An Unnamed City

Got the mid-January blahs?  Who doesn't?  I know I said you should never follow any travel advice I might try to dispense but let's make an exception here, okay?

I figured if I put the name of the place I am recommending in the title, no one would bother to read.  Because you're tired of it. Unjustly so.  Yes, unjustly.

How many books, movies, blogs, Pintrest pins, etc are there about Paris?  London?  New York?  Listen, in this unnamed city I have ridden the metro system and (other than the horror of seeing Linda get on a train while we stood on the platform watching her depart without us) we never encountered a single problem.  And do I speak Hungarian? Nincs.

A few trips back we bought ourselves this lovely book from a street vendor.  I've noticed there are a lot of used book sellers on the streets of Europe.  You can find a mixture of useless junk and cool stuff, this book, circa 1965, is in the latter category.
My all-time favorite translated sentence is: Hol vannak a legjobb vadaszteruletek? 
Where are the best hunting grounds?

Of course you may borrow this book but you will hardly have to use it because so many people speak English in Budapest (although on principle I believe foreigners should always make an attempt-however lame-to speak the local language before settling back lazily into English).  Bath staff aside, the locals are friendly and considerate and getting around won't pose much difficulty if you are comfortable with the basics of bus/metro/tram travel.

You'll find that the food is very good: gelato, pizza and schnitzel in the summer, mulled wine, goose and goulash in the winter.
And vermouth-heavy martinis year round.

There's a great hotel on the cheaper Pest side about a 20 minute walk to the downtown market/Liberty Bridge district.
Or if you're not the sort that likes to walk you can hop on the either the 9 or the 109 bus that will take you to the same place.  The bus stop is right across the street from the hotel. You see how easy this is already? Look, I'm doing half the work for you.
They have apartments as well as standard rooms and if you find yourself with an unexpected case of the flu, you can spend the afternoon laying around in the apartment while your great-uncle composes music in the bedroom and your parents go out and document the Castle District and do last minute shopping. (yeah, you read that right the Castle District.  That last post?  It was Budapest. ha!) You will be perfectly comfortable and at your ease even if your great-uncle forgets he is supposed to be taking care of you.

If you find you've walked too much and you're tired, you will head to the baths.  Since you've been forewarned, you will have brought a towel and hair cap and this will decrease the confusion and your interactions with bath staff considerably.  And since you possess either self-confidence or firm thighs you will scoff at the notion that public bathing is nerve-wracking. (really, a soak in those tubs is worth the walk across the grounds.  Remember you'll never see those people again in your life.)

Notice I say that you will do all these things.  Because you will go.  I know you will.  How can you pass it up after you've labored through all four of the long-winded Budapest posts and seen photographic evidence of all that the city has to offer?
Yes, it's a bit cheaper to fly from SFO to Paris.  I doubt you'll find any "For 12-hours Only" rates or a Valentine's Day Special deal.  But Hungary doesn't use the Euro and the exchange rate between USD and Forint is about 1:235 currently.  Hello.  You're not going to find that in any major European city. And you need a holiday, don't you? Yes, you do.

So go.







What, you're still here?  What are you waiting for?  Get off this page and go book your flight already.