by a duck lake or try out being Tarzan in a small adventure park for a while. One proper and one artificial football pitch can also be found in the park, however, a part of the park is already under reconstruction that is supposed to include the whole park in 2016.

    On the Buda side, there is an interesting park called Millenáris, which can be found behind the Mammut shopping mall. The park is located on the territory of the former industrial site and has fully been reconstructed a few years ago. Nowadays, it serves as a recreation center with a pond, cafes, playground and a couple of exhibition halls (The Invisible Exhibition can also be visited here). It's also a popular venue for concerts and various exhibitions or fairs.

    You can also spend your time in Városmajor, Vérmező or in the south (11th district) a bit forgotten, nameless, but lovely park (near Kosztolányi Dezső square) with a lake (the lake is called Feneketlen).
    I've tried to gather perhaps the most interesting parks that can be found in Budapest. Besides those, there indeed many small parks spread throughout the city. Very often they have a ping-pong table, various working out stuff or children's playground. But find your time to explore the city by yourself. Or play Geocaching ;-)

Junction of the low budget airlines

 

    In my very first post I told you that one of the reasons I decided to come to Budapest was that I was missing traveling. Believe it or not, although Hungary is not a big country, it has borders with 7 other countries so just by visiting its neighbors you can easily add 7 new counties to your "I've been to" travel map.
     You can do it, of course. And you can also travel throughout Hungary as well. What I especially want to mention here, however, is that Budapest is also a perfect spot for traveling to distant countries because the Budapest airport is a base for all the low budget airlines. Therefore, from here you can get to more than 30 destinations for a reasonable price, by flying with Wizzair, Ryanair or Easyjet. Moreover, although the airports of most of the low budget airlines are sometimes located quite far out of the actual city, the Budapest one is pretty close to the city so it's quite cheap and fast to get there.
    If you are lucky, book your tickets in advance and, perhaps use a club card, you can sometimes travel for an incredible price. Out of many places I've visited from Budapest, as an example, I got a return ticket to Targu Mures in Romania for 7.000 HUF, Rome for 8.000 HUF or Istanbul for 21.000 HUF.
     Little advice, in conclusion. When you arrive at the Budapest airport, don't be such a lazy, comfortable tourist. Sure, the easiest way to get to the city is to grab a taxi. It will cost you around 22 € and take about 35-45 min depending on the place you want to be dropped off at. You can also use a shuttle bus (I don't know much about those but the price should be lower). Or you can play being a local, which is always the cheapest, and get on a public transport bus 200E with a transfer ticket for 530 HUF (less than 2€), whereas it will take you around 40-45 min with one change for metro M3.
   

Some Intercultural Shocks

    Whenever you set out on a trip, whether more or less, you always have some expectations. And you usually have a few prejudices as well. You know at least a bit about the place you are going to visit, however, there is always something to be surprised by. In fact, that's why you travel, right? Traveling is indeed about surprises and new experiences.
     No matter whether Europe, America, Asia, Africa or Australia, each country has a different culture, habits, landscape, language (or at least its dialect) and the very aspects and their dissimilarities make traveling so interesting. Some differences don't really surprise you, are not new for you, sometimes, however, you encounter something you wouldn't expect. I call such differences "intercultural shocks", whereas the word "shock" rather represents a worth mentioning, for the local culture specific, fact that may differ from your expectations. And much like I did it in the blog about my 10 months spent in Belgium, also now I'm going to dedicate the first article to my first impressions of the city.

