Day 1-2 – Hungry in Hungary
If people haven’t picked up (and why would anyone) I’ve
centered most of my travel in recent years to Continents not named Europe. It’s
not like I’ve never been to Europe since Covid. I’ve stepped foot on the Continent
on five different occasions – but if you peel it back, three were for work, and
the other two on group trips with 4-5 friends. I haven’t done any solo travel
in Europe (I’m going to not count Istanbul as Europe for this exercise). Since
Covid, I’ve been to Africa three times, South America four times, and Asia twice
– not all these trips were solo but some were.
This isn’t a decision made without any forethought – I have
my reasons, mostly the crazy prices that pile up in Europe during Summer, the
equally crazy crowds, and the general sense that (1) I’ve seen a lot of it when
I was a kid and (2) a bit over the whole Colonial European exceptionalism. But
anyway, I decided to break this whole routine this year, on a 10-day lark to
Europe across Budapest, Helsinki and Talinn (and a few random excursions surrounding
thereof. “Why?” you may ask, this seemingly random collection of places.
I cannot disagree it is fairly random. Budapest a place I’ve
heard a lot of great things about, and have scant memory of my trip there with
my family back in 2000 (a more enterprising me would’ve found a way to lop
Prague onto the trip as well). Helsinki because I loved what I saw on Somebody
Feed Phil when he went there – truly that is the primary reason I’m going. And
Talinn because (1) my parents loved it on their trip through the Baltics and
(2) it’s a 2-hour ferry from Helsinki.
The other factor on this trip is finally using Lufthansa
miles, most of which I got through a Lufthansa credit card that I impulse
applied for after getting denied a Chase Sapphire Reserve when it first came
out. That was back in 2016. I remember specifically because I took a trip with
two friends that year to Peru, where they both had the Reserve and got to use a
priority pass lounge. I told them back then “just you wait, one day I’ll be
flying biz on Lufthansa with these miles.” Well, eight years later, here we
are.
Ironically, given that preamble, my initial flights from
Newark to Budapest via Frankfurt are not using miles, though on Lufthansa. I tried
upgrading with my United plus points but never escaped the waitlist. I picked
an economy seat three rows into economy, with a view of the last rows of
business in plain sight, which was tough. Made more tough was that Lufthansa
seems to have really pared back their service in economy, seeming in the last
two months as my two Lufthansa flights back in Feb (CPT – FRA & MUC-EWR)
were quite a bit better. The dinner wasn’t bad – an interesting beef pie with a
nice quinoa salad – but the breakfast was embarrassing, literally a small box
with a small fruit cup and a wrapped marble loaf. The loaf was tasty but this
was staggeringly small portions – even compared to what passes for breakfast in
economy on America to Europe red-eyes on United or American.
The second flight from Frankfurt to Budapest was no better,
with anything aside from water and a small chocolate being only available for
purchase (including coffee, on an 8:30am flight…). I wanted to sleep anyway, so
it wasn’t really an issue. Before I knew it I was in Budapest, happy to finish
my time on Lufthansa. I’ll welcome my business flight back, and do appreciate
being able to fly on one of the last remaining 747s, but this trip only reinforced
in my mind that for all the hate the US main airlines get, the main European
airlines are no better at this point.
Anyway, to Budapest. It was a gloomy day weather wise,
though the rain held off and it brightened up as the day wore on. It is hard to
get a read on the city in overcast conditions, on a working day, but the drive
into the city did show the cobblestone streets, art deco buildings and patented
alleys that make European cities so distinctive and nice. Many parts of the
drive on the Pest side (where both the airport and my AirBNB, and most of the
nightlife lie) did show a more weathered, darker vibe which I didn’t mind. As
we finally got towards my AirBNB, the streets opened up into wide esplanades,
nice circles, statues, fancy buildings, where we could as easily be in Western Europe.
Lunch was at Getto Gulyas (Goulash), a really nice,
affordable bistro about a block away from my AirBNB that has a classic
Hungarian menu. For a starter I got their version of bone marrow which was
incredible. Nothing too fancy – just two giant bones with tons of marrow,
roasted perfectly, with a light sauce and pieces of roasted garlic, all to spread
on 5 pieces of toasted bread. Perfect. The main was one of their many goulash
options, with me getting a lamb paprikash stew with spaetzle – this was
classic, tasty but I do wish there was a better carb option that spaetzle, and
something more in the pasta or rice vein. Still, Getto Gulyas was a really nice
gastronomic start to the trip – only expecting to enhance by my trip to Salt,
Budapest’s first Michelin-star restaurant, tonight.
My plans for the afternoon on my first day were quite light –
saving all the true tourism for the next three days. The primary driver of this
being unsure if I would need a nap (update: I do) on the first day, and also
any potential flight delays and the like. Instead, especially since the rain
held out during the day, I was able to just go for an elongated walk around the
town. It started from Getty Gulyas, down towards the Danube, crossing the main
road in Budapest which in this area had two circles with fancy buildings on
each end, multiple nice alleys shooting off either side, a small park with
ferris wheel, and a lot else. Budapest (so far) is not the fanciest or prettiest
city, but it is closer than you would think.
