The Hungary Family Plan

When I asked my mother what she most wanted to see while she was in eastern Europe, she said "Budapest!" So I booked a weekend for the family in Hungary's capital.

family on the hill

As witnessed in this blog, I've been to Budapest several times before. I love the city - there's just something about it that really appeals to me! I was happy to share the experience with my family, though it was trying at times to get through, since none of us knows Hungarian.

Mom's favorite quotable moment was on the bus. We were trying to find the guest house apartment I had booked for us, and accidentally took the right bus the wrong way. In an unfamiliar part of town, we are speaking English (loudly) and attempting not to start a fight on the bus (at least I am) when my mom asks a middle-aged man how to get from where we are to the apartment.

"You are English?" he asks.
"No, American."
"Oh. America is very big country."
"Yes," agrees Mom.
"You like Budapest?"
"Very much so far."
"Budapest is nice city."
"The weather is nice."
"You like Budapest. Budapest is nice city."
"Yes."
"Budapest is nice city. You like?"

At that point, it was apparent to me the man had exhausted his English vocabulary. However, he was light years friendlier than anyone my parents had met in Austria! It was charming of him to try, in any case.

We made it to the apartment all right and in one piece. Our delightful host Tibor mentioned this-and-that monument, restaurant, museum, pub. The apartment was adorable and spotless, and these greeted us from across the street:

famous Hungarians?

 After we settled in, we wandered around to the banks of the Danube, across the bridge from Pest to Buda, and  walked through the park, up the Buda Hills to the Liberty monument and back down. Some pictures from that excursion:

For dinner, we went to this restaurant that played "Gypsy music." I had always wanted to go to one of those shows, and convinced the family to do it. Unfortunately, as Dad put it, "They put the 'gyp' in Gypsy," charging a ridiculously high "cover charge" to hear the musicians and tasted the "complimentary" wine that turned out to complement very little. Thus is the woe of the naive traveler!

The next day, we went to the baths - the Szechenyi spa - and had a lovely time lounging around, though the weather was in the 70s, and a bit cooler than what we could have hoped for for the outdoor pool.

On the way home, we saw a hubbub in the park - it was a wine festival! I just had to see what was up! We bought glasses of different kind of wines to taste. The festival seemed like an annual thing. Mom and I enjoyed it, but Dad and Sam are just not wine drinkers! Perhaps I will have the chance to do it again...

We also went to St. Stephen's cathedral, the Fisherman's Bastion, and other Budapest sights. There were two weddings taking place at the Fisherman's Bastion (it is wedding season, after all!) but we did not take pictures. In my opinion, it's a little (or a lot) weird to take a picture of a stranger's wedding.



On the way home, we ran into a school group of graduating high school seniors on their way to one of their teacher's houses to say goodbye and wish her well in song. It is a tradition called "serenade" in Hungary (I heard the explanation eavesdropping on a couple sitting at an outdoor cafe) and the graduating class goes to every teacher's house the day before their ceremony. Their voices were beautiful, lifting through the trees: poetic, romantic, tragic; soothing and lyrical, yet sad.

It made me wonder what teaching in Hungary would be like - better or worse than in Austria? How different? How similar? Would my lack of Hungarian pose a problem? One semester of the language (as a student in Berlin) has allowed me to introduce myself, list off the colors, and get into trouble with men named Attlia. (That's a story I will not share on the internet)...

Although I have friends who have braved teaching in a foreign culture without first learning the language, I am not so brave. I'd rather stick to living in a country where I can at least converse in the language before I agree to move there. Perhaps this is unremarkable, but I always know I can discipline the kids myself if they get bad enough (and they'll know exactly what I mean).

I think everybody enjoyed themselves, but with Sam and Dad, it's sort of hard to tell sometimes. The weather's been nice, and no one has been complaining outright and constantly, all very good signs! I joke, but only slightly...

parliament building 

chain bridge

The next leg of our journey is to Prague. More on that later!

The Pearl of the Danube

The moniker of "Pearl of the Danube" is actually the nickname of Vienna's sister city, Budapest, where the Danube plays more of a role in the city's feel and look. That is, the Danube actually runs through the city, and there are two banks, unlike in Vienna, which was really only settled on one side of the Danube.

Thus, on my third trip to Budapest, I noticed certain things I hadn't before, and was reminded of other impressions I'd gathered earlier as well.

Because the Danube so beautifully flows through Budapest, walking along the riverside, I was struck by how much Budapest reminds me of Paris. It's interesting that the placement of a river in a city could do so much to change its atmosphere. Budapest is a lot lighter, more open, and some ways, thus, friendlier, than Vienna. Other factors play into the "friendliness" bit too, however.

The Vienna Innere Stadt basically retains its Medieval atmosphere, with crowded cobblestone streets, and juxtaposes them with mammoth 18th century architectural structures designed by Maria Theresia during her rule of Austria-Hungary. Budapest has the same sorts of things, but also - as you will see - monolithic structures built into the stone of the Pest hills, which make it unique and splendid.

