Budapest Beginnings….
Part 1 Orientation & Ruin Bars
In July 2014, having split up with my partner of eleven years, I took my first solo trip abroad without the safety net of meeting up with friends or family. It was a holiday, rather than ‘travelling’, but my aim was to find out if I enjoyed doing this completely by myself, without even the fall back position provided by a package holiday. I’d booked six days in an airbnb for the first time (it was still a relatively new concept back then). I chose carefully — a large, airy room to myself, centrally placed in Pest, in an apartment owned by a woman designer of a similar age to me who would only occasionally be there. I’d chosen well.
I enjoy planning almost as much as actually visiting somewhere, and had done my research with places of interest noted, ranging from markets and museums to baths and restaurants, as well as activities to include guided walks and river trips. I had even planned a possible itinerary, which I think was very much a security blanket as well as wanting to make the most of my stay. What I didn’t want to happen, was for me to be sitting alone in my room, wondering what to do next and why on earth I was there!
The day after my arrival, I had planned on having a leisurely coffee at the Central Coffee House before joining ‘Free Walking Tours’ General Tour at 10.30am. Due to misunderstanding, misdirection and poor map-reading, I ended up going straight to the tour. This proved hugely helpful with orientating myself as we started in Pest then over to Buda via the Chain Bridge and up to the Castle. Our guide was interesting and informative with a bit of general history and local knowledge imparted as we went along.
I met three sweet Dutch girls — Luce, Lillian and Vera — and joined them with our tour leader and some others after the end of the walk for a cheap but excellent lunch — I had cabbage and pork stew and a deliciously refreshing fruit soup which tasted like poached pears. The helpings of stew were HUGE and our guide had thankfully advised against having anything with it. It was extremely tasty and tender, despite looking like a bowl of mush! We all happily sampled each other’s dishes: mushroom ragout (very nice); a sausage ratatouille (a bit greasy for my taste — glad I didn’t go for it); giant couscous and little gnocchi style dumplings. My fruit soup was voted the winner overall!
Having extracted a promise from me to join them again in the evening for another ‘Free Tour’ with the same leader — this time in the form of a pub crawl around the ‘ruin bars’ in Pest, the girls and I parted company. I made my way to the Gellert Hotel which housed the famous Gellert Baths and booked myself in for a facial plus brows & lashes as a final treat on my last day.
After admiring the stunning stained glass in the hotel’s entrance hall, I crossed back over the Danube. An exploration of the Central Market revealed an Aldi hidden in the basement next to the fish department, along with some delicious fresh cottage cheese — unlike anything I’ve ever tasted — salad, herbs and equally delicious yoghurt. I went back to my room via a couple of cappuccinos and some people watching at the Alibi Cafe, to shower, eat and change for the evening.
I had a slight panic leaving the building that evening — I couldn’t initially open the outer door to the street and when I tackled the gate in front of the apartment, the handle fell off…….I hoped I would manage better on my return!
The tour had attracted quite a large group of about twenty people — I was easily the oldest there by a generation! I met up with the three Dutch girls and also a lovely young couple, Emily and Joe, from Yorkshire. We were rapidly joined by two Australians — Angela and her brother Alan — and we all trouped into the first bar, which WASN’T a ruin bar, for our first free shot. This turned out to be a fruit cordial topped with fizzy vodka (don’t ask me how that is made!) which was to be consumed immediately…….The barman was very impressed with me ‘You do it the best!’ although this may have just been old-fashioned courtesy given my seniority! The drink itself tasted very like the ‘Vodka Skittles’ a friend had once made, which involved dissolving Skittles in portions of vodka to get different flavoured (and biliously coloured) drinks….hmm……I ordered a beer, which cost just over £1 and was infinitely nicer!
We moved on to another bar to try a ‘palinka’ shot — an aquavit, 4cl of which is made from 2kg of fruit apparently! The stuff made out in the country is absinthe strength….but this was more sensible. I thought we were all ready in our little group, so I went to drink mine down.
‘Stop Kate!!! Luce and Vera haven’t got theirs yet!!’
I held it in my mouth……….
‘No, swallow it, swallow it — it’s taking too long!’
The inside of my lips had by now gone numb as I swallowed this extremely strong drink that resembled the fiercest of mouthwashes with no discernible fruit flavouring, and they remained that way for some time… I was holding my own though — the others were amazed that I’d been able to keep it in my mouth for as long as I had once they tried theirs.
On to the next (semi-ruin) bar. this was a great place where we were joined by some very sweet 17–19 year old lads, also from Yorkshire who quite incredibly turned out to know Joe’s cousin which blew their minds! I became an honorary ‘Mum’ to the lads whilst we were there — one of whom was rather missing his own mother momentarily, waxing lyrical about her and home. I only wish she could have heard him, even if it was somewhat prompted by alcohol! After the obligatory free shot which tasted of orange juice, I went with the barman’s recommendation re beers and ended up with one that was a sour cherry flavour — weird, but not too bad. I went back to ordinary beer after that, with the lowest abv% that I could spot!
The final ruin bar was the biggest and also the original one, opening as it did in a derelict factory in 2004 — Szimpla Kert — situated in the historic Jewish Quarter (District VII). It was vast. A huge, funky courtyard open to the night sky with an explosion of neon signs and glitterballs; artwork and junkyard kitsch, surrounded by further floors with arched openings onto the scene below. Amid the cacophony of sound, both human and musical, our guide bid us goodnight as she rightly pointed out that it would be impossible for her to keep track of us all here. I turned to go as well but the Australians and Emily & Joe persuaded me to stay for one drink upstairs where it was quieter and I could take some photographs. I’m glad I did, even though the camera on my phone was completely out of it’s depth in the dim lighting, as it was fascinating to see how incredibly successful the transformation had been from a neglected space lying abandoned through post-war malaise into a vibrant cultural hot-spot.
After my one beer, Emily & Joe used my departure to make their excuses and leave too. They were somewhat dismayed to hear that I intended walking back to the apartment on my own and offered to accompany me. I demurred as their accommodation was in totally the opposite direction. Emily then insisted that we became ‘friends’ on Facebook, and having checked on their phones that I was correct about the direction I needed to go, left me with some reluctance and a firm promise to message them as soon as I had arrived safely back in my room — talk about role reversal!
My walk home took me past a stunning sculpture — a weeping willow made out of metal. This turned out to be the courtyard of the Holocaust Memorial Centre which I was planning to visit the next day. History lies bare in Budapest and made for a sobering and reflective return to my apartment.
