Ok, I confess. I knew nothing about Budapest, nor have I ever dreamed of coming here. I wasn’t even sure if I should come or not. Yet, I’m so glad I did. The best surprises of life are definitely the unexpected ones.
April 30th, 2017. I get to the airport with a lot going on in my mind, yet ready for the adventure. When I started telling people that I was coming here, I got lots of “WOW, Budapest? You’re gonna love it, it’s so beautiful, romantic, fun, economical… You’ve made a great choice”. It surprised me that people liked Budapest so much since I hadn’t heard a lot about the city before.
My boss and a fellow intern went to pick me up at the airport. He brought me a cinnamon kürtős cake, and boy, was it good. It’s a sort of empty roll, with two holes on its extremities, and if you pull a piece of it at the top, it starts to detach entirely (and I don’t know why, but there’s something weirdly good about doing it). On the way home it was so windy down the subway station, the kind of wind that seems to come from every direction and messes up our hair real good. I felt so hungry that I could actually feel the kürtős reaching my stomach.
It’s been so long now since I’ve started visiting different countries that I can’t say I was nervous about living in Hungary, especially since I was in the company of two nice and welcoming people. However, it’s kind of challenging seeing everything written in a language I’m not even remotely familiar with, and trying to communicate with people who don’t speak English at all. Even simple names such as my neighborhood quarter, Keleti, were hard for me to remember at first.
The next day, a monday, was the Labor day holiday. We all met at Hősök Tere (Heroes Square) to head to a sort of food festival that was taking place at Városliget (City Park). Though it was a sunny morning and the sky had a dazzling shimmering shade of blue, it was a little bit chilly as well. We stopped to take some pictures and to admire the iconic monument and statues. You could feel the festive vibe as tourists and locals mellowly passed by, occasionally stopping for a picture or another.
As we kept going, there was this beautiful small, dark lake and people having fun at colorful car shaped pedal boats. The bloomed flowers, the charming bridge, the trees, the pathways and a graceful brown castle granted the scenery a romantic atmosphere. On our way to the festival, there were some interesting and fun places: a zoo with some penguin pictures painted outfront and a food truck banner, a circus with colourful led letters and cheerful clowns, a spectacular 19th century kind of brownish indoor carrousel, with white angels, horses, carriages and painted trees on the ceiling, like in a baroque style, and finally, the magnificent Széchenyi Thermal Bath, a majestic piece of architecture with yellow and magenta tulips and green sculptured grass and bushes on the entrance, standing there like the home of the royalty.
Next, we finally entered the City Park. Food, drinks, music, crafts and attractions filled the air with joy. Amongst the many many kinds of food you could find, there were several kinds of stewed aliments, stuffed cabbage, huge breads, cone shaped bread stuffed with sausages, lángos (the traditional hungarian pizza, composed of a deep fried flatbread, sour cream, garlic and grated cheese), goulash soup, roasted meat, potato chips, hot dogs, kebab, donuts, pastry sweets, coffee, lemonades, ice creams, beer, drinks, and so on. Screams and laughter coming from the adventure rides mingled with the music and other sounds of the festival: gasping dogs, glasses being filled, parents running after their kids, friends chatting…
At last, we sat on the grass to chill a bit and just appreciate that moment.
On our way out, a native american dressed characteristically played the flute, and it was pleasantly relaxing. We’ve passed by many imposing statues along the way, but the Anonymus Szobor one was something to remember.
The last special moment of the day was walking on Andrássy utca, this large boulevard with beautiful aligned trees all along it and classy houses waiting to be appreciated. Some details like the street lamps, the carved bushes and even the metro grids also contributed for embellishing the place. As I looked back, far away on the horizon, right where our eyes give us the illusion that the parallel trees were gonna meet, stood the pompous Hősök Tere pillar, almost as if it was kissing me goodbye.
This article was written by Nathalie Diirr.
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