Budapest - the city Paris could be
A beautiful city with hidden gems, a roaring nightlife and an eventful history that still is affordable by smaller wallets. By Unkown
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here’s a run down apartment block in Budapest’s 7th district that looks ripe for bulldozing. There’s graffiti on the wall and chunks are missing from the cracking facade. It’s sandwiched between two respectable looking buildings in a prime area, and yet people are wandering in to this apparently neglected block. You only have to saunter gently through the steel door yourself to understand what is luring everyone in. Inside there is a courtyard and one of the city’s many kerts. ‘Kert’ basically translates to ‘garden’, but here, in the bar called Szimpla, there’s more concrete than chrysanthemums. From the front, you’d think the building 1 GLAMOUR
was only a step away from being a car park but when you’re inside you realise these kerts – temporary bars set up in vacant buildings are a local favourite. Some of the walls are covered in spray paint, the seating’s a mish-mash of benches and cinema seats, and lighting comes from the bulbs hanging in upside-down bins. It may sound like an experiment in tramp chic, but it works. These hidden kerts encapsulate all which is good and exciting about Budapest. Visit Hungary’s capital and on the surface things look pretty standard. All the ingredients to a popular European metropolis are present and correct: there’s the chunky archi-
tecture with flower-filled balconies and windows with shutters; historic monuments and museums; narrow streets lined with cafes and a city-slicing river, in the shape of the Danube. On closer inspection, however, there are reminders of Budapest’s history that gives its current incarnation a crackle of defiant energy: the architecture is often pockmarked by bullet holes and the monuments honour past revolutions. Even though Communism collapsed in 1989, a significant chunk of the population knows the hardship of its regime. Yet, Budapest is the city Paris could be if it cut prices and cheered up -
a pint of beer is around 400 forints while a bowl of ghoulash in downtown Pest costs about 600. A trip into the Buda hills is a must, as long as you don’t mind dangling above a forest - a chair lift takes you to the Erzsébet lookout tower, which means you can reach the summit without breaking a sweat. Effortless tourism is always a winner. From the tower you can take in the green vistas that roll off the Buda side – you can even see towns occupying some of the valleys. On your way out from the tower, read the notice boards at the exit. It’s here you discover that Erzsébet was stamped with a Communist mark: a massive red star fixed so haphazardly to the roof it ultimately weakened the entire structure.
22nd district, on the outskirts of the city. It remains under-resourced and despite opening in 1993, it’s still incomplete. However, Statue Park is worth the bus journey if just to appreciate how sickly the propaganda was that sugar-coated the regime. Reminders of other aspects of Hungary’s history can be found back in Pest. This area is Buda’s livelier, noisier sibling, and it’s often still going at five in the morning. During the day, it’s buzzing with tourists ploughing through the shops and bars of the pedestrianized Váci Utca, buying souvenirs of postcards and potent pálinka – a local liqueur.
Immersing yourself in Hungarian culture is as essential as learning its history. There are numerous galleries and theatres, while the streets of Pest Any ‘tribute’ to Communism has now been swept in particular are an antique dealer’s gold mine firmly aside. Most of the – there are vintage shops public statues depicting leaders or ‘triumphs’ were and second hand bookdestroyed in the late Eight- shops everywhere. And ies when the regime finally despite being a landlocked country, there’s a beachbroke down. However, a life mentality if you know small number were rewhere to look – right there, tained and are now colon Margaret Island, there lected together in Statue are men and women tanPark. The park sits in the
ning themselves on the river banks. Water plays a big part in the local culture, with the city built upon eight thermal springs. The springs’ waters are revered for their health benefits they’re said to alleviate everything from mild skin ailments to Parkinson’s disease. Throughout the inner city, you’ll find chic baths plumbing into these restorative waters, with the most extravagant of facilities being Gellért. A day of history, hills and healing waters can be pretty tiring stuff, but both Buda and Pest have plenty of Hungarian restaurants. If you can’t decide which side of the river to go to, head to one of the many boat restaurants, such as A38 – a sleek eatery on an old Ukrainian stone-carrier ship. The average menu’s hearty and meat-heavy, and bread’s served with everything onion soup is often served in a hollowed-out loaf. And then for a nightcap, and what better way to end the day than where you began? Find another kert and let the day fade out. GLAMOUR 2