Budapest welcomed me at the beginning of January with temperatures down to -12C. To be honest it was very dry and didn't feel like dying frozen down the street (which was what I would have expected after being used to the climate in Indonesia and Singapore). The good news is that now that is around 0C it feels almost warm.
My first impressions of the city were of a romantic, a bit old-fashioned but pretty interesting city. You fight the winter cold spending most of the time in cozy cafes (kávézo) and pubs (söröző), having soups, hearty food and excellent Hungarian wine. Public transportation works perfectly, it's not difficult to get anywhere, and overall it feels pretty safe. Underpasses and underground entrances can be a bit intimidating due to the very high amount of homeless people (quite a big problem in Budapest I hear), but you never feel threatened.
For the first couple of weeks I was staying in the VII district, which used to be the old Jewish ghetto. The area is characterized by old buildings, some of them totally empty, with decaying facades and some even with bullet-holes from previous wars. Although it can look quite run-down, the area has got plenty of character; you can really smell the history and the battles, and if the decaying buildings can somehow bring Cuba into mind, the winter chill is quick to remind you of your location.
Budapest (left) like Cuba (right)?I now moved in the area near Margaret Bridge, which is supposed to be quite nice, full of tiny little shops and cozy cafes and restaurants. Give me some days to explore my new neighborhood and I'll tell you more.
I've just arrived in Budapest, but the first weekend was already away in the countryside, to be precise north of the lovely village of Szentendre. The semi-frozen Danube gave me the chance to take some nice pictures, and crossing it on the little boat you see here was really something different for me. The sound of the ice colliding on the sides of the boat was definitely something new.
So far so good then, looking forward to explore Hungary a bit more and of course report about it in this blog.
If you thought having a home will mean less travelling and less McSilly's Adventures think again. More travel reports (Vienna, Brno, Bratislava) are on the way; in the next month I'll also travel to Berlin and Prague, plus I would really love to see places like Transilvanya. An idea to keep up with future trips (and why not, meet somewhere) is to follow me on Dopplr.
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