Hungary

Visited: April 2005 and later on many occasions

Duration of visit: 8 days

Capital city: Budapest

Population: 9.72 million (2021)

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

• Budapest – the Pearl of Danube – my favorite city in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE); cultural metropolises divided by Danube river, with numerous attractions, good, inexpensive food and possibilities for many activities all year round.
• Standing the Castle Hill in front of Buda Castle, a massive 200-room palace overlooking the Danube river in the late afternoon, savoring the spectacular sunset view of Budapest Parliament building.
• Swimming in Lake Heviz, the largest swimmable thermal lake in the world. I swum in pleasantly warm thermal water, while the winter air is only around zero degrees.
• Business meetings with Hungarian distributors of heating and air purification products throughout the time of working as a sales representative for American multinational company in CEE region.

The territory of present-day Hungary has for centuries been a crossroads for various people, including Celts, Romans, Germanic tribes, Huns, West Slavs and the Avars.

Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed after World War I, and the subsequent Treaty of Trianon established Hungary’s current borders, resulting in the loss of 71% of its territory, 58% of its population, and 32% of ethnic Hungarians. Quite a shock for this powerful nation.

It seems that the idea of uniting all Hungarians under a common umbrella appears every now and then as a political slogan, yet in practice, Hungary is a member of European Union with rather extreme views on media freedom, democracy, cultural diversity and attitude towards Russia. All these facts haven’t put Hungary into a good position in recent years.

However, it is becoming more and more popular as a tourist destination. With the spectacular Budapest and alternative Balaton lake, it provides an abundance of cultural, historical, gastronomic and entertainment pleasures at a significantly lower price than in the West.

Hungarian is a Uralic language spoken by approximately 25 million people, predominantly in Northern Eurasia, but it is nothing like those spoken in its neighboring nations.  Hungarian comes from the Uralic region of Asia and belongs to the Finno-Ugric language group, meaning its closest relatives are actually Finnish and Estonian. As much as I try to understand, make a connection or interpret any of the word, in Hungarian, it is impossible. It must be one of the most difficult languages to learn.

Some of my friends, who live there on a permanent basis, don’t even try to learn the basic vocabulary, since the pronunciation and a combination of long words is extremely difficult: 35 distinct cases, word order is often flexible, 14 different vowels; the words themselves are nightmares of unfamiliar appearance.

When I was driving from Slovenia to Budapest, I was always making fun of this, for me unpronounceable city: Székesfehérvár. I actually stopped there overnight and learned how to pronounce it correctly.

Budapest, the capital of Hungary, is considered by many to be the Paris of the East. It is not only one of the most culturally important metropolises in Eastern Europe, but it’s also home to numerous UNESCO World Heritage Sites. I find many similarities between Budapest and Prague, both located on riverbanks, with spectacular old towns and castles on a hill. While Prague is the most popular destination in Eastern Europe, Budapest has only recently been spotted as the important stop for massive tourism.

I visited Budapest at least five times: for business, pleasure or to fly out of the international airport. The city has been developing fast, new modern buildings are raising, shopping centers and tourist facilities upgraded, but the road system seems as it has not changed from the old times. If highways in the Western part of the country are modern, the network of main roads in and around the capital has hardly been extended in the last two decades.

Budapest’s Castle Hill (Várhegy) contains many of the city’s most important medieval monuments and museums. Topping the list of these impressive structures is the 18^th century Buda Castle (Budavári Palota), a massive 200-room palace that replaced a 13^th century castle, built to protect the stronghold from Mongol and Tartar attacks.

In front of the castle, overlooking the Danube, stands a bronze equestrian statue of Prince Eugene of Savoy, a field marshal in the army of the Holy Roman Empire and the Austrian Habsburg dynasty, a hero fighting Turkish attacks on the city.

Although badly damaged in World War II, much of the exterior has been restored, along with sections of the interior, which now house a number of important museums. Since I am slightly indifferent to museums, I only appreciated them from outside:  the Hungarian National Gallery and the Budapest History Museum.

The Hungarian Parliament is the most famous landmark, not only of Budapest, but of the whole country. Standing on the Castle Hill, overlooking Danube river with the view of the Parliament in the late afternoon, is probably the most spectacular moment in the city.

The world’s third largest parliament building, this Neo-Gothic edifice was inaugurated in 1896 to mark the country’s 1,000^th anniversary. The keys to the building were handed over in 1902, however, it was not fully completed until 1904. This impressive structure boasts 691 rooms, 10 courtyards, 88 statues of Hungarian rulers on its facade as well as an impressive 19 kilometers of corridors and stairs. Currently the seat of the National Assembly of Hungary; The building was designed by Hungarian architect Imre Steindl, who first went blind and later died before its completion.

The House of the Country was inspired by the Houses of Parliament in London, spreading parallel to the Danube with the length of 271 meters and raising up to 96 meters, crowned by an eye-catching dome. Grand interior is remarkable too, including the sixteen-sided central hall, which houses the Crown of Hungary.

The Danube Promenade has been popular for leisure walk since the 19^th century. Walking along the longest European river, I was able to enjoy the views of Buda castle, the Parliament, main bridges, numerous restaurants, cafés, bars, five-star hotels, sculptures and monuments.