Crossing the Danube took place at the Chain Bridge, which is
a suspension bridge with nice lion sculptures on each side, and a look reminiscent
of the Tower Bridge, albeit smaller. The real joy though is the view you get
from the bridge, for both the Buda side (Western side) and Pest side (Eastern
side). The Pest side has a row of colorful buildings on the banks leading up to
the Parliament building (more to come on that), and the Buda side having hills leading
to the Buda Castle, various churches and other ornate spots.
My intended end point of the walk was the Fisherman’s Bastion,
a weird translation of a fancy stairs, platforms and lookouts point attached
the hill before you get to multiple churches and sites (of which I’ll come back
to tomorrow). The walk had a nice gradual incline that totalled a lot higher up
than you would think. The main site I got a view of was the St. Mathias Church,
albeit from behind but still really ornate. The real view though is of the city
below, including a higher-up vantage point of the giant Parliament building.
The Budapest Parliament Building is the biggest parliament /
congress building in the world. It is also incredibly ornate and a must-do (I have
a tour booked there for Monday). It truly does stand out so brilliantly amongst
the rest of the buildings on the Danube. At this view you also get a sense of
how big Budapest really is, sprawling out on the Pest side about as far as the
eye can see (granted, probably just 400 feet or so above river level). From the
Fisherman’s Bastion, it was a nice walk down back to river level, getting to
the banks of the Danube on the Pest side, with an even better view of the
Parliament Building. I’ll say this, the only weird thing I can note about the
city so far is that it is quite odd that there is no bridge that close to the
Parliament building, though I guess this can be for security reasons.
From there, I headed back towards the AirBNB, into the maw
of the Jewish Quarter, which is basically the bohemian / party quarter of the
city. Most bars in Budapest only open at 4pm, so the palce was still fairly
quiet. I decided to check out the Ruin Bar area, which is a large bar &
beer garden built into the remains of what was a synagogue. There’s really no
sign of religiosity – moreso just a lot of small bars, with open seating in the
courtyard, crazy decorations, and a general cool vibe. A place like this is
easy to mess up, either making it too kitschy or too dark & dingy – and given
it closes at 4am, I feel like if I came back at 2am, it may sway towards the dingy
side, but for now it was a great stop to give Hungarian beer a first try. Glad
to say it passed in flying colors – with me getting a craft IPA on draft and porter
in a can, both quite good (the Porter specifically smooth).
After this I finally did retire to the AirBNB for a brief R&R time. I generally bake in an hour of R&R before dinner – mainly to recharge cell phones & shower (order intentional to portray the relative importance), but extended it a bit further to get in a proper quick nap.
Dinner at Salt was amazing - as always I'll do a post at the end about each of the tasting menu spots, it will be five in total during the trip. Salt may end up easily being the best, and if not I can't wait to see what the other four provide. I will say one of the interesting aspects was that during my time there, the power cut out. Seemingly just in the restaurant, as I was near a window and outside all was fine. They continued cooking through the blackout, which chefs taking out their phones and putting flashlights on. Luckily their gas was still working, so it worked out fine, where even though the outage lasted about 40 minutes, it just became a cool cande-lit phase of the meal. The lights came back on for the last bit of the meal, and it was also an awakening of sorts for me for a night around Budapest.
I'll say one thing, I picked a really good location for my AirBNB - right off one of the main nightlife streets, and situated well enough for me to hit a craft beer pub, a speakeasy cocktail joint, and a street of bars, "clubs" (quotation marks explanation to come) and karaoke spots (which seem to be super popular in Hungary) all within five minutes walk of the AirBNB. The first of these was the craft beer spot, named Hopaholic, with a really chill vibe. I got there around 11:15, and seated myself at the bar with some locals who were curious about my travels. After that Hotsy Totsy, a speakeasy, was an ever cooler vibe - below street level, low lights, cool drinks. The drink menu is a palying card deck of seemingly 54 options, with the suits representing flavor profiles (bitter v. citrusy v. sweet v. strong). It was nowhere near as pretentious as a place like that can be.
The final stop was an alley where Aether "club" was situated, along with a series of eateries, bars and karaoke spots. Aether was not really a traditional club, but did have a DJ and a darker back room, but the frontage is open to the street. The music was good (not really EDM or anything, if anything more traditional 00s hip hop), the crowd was fun. Same can be said about the karaoke spot - which there are a bunch. The two I went to are the more fun ones for solo travelers, something like Barcode in Kyoto - with a normal bar with a giant karaoke screen. A great way to end the night - well, I guess the great chicken gyro, which is conveniently located on the walk back from the karaoke spot and my AirBNB, was the true great way to end the night.