Level of English language

     Let's start with the topic that very often crosses your mind when thinking about going abroad. And especially when thinking about moving abroad. Well, especially when thinking about moving to Hungary :-D
    In my case it wasn't different. Before I came to Hungary I was worried that the Hungarians couldn't, or perhaps wouldn't be willing to speak English. As a matter of fact, that's what I also heard.      So...it is Hungary, right? But at the same time it's also a capital city. So what would you expect? You know, it's not yet "Western Europe" where everyone from small kids to retired people speaks great English, the situation in these European is after all a little bit different.
    Anyway, based on the information gathered from a few friends living in Hungary, there was nothing to be afraid of, since, as they assured me, the young people in Budapest usually speak English as well as most of the people in the center (or at least in tourist places). Well, the truth is that the English language is not so common here. Basically pretty much the same as in our country. Or even less, I would say. You can run into someone who speaks English as well as it's very likely you meet someone who can't even say a word.
    To be honest, in fact that's what I actually expected and therefore I shouldn't call this observation "a cultural shock", as it didn't really shock me. What really did surprise me, though, is that they usually don't even speak English in places where you would sort of expect that. Can you imagine that if you want to open a bank account in an "international bank", as they present themselves, you need to know Hungarian otherwise you have a big problem? Yes, the most commercial, international, Hungarian bank doesn't even have ATMs with the English language option. But neither have they English speaking staff.
     Because I needed to open a Hungarian account so I would get paid my salary and I didn't know much about the banks here, their fees or conditions, I opened an account in a bank that had their branch office at my workplace, in the center of international companies, where plenty of foreigners work (which I considered a big advantage). Well no, the lady behind the desk didn't really speak English but she was at least able to say basic words so I knew what I was required to filled out and it was eventually sufficient for opening the account.
     The first surprise followed a bit later when I saw that the account had just been opened and my account balance was already around 4000 HUF (approx. 14 €) below zero because, of course, you have to pay a fee for the card and opening the account. But that's another story.

     After a couple of weeks, I found out that I was paying really too high fees and the bank was charging me for completely everything - for withdrawals, bank transfer, receipts...well, I think I was even kept being charged whenever I touched the payment card or even thought of money. So I decided to change the bank. After my (not really good) experience, in order not to need to bring with me someone who speaks Hungarian, I went to close the account to a bigger branch office, which was located in the very center. So I go in, there is this queue ticketing system with numbers, I don't know which one to press because it's in Hungarian only, so I just press a random one. When my number is called up, I go to a woman sitting behind the desk. The first question I ask is if she speaks English. "No....kolléga, kolléga (colleague)...minute"...something like that is the reaction. So I'm sent to another floor to someone that is supposed to speak English and help me. Asking around, after few "my colleague, colleague, kolléga", somebody is finally able to talk a few words in English with me, I pay 1500 HUF (5€) as a charge for closing the account and the account is finally closed. 

    This is an example story to show you how it is actually with the English level in Hungary. So to sum it up, generally speaking, no, they don't speak English. That's what you should count on. Trust me, the same will happen to you if you go to the foreign department of the Central Insurance Office, where you will have to use your simple English along with your hands and legs. This is even more ridiculous as in this place they work mostly with foreigners. But indeed there are plenty places, as already mentioned mostly the tourist places, where people can speak at least a basic English.
     On the other hand, the Hungarians tend to be self-critical (too much) and if their answer to your question if they speak English is "a little", it means that they do enough to understand you and tell you what you need.

Old school trams and super old subways

   If you, as a first time visitor, arrive in Budapest, this is usually one of the very first things you notice. There are currently four metro lines in Budapest - one brand new operating since this spring (2014), one more, still quite new, line, the super old blue line and the retro metro line, how I purposely call it.
     If you arrive in Budapest at the Keleti station, you get an opportunity to take a ride with the new, quite nice, metro line 2 and you will simply take it for granted. The first shock arises, however, when you change for line M3 and its Soviet, 35-years old metro cars, rather resembling cans. If you are going to use the metro with your friend and are planning to talk with each other during the ride, please be prepared that for that, you will always have only about 20 seconds at each station. Why is that, you are asking? Because once the doors close and the train starts off again, due to big noise it makes, it's just not possible to hear your own words. So unless you want to take a risk of losing your voice after a few minutes, just keep your words for next station :-D These types of metro cars are mainly fun to travel on in summer, especially when the temperature exceeds 30°C to 35 - 38 °C. This metro is not equipped with an air-conditioner so you can experience a proper Finnish sauna. The good thing is that you don't need to pay extra for it, it's already included in the ticket.

    The retro metro (also called Millennium Underground Railway) is really funny, though, and I would say that rather than very useful, it's more of a tourist attraction. Anyway it is there on purpose. The Budapest metro is, right after the London one, the second oldest metro in the world, whereas it was introduced first in 1896. So this metro line (or at least a part of it) is now more than 100 hundred years old, thus the cars operating on this line as well as the stylish stations have been kept to remind of the age when none of us was yet alive.

