Category Archives: Budapest

Budapest International Wine Festival

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It’s been almost a month now since we went to the Budapest International Wine Festival. This is the third time I have been, and it doesn’t get any less wonderful the more times that you go. Yes, of course, the wine is great. And yes, there is a certain lure of tasting wines that a lot of the world’s wine aficionados don’t even get a chance to taste. But the winning factor of this festival always seems to be a few simple things: Buda Castle, night, and the cool, harvest air of mid-September. It had been raining for almost 2 weeks so we held out as long as we could, actually changing our travel plans to Szeged so that we could make it to this event. It was definitely worth it. We had an amazing time and I’m so glad that my parents could finally experience what I had been giggling about for two years.

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Széchenyi Baths

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I’m back!  It was an incredible month of travelling and adventure with my family, but now that it is October and my parents have been home for five days, I figured it was about time to get back to work and blurbing at Budajest.

To really go into detail about the month will take some time, but I have so many pictures and I don’t want them to get lost in my rush to get it all done at once.  So I will go back to the end of the first week in September, which is just about where I left off anyway.

I had to do a little bit of work that first Saturday, so Györgyi took my mom to Széchenyi Baths. Syechenyi Baths were the first of their kind in Pest, with the temporary bath established in 1881. The permanent structure that you can see today was built in 1913.  There have been various additions over the years, including an entire reconstruction in 1999.

The day that the gals went, it was very cold and rainy, but that didn’t stop them from enjoying the picturesque surroundings and the wonderful, thermal water. Budapest is known as a city of baths, but Széchenyi may be the nicest.

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The Castle District, Szentendre & Budapest by Night

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For our last full day with the whole family before my Aunt Donna and Ron left for Paris, we headed up to the castle district for a lovely, sunny afternoon. The weather finally broke into some sunshine and we were able to explore Fisherman’s Bastion, Mátyás Templom and the National Gallery. We saw the wooden fixtures that will become the International Wine Festival this week, in addition to sitting at a little cafe for a cappuccino and water.

After the castle, we drove to Szentendre, which is an artsy town about 20 km north of the city. We explored a bit, did some shopping and had a gyro and strudel before returning to Budapest. At about 5 p.m we met at the Marriott where we enjoyed appetizers and drinks in the Executive Lounge, which has a gasp-inducing view of both sides of the river. As the sun set, the National Gallery and Citadel glowed amber and pink and it was the perfect last cocktail hour together in Budapest.  That evening, a tour bus picked us up for our Budapest by Night tour, which highlights the best of the city’s nightscape, in addition to a great dinner accompanied by gypsy music and folk dancing.  As you will see from the pictures, my Mom was pulled on stage by one of the dancers, with whom she gladly did the csarda dance to end the lovely night.

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First Pálinka

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Last night we went to Náncsi Néni, which is a fantastic little Hungarian kitchen in the Buda hills.  I will write more about it in another post, including some tempting food shots, but this post is about something more important: my Mom’s first pálinka shot.

Pálinka is a very common welcoming drink in Hungary.

It is fruit brandy, and can range in flavors and strengths. At our table, Györgyi ordered us plum and apricot pálinka.

It took a minute for her to react.

I call this the pálinka shoulder shake.

And you probably wont’t believe me,

but after it was over, she had another one. And liked it!

The Visitors

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My family has finally made it to Budapest!  Naturally a 2 day rain-binge has begun, ushering it a pre-fall dose of water and chill. But they are here and we are already having a great time.  Last night we went to a restaurant near to the basilica, and today, despite the rain, we toured around the city seeing some of the major sites. It’s almost happy hour so I will save a little time by posting a slideshow of a few pics from today.  They will be here for quite some time so there should be much more to come, so stay tuned.

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August 20th

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I try to start out each morning with a perfect long coffee espresso. Sometimes I add 7.5 grams of 10% cream and sometimes I add 2.5 grams of raw sugar. The star, of course, is the espresso.

In college, or after when teaching, I could pound a liter of black coffee from Dunkin’ Donuts on my way to school, especially before an early class.  And there were plenty of nights in grad school when I had to stay up late defending theory papers fueled forward only by fear and a venti latte from Starbucks.

I think that moving to Europe really brought out my love for coffee, which I think is central to many Americans. Only I didn’t know how wrong I had been drinking it for so many years.

I’ve told my parents to start practicing on cappuccinos before they come here in less than two weeks. I hope to convert them during their time abroad.

We’ve been running around so much getting ready for my parents, in addition to travelling back and forth from Budapest and Szeged for weddings, that I almost forgot that tomorrow is August 20th and a national holiday.  The day is to celebrate saintiness of King Stephen, though it actually commemorates the anniversary of the holy relic (Stephen’s mummified right forearm and hand) arriving in Budapest. I don’t think it travelled here on its own, but if it did, that would really be something to celebrate.

You can read about my August 20th experience last year here.

We probably won’t be attending any of the festivities this year, though we might watch the fireworks tomorrow night from the part of the river near to our flat.

If you are in the city I don’t even have to urge you to see the fireworks because basically all of Budapest shuts down for them. And they are really a site, so make your way to the river if you get a chance.

