Hungary, where the goulash flowed

I didn’t go hungry in Hungary, that’s for sure! (Sorry, I just had to do it).

While I am now a bit relieved to be back in a land where I do not have to use so much charades communication, my tour of the East was enlightening and very enjoyable. I pretty spontaneously took a pleasant flight from Berlin to Budapest, where I met up with Chrissy for some Hungarian fun.

Upon arrival at my hostel I received some excellent news (especially since I get excited when I get anything as small as a bag of popcorn free). The hostel had overbooked my small budget room, and would I mind being upgraded fo free to a full size apartment with living room and kitchen? NO. Vegas-style upgrade and the digs were awesome.

We pulled ourselves away from the place of our good fortune to have dinner at an amazing- and cheap – Hungarian all-you-can-eat and drink buffet. The goulash and Hungarian wine were flowing for the next 3.5 hours.

The next morning we awoke early for the must-sees: the chain bridge, Castle Hill, the parliament building, St. Stephen’s Basilica, etc. Budapest is separated into Buda and Pest by the Danube River and in addition to being a lively city it is also a beautiful one. And I really got the sense – unlike in some other European capitals – that it is a breathing city where real people work and live.  For lunch we visited the huge Market Hall, with vendors showcasing lots of paprika, and had Hungary’s version of fried bread called Langos. It reminded me of Navajo fry bread, so I was happy.

Then it was time to take in a beloved Hungarian tradition: the thermal bath. I had especially been looking forward to this, as the picture of one of the big spas in my Europe on a Shoestring book suggested I should be. No one going to Budapest should miss out on the Széchenyi Medicinal Bath.

The theme of my Hungarian vacay was confusion, and this spa was probably the most confusing experience we had. How to pay? Where to go? Does this labyrinthine hall lead to anything? We had no idea, but once we figured it out we were able to spend three hours enjoying the copious indoor and outdoor baths. The outdoor was my favorite for sure: See pic below and notice steam coming out of water that just gave the whole thing an unreal feel.

That night dinner at HUMMUS BAR, a recommendation from a USC friend, lived up to expectations with delicious hummus and all the trimmings. Darn I miss Trader Joes hummus now. 

The next morning we trained to Eger, a smaller town that is known to be the capital of the Hungarian wine region. Budapest is such a world city that I didn’t necessarily feel different than I would in say Vienna, but in venturing outside the city I really felt I was seeing a different part of the world.  Things appeared pretty desolate outside my train window – in some cases there just seemed to be nothing.

In Eger we stayed at a lovely pension above the city with a German-speaking owner (the communication, we had it!) and used our short time there wisely to see the town and the wine area, of course.

 As one might expect, mid-January is not peak wine tasting season.  What that meant for us was that the entire place (called the Valley of the Beautiful Women) was completely lacking of tourists - a bit eerie but also a bit refreshing.  The area is known for a type of red wine called “Bull’s Blood” that is supposed to have magical qualities? We traipsed to three wine caverns deep underground, tried lots of delicious and cheap wine (they will fill any plastic container you bring for about $2), and attempted to communicate with the owners - English hasn’t really made it to those parts. Then we happily went to the local thermal baths, where we stuck out like we Americans tend to do and were easily the youngest bathers by 40 years.

Chrissy bid me adieu the next morning and I trained it to Tokaj, a wee wee town further into the wine region known for its whites. With only 8,000 residents and not a tourist in sight I walked around the small town without seeing anyone until I popped into a wine cavern to taste. Definitely an interesting feeling. I enjoyed my day of solitude, though, only interrupted by a drunken man who stopped by my table to give me a sloppy hand kiss. Ewww.

On my solo walk through Tokaj I came upon a sight that made me giddy and I sketchily took a picture: A local man was walking through a park with a huge dog in one hand and a weenie dog in the other! I think he has a good idea – the best of both worlds. And they seemed to be good friends.

The next day after a train fail (involving me being incredibly confused by all the fast Hungarian and standing out on a track like a lost puppy waiting for a train that wasn’t coming) I made it back to Budapest for one more night. The absolute highlight was discovering the Hungarian version of Chipotle, which, surprisingly, was really good. Fresh guacamole? Heck yes. With a stomach full of Mexican – finally – I flew back to Cologne for a week of PPP shenanigans. 

* Danke to Chrissy for some of the photos in this post!