Aaand now about the trams. There are brand new trams operating in the center, being a very important mean of transport. Nevertheless, the further from the city center you go, the more you go back in time as well. The first time I saw a tram like the one on the picture, I also had a feeling that I found myself 30 years back in time, but what's more important I returned 30 years back to Czechoslovakia (as 30 years ago the independent state of Czech Republic didn't yet exist). Yes, these trams were produced in Czechoslovakia somewhere in 80's
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatra_T5C5). Nice :-)

     If you happen to show up in non-touristy parts of Budapest, outside the city center, besides the Czechoslovakian one, you will also encounter different types of old trams, which may take you back in time even more! I especially like those with convertible stairs, just like on the picture :-D Give it up for RETRO!

Number of homeless people

     I've already been to roughly 20 European countries and the number of visited cities is indeed even higher, but I never saw anything even close to what you face in Budapest. The first time I came to Budapest I was literally shocked. I guess it's quite normal that the main train stations in bigger cities are occupied by homeless, beggars or, how to put it deliberately, people from the lower social class, let's say. And you get no different impression when you arrive at the Keleti station, just as I did.
    What was really shocking to me, though, was that when I took a metro to move to the center, it became even worse. The underpasses of the main metro line were literally besieged by homeless people! Yes, seriously, this is a very sad situation here in Budapest. There are plenty of people without homes, people living in deep poverty, begging around for a few forints.
     When I arrived in Budapest, it was summer in its full swing and each underpass, at least the ones in the center,  was a gathering place for them. At the beginning of November, a law prohibiting the homeless from staying in the districts of the city center came into force. The day after, you could see policemen expelling poor people from subway underpasses and other public places. It is said that the government isn't really tolerant towards people from low social classes, although there are many. The number of people living in poverty or on its edge is enormous here, but I don't think trying to get rid of such people this way is the right solution.....
     The first question, naturally, which crosses your mind when you see it with your own eyes, is how come there are so many of them. It's said that many of these people (but not all of them) are the result of the mortgage crisis that occurred in Hungary a few years ago. To put the long story short, before the famous global economic crisis broke out, Hungarian households had been borrowing lots of loans. High indebtedness of households as such wouldn't have been a problem, the problem, however, was that they had been borrowing money from abroad due to high taxes, interest rates and charges on loans of Hungarian banks it was much cheaper. The loans with low interest rate they had been obtaining were mostly from Switzerland, in Swiss francs then. Always if there is a money transaction involving two different currencies, there is also a high currency risk you are undertaking. Risky policy, not very well-managed state economy, along with insufficient financial literacy of people and big currency drop, led to inability for many people to repay the mortgage loans, as the Hungarian forint had rapidly dropped over night, and thus the loans became for Hungarians suddenly up to 30-50% more expensive.
      Even though many people have been struggling to repay such, all of a sudden, expensive loans, which may have resulted in serious financial problems, and consequently left them on the street, I personally think, though, that this is not the main reason and the startling number of people living on the streets results from the bad Hungarian social policy...

Footbal

    Here comes a funny thing :-D And I would never guess that after visiting a football game I would bring in another intercultural shock. Once I went to the stadium to watch a football match between Hungary and the Czech Republic. Yes, to see our national team from a bit different perspective (or let's just say from a different country). Actually, what I considered there the funny thing is not related to football itself, however, to understand why I was "culturally shocked", let me explain what it looks like when you go for a football match in our country.
     No matter who's playing against whom, it applies everywhere. For many Czech football fans, there would be no football without a sausage and beer! Without a sausage and beer, indeed, they wouldn't feel like at the stadium watching football and the game wouldn't be good (even though sometimes it isn't even with 5 beers). So during the match you can usually see people drinking beer (quite often lots of beer), very often complemented with - as mentioned - a sausage. In the Czech Republic this is common and absolutely normal.
     Now what was different and what really surprised me in Hungary? People at stadiums do not drink beer! They don't stand in the queue, especially before the match and in half-time break waiting for their favorite golden drink or sausage, like in my country. But instead of that, to calm down the nerves during the game, everyone has....wait for it.... A pack of sunflower or pumpkin seeds! This is incredible. Almost everyone at the stadium was crunching seeds. Well, you won't find a pile of pet glasses tossed on the ground, or dirty seats from mustard or ketchup, but you will find everywhere piles of seeds instead. 

