Budapest jóreggélt!

The Parliament seen from the hills of Budapest


My family migrated from Hungary to Brazil in the early 1900’s. I grew up with my parents speaking Hungarian when they wanted to communicate secretively, and most of my meals as a child included some sort of Hungarian treat. However, since I never had a chance to visit Hungary, I was always intrigued about what it might be like in that distant land where my family came from. Well, this year I had the joy of visiting Budapest with my wife, and it was a pleasure.



Chain Bridge connects Buda and Pest. Yes, they are two cities in one!




the Danube river that runs through Budapest


We had the luck of arriving in Budapest during St. Stephen day, which is their equivalent to a 4th of July. During St. Stephen’s Day, the Hills of Buda (the hilly side of Budapest) hosts the St. Stephen festival, which is probably one of the largest street festivals in existence. My wife and I started walking the festival at noon, and finished with dinner! Handcrafts, food, beer, pastries and music, and it’s all authentic, no made in China crap.






St. Stephen's Festival


Budapest is gorgeous, some areas feel like Paris, but most feel like Budapest! It is unique. People are helpful, and the food is very good. It is also the cleanest city I can think of. Maybe the cities in Australia and New Zealand are as clean as Budapest, but I was impressed with how clean that city is, even during a street festival. Paris and Rome can learn from their Hungarian counterpart. I love Paris, but last time I went the streets were filthy. It’s sad but true. Budapest on the other hand is very clean and all seems to be recently restored.



Shot taken from the Chain Bridge, looking towards the Buda Castle


Hungary is a foodie paradise, and it is cheap. A good 4 star meal, with wine and desert will run around 45 dollars a person. For a very nice dinner, go to the Museum Café which has great fois gras and goose confit. For great desert, go to Café Gerbaud and have one of their delicious cakes. Make sure you also try Tokaji desert wine, goluska (Hungarian dumpling) and any pastry filled with poppy seeds, they are divine.



Poppy seed pastry. Poppy seed overdose, delicious.


I highly recommend taking a city tour by bike. It is fun and you will cover much more ground than if you go on foot. It’s also healthier and more fun than staying stuck in a bus. On www.viator.com they sell the bike tours which are cheap.



Bike tour stop at Heroe's Square


If you like history, stop by the Terror museum and the Holocaust museum. If you have to pick one of the two, go to the Terror museum. This is a place to learn about the Nazi and Soviet occupation of Hungary. It is extremely interesting, very well organized, and includes Hollywood like productions.



Terror Museum




Communist/Soviet era occupation monument. The only one left standing in Budapest.

Whenever you travel somewhere and you want to know if the trip was worth it, ask yourself if you would come back one day. Would I go back to Budapest? Definitely yes.