Also, whereas everything in Vienna is neatly preserved and beautifully maintained, due to corruption in government and overall lack of money to do anything like maintain UNESCO World Heritage sites, Hungary is in fact the opposite of Austria: a topsy-turvy Oz. Vienna through the Looking Glass. Everything is of the same construction: in that way, they truly are twinned cities architecturally. But since Vienna gets all that income from tourists, she has a reason to look nice. I do feel a bit like Alice in Wonderland nodding and smiling to shopkeepers chatting in Hungarian, or old women walking their Vizslas. Budapest's history with communism has left her bedraggled: still beautiful, but more solemn. And much the worse for wear.

Here are some photos. Unfortunately to me, all of the pictures of monuments end up turning out the same, no matter how you photograph them, or from what angle. You may have a different opinion.

A Hungarian Holiday

Budapest philharmonic, which has terrible acoustics 

Recently, I went to Budapest with two friends to celebrate a birthday.

Having been to Budapest almost four years ago with a group of Americans (part of a cultural tour to Eastern Europe while I was a student in Berlin), I figured I knew what to expect. In fact, I absolutely LOVED Budapest when I was there in 2007.


What about the city appealed to me? For reasons I have trouble fully explaining, I just liked it. Budapest has been called the "Paris of the East" and, having lived in Paris, I can agree. Not wholeheartedly, but certainly to an extent.

The neoclassical buildings, the picturesque Danube, the romance of  the chain bridge at night, the ruined beauty of a lost empire (I had not yet been to Vienna...) intermingled into this portrait of a mysterious and inspired, yet impoverished, capital city. I'm really a sucker for the underdog. Also, there were practically no tourists - especially compared to Berlin and Prague. This especially appealed to me, as a tourist who looks down on other tourists (love it or hate it, I bet you do, too, sometimes!).

Franz-Josef strikes again!

This  time, however, I can't say I was feeling Budapest. An observation was made to me the other day, that Budapest is Vienna under 60 years of grime (i.e. Communism) and, from my recent experience, I can totally agree. I think I can still appreciate, however, the Hungarian attitude: despite hardships (ones that many former Communist countries have had to deal with), Hungarians are still optimistic and fun-loving - as far as I can tell. Our tour guide Agnes was quite the character.


I have a great admiration for countries - people - who have lived under Communism (and lived through Communism). During my visit to Poland, I picked up Café Europa
by Slavenka Drakulić, a journalist and former inhabitant of the former Yugoslavia. Her style is bitingly witty, poignant and honest. The book is a collection of essays written between 1992 and 1996 about her experiences of, opinions on and wishes for former Communist eastern European states. Though to date I have not finished Café Europa (other things getting in the way, as they seem to do for me), I can tell that what she has to tell me will affect all of my perceptions of eastern Europe - I think it already has.

Apparently the spot of "original" love locks - Cologne copied Budapest's idea, according to Anges

I went with Stella (who had been this summer) and Jade (who was going for the first time). I think in a way it was a different (interesting?) cultural experience because they are both English, and, despite what we like to think, though England and America seem to be so close to each other in terms of language, culture, mores, etc., we are different, in ways that are often imperceptible.

I think, in fact, I've become more aware of these cultural differences because of my teaching post. Because my teachers ask me all the time, "Is this correct?" or, to read between the lines, "Is this British?" I normally dissent by saying "X is American. Y is British. Both are correct, depending on whom you ask." And that has saved me a lot of grief in the teacher's room. Not to say one is better than the other is diplomatic, if you ask me. I've actually discovered several teachers (and students) who prefer the American way to the British way, but there are plenty of sticklers who think British is best.

I really couldn't care less, to tell you the truth, how non-native speakers prefer to conduct themselves in English, as long as they don't take personal offense to the fact that I'm American (something, in case you haven't  nocticed, I can't exactly help).



But I do love getting to know different cultures from traveling. Including British cultures (I've been led to believe there are several, from my contacts). And I think this ties in nicely to my point on eastern Europe. It's entirely unfair to judge a culture (for good or bad) until you've experienced it first-hand.

Here ends my rant. Feel free to enjoy the rest of this post rant-free.

From here, there will only be photos :) And minor explanations of the photos, where necessary...

Stella & Jade on the bridge

view from the top of bridge

the Hungarian "White House" where the prime minister lives (incidentally white)

<-- this is the Ministry of Defense building, and those bullet holes are real - from WWII!

A Communist monument aka the "penis statue"

Budapest's St. Stephen's Cathedral

One of my faves: the Plague statue

A view of Parliament

the Fisherman's Bastion

Some King - Stephen?

Hungarian flags, presumably for 15 March - Hungarian national holiday 

The National Museum