As for me, I’m spending the weekend getting excited for my family’s first visit to the “old country” by preparing things for the flat they are going to stay in, and of course stocking up on gin and tonic.  I’ve never been the type to wish away the summer, but this year, I’ve just been looking forward so much to their arrival that I find myself literally counting down the days. So I guess I’ll celebrate that the month is almost over and the fun is about to begin.

The Invader

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Once every twelve to sixteen months I go into my bedroom and take a nap. This is a rarity in my life, not because of an extraordinarily busy schedule (though it seems like I have more of those days than less recently) but rather because I’m not a good napper. I calculate sleep on bare minimums for necessity reasons only and I tend to panic when I’m not doing something. Anything. At all. But this morning at around 8, having only been up for 3 hours, I suddenly felt the urge to take a nap. So Barnabás and I fled into the bedroom, closed the blinds, and sank into the peaceful.

About 35 minutes later I heard the first sound.  Something with the ting-tone of a wine glass or tea cup jiggling around in the kitchen. Since I have a weakness in overreacting to the possibility of HOME INVADERS! in the middle of the night, which is merely a combination of a tired mind and tendency toward irrational scenario speculations, I put my head back onto the pillow and disregarded any noise as someone upstairs or next door, putting away dishes.

Another ten minutes went by and I heard the sound again. The nap wasn’t working anyway, so I slowly got up from the bed and walked out into the kitchen.

Suddenly from my left, all I could see was a blur of feathers whipping past my face. I looked down at Barnabás, who also turned his head with the passing feathers and wings. I called out to him, trying to grab him by his little goat legs and take him back into the bedroom.  I did this because I grew up with bird dogs, huntin’ dogs, so my instinct was in assuming that he would go after the renegade pigeon and maybe even try to kill it. Once, when we lived at the house on Misty Lane, our Golden Retriever, Madeline jumped up and caught a bird in her mouth, mid-air. To this day I think my brother insists it is still the most amazing thing he has ever witnessed.

But Barnabás just turned around and walked toward his food bowl. It wasn’t symbolic. It was 9:15 and feeding time.

It wasn’t all that traumatizing to have a bird in the apartment, as I thought it might be. I imagined myself, half-lunatic, screaming and chasing the bird (since we don’t have a broom) with my mini American flag or a dumpling ladle. And I always assumed it would happen one day or another. For one thing, the rooftop across from our building is basically a pigeon porn den, where dozens of birds are mating and nesting all year long. For another, I leave the balcony door wide open during the day, preferring the sounds of the city to the crazy lady on the 7th floor who plays Alicia Keys’ “Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart” on her organ all afternoon.

I didn’t see much of our mystery guest, supersonic cloud, gray dust devil as she tore out of the room, the opened door, and back to the thirteenth district air. But she didn’t leave without a departing gift:

She pooped out a blueberry onto my couch. Where I sit. And usually write these posts.

Summer Rides

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Even though the summer heat has been really brutal the last few weeks (over 100 this weekend in Szeged), Györgyi and I haven’t missed out on a few really nice Friday evening bike rides. A bike is definitely the best way to see the city. In five minutes you can go from the top of the castle to St. Stephen’s Basilica, from Buda to Pest and into all of the secret nooks in between.

I have a feeling that throughout the history of Budapest, the square in front of the basilica probably hasn’t seen that many Marin Co. California beach cruisers like the one Györgyi rides. It looks good here, though.

There is an irresistible fountain next to Szabadság ter (Freedom Square) near the American embassy.

Every time I’ve gone by in in the last few weeks there are kids emerging, soaked, from the fountain innards, or disappearing behind its high wall of water.

It’s another great example of interactive public art in Hungary. And on a hot day, even the most proper people stick a leg or arm in. I road through about halfway during the afternoon. It was deliriously refreshing.

After dinner, we road to Duna Park, which is just a few blocks from our apartment, to have an ice cream sunday. Duna Park is home to the city’s most expensive club sandwich, which naturally and shamefully I adore. It’s also where all of the sunglassed Hungarian celebrities hang out. It’s like the Hungarian Ivy. But all of the starstruck mystique is lost on me because I don’t really know who they are, except for Fenyő Miklós, who lives nearby and is always there in his orthopedic training shoes and who Györgyi describes as the Hungarian Elvis.

Our last stop of the night was at Holduvar, the restaurant/beer garden on Margit Island. We ordered two large Fröccs, (pronounced fruch). It’s a favorite Hungarian summery drink that dates back to the late 19th century when Ányos Jedlik invented soda water.  Yes, a Hungarians invented soda water (and Vitamin C and the hologram and the ball point pen and genius hair and the ability to catch a cold from an open bus window).

Fröccs is a combo of wine and soda water. I have to pause here for a second because I’m guessing my mom probably just passed out hard reading about the sacrilege that is to combine wine and water (except in church).  BUT, it’s actually quite good and a perfect summer drink.

We stayed for just one drink before biking home. And it was enough. By about 11:30 all of the underage American kids had snuck out of their hostels and were piling around the bar in their hammar pants and American Apparel dresses. As soon as the first girl asked the bartender, “Do ya’ll have Sex on the Beach?” in her perfect Georgia accent, we were outta there.  That’s summer in the city. Kind of great all around.