Budapest…a break year!

I first visited Budapest in 1985 and while it was not exactly love at first sight I will admit to being intrigued.  Having decided to go to Vienna for Christmas that year and after almost overdosing on Sacher torte and coffee with whipped cream (mit schlag) I took off for Budapest and my first look behind the Iron Curtain.

It was a very different world in the 80’s and stood in stark contrast to the elegant, highly refined Vienna. Almost no one spoke English in those days and the second language was Russian so it was pretty easy to be overwhelmed when trying to navigate the city and see the sites. I stayed in the Hilton Hotel on top of Castle Hill (one of the few places that spoke english) and had a view overlooking the Danube with its stunningly ornate Parliament building, elegant bridges and the skyline of Pest dominated by the dome of St Stephens Basilica. Buda and Pest were two different worlds in the bad old Communist era. Buda with Castle Hill (a UNESCO World Heritage site) and its collection of colorful Medieval buildings, cobbled streets, elegant Baroque churches, gas lights and quaint squares was a far cry from the grim and gritty Pest. At the time Pest still showed some of the ravages of war and revolution…bullet riddled and damaged buildings in various states of decay. The facades blackened from a couple of centuries of using coal as a principal energy source and buttressed up with scaffold made from old railroad ties and scrap lumber added to a grim impression of a sad city

St Stephens Bacillca

Having just been to Vienna, the other half of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, I could see the potential. If only hundreds of years of accumulated coal soot could be washed from the buildings, bullet holes filled and patched, peeling paint scraped away and fresh paint applied. No one ever accused the Communist of being concerned with maintenance I can tell you. Even in the sorry state that the once majestic city had sunk to I could still see its former grandeur shinning through here and there. I left the city after four days hoping to come back in better times.

In 1990 I took a break to travel to Prague after the fall of Communism to see the changes that this new political freedom had brought and after a few days headed back to Budapest to see what changes were taking place there as well.  Not much in the way of urban revitalization had occurred yet but there was a different mood in the city and people had a lightness that was heretofore unseen by me. I knew then that I would see great changes in this most beautiful of European Capitals….I only had to keep checking in.

Heroes’ Square at the culmination of Andrassy Boulevard

Jump ahead 27 years and I decided in the fall of 2016 to make a trip to Eastern Europe and in the process revisit Budapest, Everything I was reading was singing the praises of the city. Calling it the “New Berlin” a city that was hip and happening…and  the best part of all was the low cost of living…cheap rent, food, wine and ticket prices for world class events and performances unbelievably low. How could I resist? I returned to a new city filled with beautiful tree Lined boulevards, delightful squares surrounded with outdoor cafes, clean and newly painted buildings…my mild flirtation with Budapest had now blossomed into a full-fledged love affair. I vowed to come back in the spring and stay for awhile.

After having been on the road for over seven years I had been thinking…I need a home base. A little voice inside my head was saying…you need to slow down and not hit 10 -12 countries a year and I wanted a place to call home…I wanted a place to cook meals and entertain friends…I began to think perhaps Budapest was the answer. After spending the winter in Chiang Mia, Thailand it was time to head back to Budapest and see if the love story would continue or be a flash in the pan sort of “wham bam thank you ma’am” affair. Only time would tell.

Kalvin Ter a busy square at the heart of the city

So there I was in my new city of Budapest and it is every bit as enchanting as I had imagined. It also possesses everything I think a good city should have…good public transportation, good architecture, culture, outdoor spaces with cafe’s, green spaces and museums…always lots of museums. It is not just me that thinks that this is a great city…The Eu’s “Quality of Life” index rates Budapest as the most livable Central European city.  I moved into District 1 on the Buda side of the river in what is called a “classic building” dating to before WW1 with large rooms and high ceilings….a great spot to lay up for the winter.

In the Central Market sausages abound.

I made a promise to myself to stay at least one year in Budapest no matter how much I wanted to head to Thailand for the winter. The transition was made easier because a great many people I know wanted to come to the city and visit it me…well perhaps it was just the city they wanted to visit, but I had the benefit of lots of good company.. Between April and Christmas I had 25 friends who made the journey and I did my best to be a good tour guide for them.

Checking out Hungarian Color Coordination

My friends visits were very fortuitous because Budapest was the most difficult place for me to make friends that I have ever experienced. I don’t know the reason precisely but it could be a combination of things…my age, national personality traits,  patterns of reticence left over from the Communist era…who the hell knows.  As winter rolled in and the days became gray and overcast  I was less and less certain of my choice to make Budapest my home base.

To be continued….

My apologies for having been off the blog for so long. Perhaps I took the idea of a break year to seriously but I’m back and I look forward to seeing  you my travel friends on Where’s Bosco Now.