The young drinking in public places

    Now don't get me wrong! This post is not going to be a lecture about morality of - or for - teenagers. I'm pretty sure people do it anywhere and although I don't like the fact that the young people indulge in drinking alcohol way too early and too frequently, very often because they are kind of bored and can't find another entertainment, from certain age I used to do the same. From time to time. The point is, everything has certain standards and limits.

    I believe that in many countries drinking in public places is regulated and usually also fully forbidden by the law. Nevertheless, there are also many countries, including the Czech Republic and I guess Hungary as well, where the national law doesn't regulate it, however, particularly in bigger cities, the municipalities issue a local, municipal ordinance regulating rules within their territory.
     And believe it or not, as well as in basically all the bigger cities in my country (including Prague), drinking in all public places in Budapest is officially illegal! I know this may be surprising because in reality, if you walk in Budapest through the streets, parks, stations or get on a tram, it definitely doesn't seem so. Public drinking is totally ignored here and even though in general  I'm not such a moralist and don't really care, in Budapest they should absolutely be stricter.
     The number of people drinking on public transport is incredibly high and sometimes it feels really crazy. When you go out in the evening (without a bottle), you will get what I mean. When on a tram or bus, you will also notice that you belong to the minority of sober passengers annoyed by bunches of noisy people sharing bottles around the tram. As soon as you get off in the center and walk in the streets, you will have to watch your way not to step on a glass (or glass) tossed on the ground. 

   At night hours the Budapest public transport turns into party trams and buses, Budapest streets in one big alcoholic shelter.

Drivers are too nice (but don't really use indicators)

     If you ask a Hungarian what they think about the drivers in Hungary, I don't think you will get a positive opinion. Well, above all, they never lived in the Czech Republic, where the drivers are probably the most inconsiderate in Europe (perhaps in the world). Even though that in some article, blog or whatever it was about Budapest and its typical characteristics, someone wrote that the drivers here don't stop when they see someone crossing a street even on a zebra pad, I highly disagree with this theory. Simply because it's not true. Not only in my opinion they do stop too much! It happens to me every day, actually multiple times per day, that a driver stops for me even when I don't really want to. When they see I'm about to cross the road, in most cases they just stop to let me cross over, also out of crosswalks. Once the same happened when I was with a friend going to cross a road. With one voice we agreed that this was something we were not used to from our countries, where the drivers very often don't feel like stopping even in front of a crosswalk where you, as a pedestrian, have the priority, in fact.
   This gesture may seem nice indeed, but it's not always necessary and sometimes rather inconvenient or kind of dangerous. Why? You have to keep in mind that it's quite a big city so the traffic especially in some parts of Budapest is pretty big, therefore by stopping a car for a random lazy pedestrian you may be restraining other cars and supporting traffic jams. In addition to that, people in Budapest are all the time in rush so as you stop in the middle of nowhere, for your nice gesture you may be worthily punished by another driver honking at you or crashing into you.
     And yes, another thing I've noticed about the drivers and have to share with you - they don't care about using indicators when changing direction, which is definitely dangerous as such. I really love the feeling when you are standing close to an intersection to walk over, waiting till the coming car passes, but then all of a sudden the car just turns to a different direction without indicating....

People addicted to cell phones

      Yes, we live in the age of mobile phones, laptops, tablets and other devices. It's pretty normal that almost everybody has Internet in their phone and stays online, well, basically nonstop. I'm not going to discuss if it's good or not, anyway it's usual in my country, too. It also is common that people stare at their screens, whatever device it is, when traveling on the subway (as you don't really have anything better to do anyway). But I've got an impression that what you see in Hungary is just a bit too much :-D When you get on a metro, observe people around you. There is a very high chance that at least half of the people will be watching their phones/tablets, out of which two thirds will be checking Facebook.

     It's fine, I know. I do the same sometimes. It's a way to kill the boring time on the metro. And as a matter of fact also quite effectively because you don't waste your time by surfing Facebook later. But what I want to point out is that here (maybe in other countries too) so many people do it all the time, not only during the ride, but also when getting off, getting on, while walking in the streets, and this is, apart from the addiction, also dangerous. It's not rare that someone bumps into you as they are walking towards you with their head down.

