I’ve been in Budapest just over 7 days now, and what I can tell you about this city is that it is truly amazing! I am so incredibly excited to spend the next couple of weeks here that I may not even plan any side trips. Staying in one country for a whole month? Crazy, I know.
I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about Budapest when I first saw it on our Remote Year itinerary. I knew it that it was steeped with history and would probably have cool looking buildings, because, I mean, it’s Europe. Every place has that right? But I had a lot of questions. Would the food be OK? Would the people be friendly? Is being in a city going to make getting around tough? Is this even an interesting city? Is anything going on there? I was clueless! But now my eyes have been opened. I haven’t even explored the city nearly as much as I would want because of some work issues (this will be rectified soon) but I’ve seen a lot, and I can now tell you that Budapest quickly shot towards the top of my favorite places list. I would say it’s currently sitting right behind London. That’s saying A LOT because London has some intangibles/nostalgia that makes it hard to beat.
“So, what’s there to like about Budapest?” You might ask. Let me break it down really simple and quick, and hopefully, as I begin to explore more, I can dive deeper. I keep saying that (I know!) but blogs are hard to keep up, ya’ll.
Kossuth Monument in front of the Museum of Ethnography.
Here we go! The things I love and like about Budapest:
• This city is extremely walkable and mostly flat. Public transit is cheap, but you can get anywhere in the city on foot almost as fast. I’m really going to get my steps in this month.
• Cafés are everywhere and their coffee game is strong. Croatia claimed to love coffee, and in fact, it was part of their culture to drink coffee at a café for hours daily. But they didn’t do coffee well. Budapest, on the other hand, is amazing at it. At least in my opinion.
• Patios are everywhere! Whether you’re sitting down for a bite to eat or a quick coffee, you will find a lovely patio to enjoy.
• The architecture is more than I could have hoped for in Budapest. Every. Single. Building is BEAUTIFUL. The details. The molding. Ugh, it’s almost too much. Budapest, I could look at you all day.
• The exchange rate is insanely in favor of the USD. 1000 Hungarian Forint (HUF) is $3.70. I mean, WHAT?! You can feel like a Queen here, throwing around thousands of HUF and not break your actual bank. I’ve gotten a full 2 eggs, with toast, OJ and a latte for less than $5.
• Most everyone speaks English. Conversational English at that. Selfishly, this makes things super easy when ordering and getting around town.
• All the food is great! You would be hard pressed to find a bad meal here. In Croatia, your food options were fairly limited (mostly pizza). Here, in a city, there is everything you could ever crave right down the street.
Count István Szécheny Statue
I think that’s the most of it, and so far, I give Budapest two thumbs way up!
There’s definitely more to come. I’m working on keeping a more rigid schedule and I’ll be making the blog a part of that priority. So until next time, let’s YanSEE YanDO this thing!