The most touching memorial is the shoe sculpture called Shoes on the Danube Bank to honor the Jews who were massacred by fascist Hungarian militia during the Second World War. They were ordered to take off their shoes and were shot at the edge of the water, so that their bodies fell into the river and were carried away. Shoes were valuable and could be resold by the militia after the massacre.

Hungarian State Opera House is home to the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hungarian National Ballet. It seats up to 1,300 people in its horseshoe-shaped auditorium, which is not only praised for its impeccable acoustics, but also features stunning chandeliers. Located in the historical heart of Budapest, designed by a renowned Hungarian architect, Miklós Ybl, the Opera house is only the second-largest opera house in the country.

Saturday morning is a perfect time to inspect the Central Market Hall, where obviously the central market is located. I found all kinds of traditional Hungarian products at one place. A large selection of fresh and quality provisions, competitive prices and an absorbing vibe are the main reasons, why I recommend a visit to the central market.

Fruits, vegetables, dairy products, traditional sausages and salamis, pickled vegetables, fresh fish from rivers and lakes, Hungarian paprika, Tokaj wines and traditional snack langos (deep fried flatbread with cheese and garlic topping); at the upper floor food stands and eateries. It is a gastronomic lesson. Souvenirs section is wide as well.

Since the Romans times, locals have enjoyed the steaming, mineral-rich thermal water simmering beneath Budapest’s surface. We talk about real spas here, not saunas or hammams, so popular in other areas. The positive impacts of mineral-rich water are highly appreciated by locals (and tourists) also today, so a visit to one of the spas in Budapest, especially in the winter times is the best relaxation available.

Budapest has a total of nine medicinal baths and 123 hot springs.

Two of the most famous spas are: Széchenyi Thermal Bath, the biggest in Europe, established in 1913. It’s supplied by two thermal springs, where thousands of bathers at a time mingle in its three outdoor pools and 15 indoor pools. Mostly foreign tourists also enjoy saunas, steam rooms and massages.

The Art Nouveau bath palace at Gellért Spa is another famous thermal bath in Budapest, established in 1918. The spa also boasts lovely outdoor facilities, including a wave pool and thermal sitting pool. In order to mingle with locals and avoid tourist crowds, the best options are to drop by early in the morning or drench at some of the smaller places.

The main goal of my business trips to Hungary was to find channels of distributors for heating and air purifying products. I was quickly successful in appointing a serious importer with good distribution in retail channels for the territory of the whole country.

The management of the company was highly educated and fluent in English, but a gap between old and new school was very obvious in language skills and decision making. The majority of the employees in the company couldn’t communicate in English, but they were very supportive and knowledgeable about the local operation.

Part of my job was to visit local stores: from hypermarkets through technical and DIY stores to specialized shops. It is interesting how practically all Hungarian retail shops quickly closed down their activities after the country opened doors to Western store chains throughout the transition from planned to market orientated economy in the early nineties. Hungary was seen as a strategic market by several large multinational chains.

Lake Heviz, located on the western side of Lake Balaton, is the largest swimmable thermal lake in the world.

With the depth from 2 to 38 meters and warm temperatures year around (winter 23C, summer up to 38C), there is no wonder why it has attracted visitors for the last 2,000 years, starting with Ancient Romans.

It takes about 15 to 20 minutes to walk around the lake. Due to constant movement of water emerging from the springs with a temperature of almost 40°C, the water is fully replaced every three days. The water of the lake has a very special composition, containing sulphur, calcium, magnesium and hydrogen carbonate. It is extremely rich in minerals and, therefore it is very effective in treating numerous illnesses, but also helps to relax.

During my visit, in December, the water was still pretty hot comparing to the air temperatures. I was feeling very young surrounded with mostly retired, third age people, predominantly from German speaking countries. The whole city has transformed into a big spa with all kind of wellness services: from underwater jet massage, medicinal mud pool, salt cave or a steam bath, to saunas, more swimming pools and massages of all types.

The place is attractive due to lower prices comparing to Western European standard and good service. I believe that the best time of the year to swim in the lake is late autumn, when the water is still very warm, tree leaves change color to beautiful red, yellow and brown mix. In the summer it is too hot, in the winter it cools down to 23°C.

I visited Budapest numerous times for pleasure, business or logistics to fly out of Ferenc Liszt International Airport. It is not a typical city that I would explore for several days, see the main landmarks to never return. Maybe that’s the reason, why there are still so many historical places, that I haven’t properly examined yet; because I feel I will return.

Current Hungarian government came under increased international scrutiny over alleged rule-of-law violations in the last decade. The opposition to European values, order and laws on one side, and rapprochement with Russia on the other side, make the future of the descendants of the famous Austro-Hungarian Empire difficult to predict.

Curtailment of human rights, control over public media and inclination towards totalitarian system do not align the country very well with the European Union. For now, these guidelines do not affect the security or foreign guests, but any incident can quickly turn the situation around.

I hope that, in the future, Hungary will again turn direction to democracy, freedom of public speech and respect for basic human rights.