     Well, this is the age we live in, I'm pretty sure for many of you it's very hard to imagine leaving your home, not to mention living, without your phone. The mobile internet can be useful in cases when you need to check a transport timetable, you want to know opening hours of the place you want to visit or you need a map. But honestly...isn't it sometimes a bit boring, missing the real adventure? :-) In my opinion it is. I personally prefer to stay offline, watch my way, observe things and people around and not to be distracted by the illusive Facebook world. 

Too many traffic lights, too few crosswalks.

    Budapest is a capital city with nearly 2 mil. people (including tourists, foreigners etc), so you can naturally find places which are quite crowded. Also, as it is normal for bigger cities, there is, especially in some parts, roads or streets of Budapest, very high traffic and, particularly when you get to a place where something is being built, restored or dug (which happens basically all the time), the life here may feel very chaotic to you (well, in fact it actually is).

    What I've noticed here and feel like sharing with you is the disproportion between the number of traffic lights and crosswalks around Budapest. I've never driven a car in Budapest, so I can't really judge the situation from a car driver point of view, however, I can tell you how it looks like in many places around the city when walking or riding a bicycle.....
     So what I mean by many traffic lights is that in some parts of Budapest you bump into a traffic light even in a place where you wouldn't expect it. What I mean by too few crosswalks is that in some parts of Budapest you occur in a place where you want to cross a road/street and you have trouble because there is no crosswalk, as you would sort of expect it.
    I'm gonna give you just a short example. The building I live in is located next to a big road (Üllői út) with 6 lanes in total, so you can perhaps imagine that most of the day the road is very busy and not easy to cross. When I want to take a tram,  I need to walk 600 m along the road to a big intersection. On the way to the intersection there are four small perpendicular streets, thus four small intersections. Except for the last one, which is not even really a street, there is always a traffic light. All three small streets that I need to pass are so narrow that it's almost one big step for me to cross it (two bigger ones for normal people :-)), but yet I always have to wait for green. I mean I should.
     Now let me use the same street as an example for the other extreme. As I already said, the road is quite big and very busy for most of the time, so it doesn't happen very often that you can cross it to the other side from anywhere you want. Usually you will have to use a zebra pad. And the problem is that on the way from my place to the mentioned tram there are only two. Imagine, you are heading to a place just a few meters across the road, but to actually get there you have to walk another 100 m to a crosswalk and then wait sometimes 3-4 minutes for green to get to the other side.....

A bunch of pigs chatting in the sauna

    Well, I don't really know where to place this topic, but I'll include it under Intercultural Shocks since it's something different from what you usually experience in the Czech Republic. No, in Hungary they don't actually have a special sauna for animals (sorry to disappoint you). Alright, maybe I'm being a bit harsh to Hungarians, but let me explain all this.

     I don't know how about you, but I go to the sauna to relax. To relax my muscles, mind, to relax and recharge my whole body. A sauna, as far as I know, is supposed to be a place where you come to relax not only your physical body, but also your mind. Thus, I've always thought the sauna was a good relaxing place. But I guess relaxation means something different to everybody. Sitting in 90°C and sweating all the s* out, I don't really feel like talking, do you? Well, the Hungarians do. They do love talking in the sauna! And it pisses me off! :-D I got a feeling that sauna is for them like their favorite spot to have an after-work chat (like they didn't have a whole day to do it before). You should know that also sauning has certain rules. And one of them is that you should stay quiet. I can't think of many other things now that would bother me more than people babbling in the sauna. The whole "sauna glamour" is then just lost...

