Top 5 Favourite things about Hungary.

william.maybanks wrote:

I thought it would be interesting to see what is everybody's favourite things about Hungary/Budapest

Good idea!

1. My wife
2. My kids
3. Gyulas leves(Goulash soup)
4. It's not Austria
5. It's not England
6. Better weather in the summer

Ok, it was 6 things.

1) Hazi palinka
2) Inexpensive wine
3) More respect
4) Proper weather (hot summers/cold winters)
5) Not as many foreigners as in England

All right :

1- My girlfriend
2- National food in general  very good(halászlé , gyulai kolbász,pic salami , brassói , piros paprika...god bless mangalica pig.
3- Palinka with honey
4-low crime rates , security
5-Termal wather and wellness culture

Only 4 samples so far but the themes appearing are maybe:

1) Better weather (ok, not at the moment...)
2) Different to origin/nationality.
3) Food and wine
4) Family/relationships

I'm surprised so few people have responded so far....

1. My Hungarian friends I have made. Once they know you and accept you they are incredibly generous and kind people
2.The weather.  Even in winter gorgeous blue skies like today
3. My flat. Affordable to buy -  gorgeous light and high ceilings. Also the architecture in general here in Hungary.
4. If you like horses and ride, you can ride for miles in the countryside without going near a road, unlike in the UK
5. I do quite like Hungarian food also, though I am on a diet at the moment     bah   

I would really like to see more of the countryside round Budapest.  I have heard there are some good walks near the Childrens Railway (I haven't been near there either) if anyone is interested once the snow has cleared.

Hollycat wrote:

I would really like to see more of the countryside round Budapest.  I have heard there are some good walks near the Childrens Railway (I haven't been near there either) if anyone is interested once the snow has cleared.

Well, that's barely outside Budapest, but a good start to get you going :-)
There's also tramline 56 going in the same general direction, I just came across an English description of both here:
http://hampage.hu/trams/thg2bp/Huvosvolgyline.html

Other hiking 101 places include the Harmashatarhegy: take the 65 bus from Kolosy square all the way.

The next stage is taking the Szentendre HEV from Batthiany square or a yellow Volan bus from Ujpest-Varoskapu to the little town of Pomaz, then any of the connecting yellow Volan buses that take you up moderate and well-trodden hills for a nice stroll back down to civilization along with hordes of cheerful pensioners dressed as Australian mountain-scouts.

The only destination close to Budapest that requires any level of fitness or preparation is the "Ram szakadek" Duh-duh-DUUH! It's a steep walley with a little stream in the bottom, which the path crosses about a hundred times, and at a few places you have to clime on rocks!
(not accessible when the stream has too much water)

That's the only place I'd not recommend to go first, anywhere else should be a safe and refreshing trip.




Uh, oh, the 5 things, not entirely fair because I'm local:
- Friends, Family
- Language allows for extreme creativity and playfulness, puns are not frowned upon
- I "know" the weather, all animals and plants, society, subcultures, everything.
- Seasonal availability of fresh produce, even stuff grown/raised with minimal amounts of chemicals.
- Ugh, can't make myself think of more, we do want to move to Canada right now :-)

szocske wrote:

There's also tramline 56 going in the same general direction, I just came across an English description of both here:...

http://hampage.hu/trams/thg2bp/Huvosvolgyline.html


I think it's now tram 61. For some reason, tram 56 is no more. No idea why.

The children's railway wanders around up towards Janoshegy. You can park near Janoshegy at the car park on the Budakeszi road and walk up to the lookout tower (rocky path = takes 30 mins for the unfit). There's a not so cosy cafe up there (shame). To walk up the tower itself is free and there are fine views over the city.

Thanks szocske and fluffy   I really want to have a little explore, particularly now spring is not far off.

lol - to me anywhere on the Buda side is 'outside Budapest'. Just a British thing - people often think their side of the River in London, Aberdeen etc is 'the' side and are horrified at the thought of travelling to the wilderness of the 'other' side.

The only places I have been outside Budapest is Budaors (I had to get an extension pass on my bus ticket so although its not really outside the bus thinks it kind of is) and horse riding with a friend which I really enjoyed.

Hollycat wrote:

..... spring is not far off.

lol - to me anywhere on the Buda side is 'outside Budapest'. Just a British thing - people often think their side of the River in London, Aberdeen etc is 'the' side and are horrified at the thought of travelling to the wilderness of the 'other' side.

I thought Spring was here last week, but alas, it will be mega cold next week. Despite it being nice here in the Spring, there's nothing quite like Spring in the UK, with the lambs, daffodils, snowdrops and all that. Everything seems to be a month later here.

For me, Pest is the other side. Anything past the airport is jungle.

One thing I LOVE about spring here are the lialic trees.  We have loads of them at the vet uni and the smell is gorgeous

back to topic
top 5 things about Hungary:

Budapest
good public transport
good cheap wine (balaton whites, villanyi reds)
good variety of bread and bottled water
good selection of hardwoods (oak and beech) in local forests

My favorite things about Budapest (and Hungary as well):

1. Logistically convenient to anywhere else in Europe

2. The old feel of the city and the architecture throughout even when some of the buildings are almost in ruins at certain areas (that gives my imagination a good workout - how did this neighborhood looked like/how would it look like if..)

3. The creativeness and the anti-wastefulness of the natives, they'll make do with just about anything (super gluing shoes so it'll last longer to save money, etc)

4. Easiness of renting an apartment or house (just flash the cash - compared to having to submit pay stubs, bank statements, fill out applications then pay fee, etc in the USA)

5. Understanding (and speaking) the local language while they think I don't (because I speak English to my children normally) -many comical moments because of that since we've been in Hungary

1. Turos, mazsolas palacsinta
2. Isteni magyar kajak mint hazi kolbasz, disznosajt, langos
3. Kis faluk idos, kedves emberekkel
4. Nagy varosok gyonyoru szinhazakkal,, muzeumokkal, ettermekkel
5. Balaton es egesz kornyeke
6. A setalo utca Budapest sziveben
7. Cukraszdak tele dobos tortakkal, csokis mignonokkal, gesztenye  purevel, stb., stb.,
8. Magyarok vendeglatasa es kedvessege
es meg sorolhatnam hosszan.........

Erika_the_redhead wrote:

2. Isteni magyar kajak mint hazi kolbasz, disznosajt, langos

You've gotta love Google Translate. It thinks your item 2 is......

"Kayaking as a divine Hungarian sausage, pork, fried bread"

Sausage kayaking - now that sounds pretty interesting.

But what does it actually involve?

Hi fluffy,

Hehe, you are so right. It did come out really funny after the translation didn't it?

My number 2 item is/are Hungarian home made sausages which, please don't be disgusted, also includes head-cheese which is made out of the head of the pork and lotsa, lotsa garlic and paprika. Yummeeee