Food and Friendship in Budapest

I’m still downloading and sorting through the.. ahem.. 1568 photos I took whilst wandering round Budapest (and two videos), and thought I’d take a moment to try and capture my thoughts about our trip.

We were staying with friends in Solymár, which lies north-west of Budapest, right on the edge of the fantastic public transportation system, and you couldn’t find two more accomodating, generous and gracious hosts. A public thank you to them both, and of course to our intrepid travelling companion (herself a source of great merriment and generosity).

I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from Budapest, or indeed from Hungary in general. Remnants of Communist rule was the obvious theme in my mind but the truth was so far removed that I am almost ashamed that I didn’t do a little more reading before setting off. The region we were staying in was a little like a sunny Scotland, rolling hills of lush green vegetation, forests and flowers abound.

I also wasn’t quite sure what the Hungarian people would be like, having had quite a time of it historically (their geography makes them ripe for invasion) and I despite my incoherent stutterings of Hungarian (Yes, No, and Thank You), I saw little but smiling faces. It was, of course, slightly different in Budapest with the predominant accent being American (tourists), but we had the advantage as we were touring with a native Hungarian.

And then there was the food. I don’t think I’ve eaten as much meat in such a short space of time before, and unfortunately it was ALL delicious (even including the meal mainly consisting of bacon fat!).

But more on that, and the city of Budapest itself, later. Tales of Tokaj, Baclava-toting security guards and the many mustachioed men of Hungary will be forthcoming.

That and a few photos.