    And the other thing (you don't wanna know about :-D) is the Hungarian hygiene. Oh boy, that's an issue here. I don't think this has so much to do with rules, I think this is something rather natural.
I believe that if you are (at least partly) a human, it's natural that you take a shower and wash all the dirt/sweat you have been carrying all day out, before you enter a swimming pool or a sauna and spread it all around you so everybody else can "enjoy" it as well. I personally find this disgusting, especially when I see the water is turning grey later afrenoon.
    Last but not least, the Hungarians visit saunas in swimsuits/shorts. Well, okay, I've heard from someone that us Czechs are kind of known for, how to say it....for not having a big problem with exposing ourselves, but we do it for a good reason, you know. I'm not gonna give you a lesson on how to sauna, but I can't forbear a few little notes. You should be nude, you have a towel with you to cover anything you want to cover. The reason si simple. Actually, there are two reasons.
   First of them is health. The whole point of sauning (one of them) is to sweat salt and possibly bad toxins out of your body. If you keep your swimsuit, the substances are exuded...guess where (also hygienic aspect). It's really great when you move you sweaty butt to another sauna or pool. And do the same there again, too. Secondly, if you sit in the sauna in a wet swimsuit, the water starts to evaporate in the air turning the sauna into a steam cabin with high temperature, plus, if you come to the sauna from a swimming pool, not only the water but also chloride will evaporate and you begin to inhale toxic gasses. So if you, for any reason, need to/want to keep your swimsuit, it needs to be dry!
    From the the hygienic point of view, wearing a swimsuit in the sauna simply doesn't make any sense. Do you normally sunbathe in a jacket? Then why do you wanna sweat in 50-100°C in impermeable clothes? If you stay clothed, you also bring all the crap kept in it with you into the sauna and spread it on the wood. You should be swimsuit-free, however, with your towel underneath, indeed, so the sweat doesn't drop on the wood/floor.
    Well, in Budapest, however, in most places it's even not allowed to go without, hmm...


Trabants

     Just to add a small icing on the cake to this topic, would you believe that in Hungary you can still see Trabants from time to time? You know, those prehistoric cars, if you still remember them.... :-D

Home Alone 2: Lost in Budapest

   So I’m getting on the train in Brno, where I spent my last days in the Czech Republic, and I’m heading to Budapest, the city that is going to be my home for some indefinite time. You know (or maybe you don’t), you always have strange feelings when you go for such adventure, but I’m excited at the same time. I don’t really know what to expect, I’ve never been there before, I know the language only from jokes, nobody‘s going to pick me up there. But that’s the adventure I like!

   Frankly speaking, the journey by train through Slovakia is pretty boring, there is not much to see, it’s just fields, fields and sometimes fields. Then Bratislava and till Hungary still a couple of fields. Surprisingly, it changes once you've crossed the border. The train is rapidly slowing down and with the speed of a faster tractor it no longer feels like a Eurocity train, but the view is finally quite stunning. From the Slovakian border, the train goes along the Danube, so you can enjoy nice views of the river and its bends, the Visegrád castle (on your right) and other hills basically untill you finally reach Budapest.

    After a couple of hours I’ve finally arrived at the Budapest Keleti station. What a lovely super old station with an even more lovely smell :-P Looks liken the Bratislava train station finally has a competitor :-D Soo now what? It’s hot as hell, I have big luggage with me and can’t even find an exit since in Hungarian it’s probably something like szjekelenedeindsjdnsczsykemelterlletmegdskgnskfg…..(it’s Kijárat, folks). 

    Well, let’s find a hostel for a few days to settle down a bit, relax, look around and get to know the city a little. Actually, let’s first find a cafe with a wifi connection because I don’t even have a hostel booked, yet. Yeah, my friends wondered many times, where are you going to stay, have you found a flat? Eh, no worries, will sort that out on the spot :-P

   So after 10 minutes of looking for a way to get out of the station, I’m taking my 30 kg heavy suitcase and going to face the city and the first impressions (let’s better ingore the impression of the station). And the first impressions are…..weird. Very weird. The station is under reconstruction, everything around is destroyed, messy, there are no sidewalks so I’m carrying my suitcase through gravel and concrete cubes and the wheels of my suitcase are starting to melt as the concrete ground has like 50°C. Holly crap, I’m  thinking, is this place what I’ve chosen to be my home for next months? Well, but I can always come back, can't I ? And come on, the first impressions are always strange, let’s give it a chance.

    After 20 minutes of walking the direction to the center (hopefully) I’ve found a bar with a Wi-Fi. I’m glad they have those here. Let’s just get a place which is cheap and not too far from work so I can calm down. Tomorrow I'll sign the job contract, then find a place to live, get to know the city better and everything will be just fine. Yeah, I’ve a got a job, that’s why I’m here, right? Ehm, I beleive I have, as there is no signed cotract yet, though.

    I mean, no contract, no friends, no palce to sleep, just my luggage. Just with my luggage. Cool, isn’t it? :-D That’s the way you do it! Or I do……Remember, the real life begins ouside of your comfort zone! But let’s see…..